From its earliest days, college football has had a tense relationship with players and money. But it wasn’t until the market for coaches started exploding that the gulf between what coaches earn and what players cannot really started to look outlandish. Agents, of course, helped usher the age of absurdity in, by winning contract terms that gave their clients more and more, even if they weren’t successful. As their pay skyrocketed, coaches were mostly silent about structural issues popping up in the sport, and for good reason: the status quo was entirely too good to overturn.

Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel