Purdue Univ. President Mitch Daniels will "likely have a role in upcoming changes to the NCAA structure -- possibly a football-only division comprising at least the five major conferences that would provide more academic and financial support to athletes," according to Mike Carmin of the Lafayette JOURNAL & COURIER. Daniels said, "There will probably be some ratification of reality at some point. The NCAA couldn’t drag the members of these conferences back into some other arrangement if it wanted to. They don’t have the authority or the clout." He added, "At some point, it might be better if the official and formal structures match up to the reality as opposed to the pretense." Daniels said of paying student-athletes, "There’s a lot of things in the last year in which my views have evolved and changed a lot. This may be one. If you asked me that question a year or two or maybe five years ago, ‘No, are you kidding?’ ... It is very difficult to say that the young people whose efforts and the risks they take are making huge money for others shouldn’t somehow be compensated. Not doing it in some places leads young people to do things that break rules." Carmin wrote of Daniels' involvement with Purdue athletics, "He understands the importance of a strong and stable athletic department and how it can benefit the overall well-being of the university." But issues regarding athletics "don’t consume Daniels’ daily or weekly schedule." Daniels "meets regularly" with AD Morgan Burke, calling him "very well organized." Daniels said of Burke, "A good, button-up guy. I trust him. If there’s something important, I’m going to know about it in a timely way" (Lafayette JOURNAL & COURIER, 8/11).
