“They’ve Had Their A*ses Kissed In College”: Unsatisfactory Transition of Players to the NFL Has Got Bills GM Brandon Beane Roaring

For most NFL rookies, the transition from college to the pros can feel like entering a battlefield without armor. In college, these players are stars, enjoying the freedom of the transfer portal and living comfortably with a bit of cash to spare. The latter doesn’t change in the big league, of course, but they can’t hop franchises like they did in college. They’re also expected to perform at the highest level — almost immediately.

And unless you’re CJ Stroud or Jayden Daniels, adapting overnight is nearly impossible. NIL money is one reason college players transfer freely nowadays, without worrying about the program they’re leaving behind. But in doing so, they miss out on the long-term growth that comes from staying with a team that builds itself up each season.

If Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane is to be believed, this lack of stability is a major reason why so many young players struggle in the NFL.

“In college football, as we know, we’re getting guys less and less developed because these guys are going from year to year from different schools due to this NIL and all the other stuff,” Beane candidly said in his recent appearance on Fitz & Whit.

Beane asserted that college players rarely face true “adversity” nowadays. Also, with multiple offers and leverage over their teams, they’re often coddled by programs — a reality that won’t fly in the big league.

“Society right now in college sports is: ‘If you’re not playing me or paying me, I’m moving on.’ That’s the reality of it. And we’re not teaching guys how to deal with adversity. Quite frankly, they’ve had their a**es kissed for three or four straight years in college, and that’s not the way it works when they get in here,” Beane said boldly.

So, how bad is it for college players? Well, for starters, there’s no red carpet rolled out for rookies — at least not for those whose names don’t appear in most mock drafts. No assistant coaches checking in to see if they’ve eaten or made it to practice on time. And the worst part? When adversity hits, most rookies have no one around to pat them on the back and tell them it’s okay.

Be it Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or more recently, Jordan Love, there are countless cases of quarterbacks who have flourished only after they got an extended period of apprenticeship under a veteran star.

But the current expectation that rookies should seamlessly replicate their college success is brutally unforgiving, argues Super Bowl winner Andrew Whitworth.

“I think people don’t realize that in college football, the system and the way it is now—what they can actually do year-round with these kids—and then they get to pro football, and it’s like, ‘Hey, offseason hits, and wait a minute, where do I go? Who’s supposed to take care of me? Who tells me where to be next?’” Whitworth explained.

“No, no. You got three and a half months, you know, almost four—you just figure it out. My point to that is, we don’t want to give any of these guys any patience, but their whole world just changed.”

All said and done, one truth remains: the NFL is a results-driven league. But how can teams expect immediate production from players who have never truly faced adversity?

From introducing a Deion Sanders-esque mentorship model to possibly capping portal transfers per player, there seem to be plenty of solutions. As Bills GM Brandon Beane stated, it starts at the college level.

If young athletes aren’t taught how to deal with struggles before turning pro, the NFL will continue to chew them up and spit them out. If you can’t produce, you won’t last. And for many young players, that lesson comes too late.