In the land of "It Just Means More," a couple of the Southeastern Conference's most high-profile head coaches prefer to also just keep more -- tradition in the games.
Speaking on the weekly SEC Coaches Teleconference Wednesday morning, Georgia coach Kirby Smart and LSU's Brian Kelly both expressed resistance to the potential of adding a QR code to the backs of the respective program's helmets.
The question is topical in the current college football environment following Oklahoma State's decision to place QR codes for fans to be able to directly contribute to individuals of the Cowboys by simply scanning the code on their TV screens, with Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy outlining the program's thoughts during a recent appearance on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show.
"I think the QR code to me begins to, I don’t know, for us, I think we can keep NIL off the field," said Kelly, who starts his third season atop the LSU program with Sunday's opener against USC in Las Vegas. "I think we can generate the things that we need here at LSU separate from the gameday atmosphere. The collegiate kind of feel that you have. This is just my personal feeling, putting a QR code on your helmet doesn’t feel collegiate to me.
"As much as we can continue to keep this game with the band and with college-age kids part of the game ... NIL is here to stay, and that's great. But I think we can separate that and at the end of the game, go work on NIL. That’s just my personal feelings about it."
Smart, also sharing he appreciates the rivalries in college football outside of conference play, such as his Georgia team's opener this weekend against Clemson, considers himself more of a "traditionalist" who's hesitant to see a digital cash register on the backs of his Bulldogs's helmets.
"I hadn’t really thought about it; I saw the Oklahoma State QR code," Smart said. "We haven’t discussed it and aren’t to the point of wanting to do that in terms of commercializing that part of our game. Many of our players do capitalize on NIL and soon-to-be revenue sharing.
"I would argue that people are trying to keep our game as pure as we can. I’m more of traditionalist. We’ll see where it goes.I don’t think anything has to be decided till we get to that revenue share and the settlement comes out."