Heisman Trophy winner and USC Trojans legend Reggie Bush is urging for change in college football regarding Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal. Bush also revealed he hopes to be a head coach in college football in the future, to help guide athletes through challenges the current football landscape.

Highly regarded as one of the best college football players of all time, after 10 years playing in the NFL, Bush spent four seasons with Fox as a college football analyst for the Big Noon Kickoff Show. Then in April 2024, Bush’s Heisman Trophy was reinstated by the Heisman Trust.

… Next up, coaching?

Bush would be one of many college football head coaches who also played the sport at the collegiate and professional level. A big current example is Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders who played for Florida State and in the NFL and MLB.

Bush also made his feelings clear that more changes need to be made in college.

“NIL is not the fix,” Bush said to reporters before getting inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall Of Fame. “I hate that NIL has become the thing people look to and say, ‘Now everything is good. Now the kids have everything they need and they’re good and making millions of dollars. That’s not true.”

“The top one percent in college football is making money,” Bush continued. “That’s it. It’s usually a quarterback or someone like Travis Hunter. Other than that, everybody else is still working to get there, to get to that next level. To get some kind of money. … I think at some point the players need to unionize so they can collectively bargain. And so they can start to get into a more fair workplace for everybody.”

The former USC running back is also suing the USC Trojans, NCAA, Pac-12 in a Name, Image, Likeness lawsuit – seeking compensation for NIL being used without permission.

In 2010, Bush had to forfeit his Heisman Trophy in wake of NCAA sanctions for USC, including Bush receiving improper benefits during his Trojans career (2003 to 2005.)

Bush’s lawsuit asks for compensation from the revenue he produced for USC, Pac-12 and NCAA off television contracts, merchandise sales and media rights.

“I was broke in college,” Bush said. “We had nothing. We had no money, we had nothing. We were eating Top Ramen, Malt-O-Meal … We knew this was a stepping stone for us to get to that next place. That’s still what college football is, but I think there needs to be more direction. There needs to be more protection for the players as well.”

Bush also talked about the challenges of the transfer portal.

“When you talk about the transfer portal, you hear about the great stories,” Bush continued. “But you don’t hear about the other side of kids who go in the transfer portal and don’t make it out, or kids who go in the transfer portal thinking they’re going to a better situation, but that situation doesn’t end up being there for him. You’re having to make really, really big decisions as an 18- and 19-year-old kid, and these are decisions that can affect the rest of your life and your career.”

During his junior season at USC, Bush ran for 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns on 200 carries. Therunning back also added 478 receiving yards and two more scores to finish with 2,218 all-purpose yards and 18 total touchdowns.

It’s highly regarded as one of the best college football single seasons of all time and Bush won the Heisman Trophy.

Bush finished his career with 433 rushes for 3,169 yards and 25 touchdowns and 95 receptions for 1,301 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Winner of the Doak Walker Award and Walter Camp Award, Bush won two national titles for USC and was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, selected by the New Orleans Saints.

With all that experience, on the field and off, Bush as a head coach in college could make a lot of sense.