Arizona Football: PAC-12 Analyst Yogi Roth brings humanity to everything he does

Thoughts on the current state of College Football and what could make it better

Roth’s former college teammate was Larry Fitzgerald. Can you imagine if this Heisman candidate was able to sell his name and likeness? We asked Roth about his thoughts on the recent bill in California signed by Governor Gavin Newsome. He told us that he feels the NCAA is getting pressed to focus on college athletes and how they are compensated as far as what a scholarship overall is defined as and he feels that should also evolve.

“I think that’s a good thing. Back in the day coaches were making a $150K and it wasn’t that big of a discrepancy — every game I played wasn’t on national television. There’s so much happening now, it’s a different game,” he explained, “The evolution of the game has rapidly increased, the evolution of salary [coaches] has rapidly increased and the scholarship has not – We have three years to figure it out.”

But he feels that if Name and Likeness can be compensated, then kids as young as 8th and 9th graders will be vying for Instagram followers pushed by their parents, and at that age, the kids don’t necessarily care as much as their parents. Yogi is concerned about the player’s mental health more than anything else, “There is so much unwarranted hype about young athletes.” In College football, he feels that only top named athletes will get the real money. He polled his former Pitt teammates about how many athletes he thinks are going to make it to the NFL, the answer was unanimous, ‘All of them.’ All or most college football players have their sights on the NFL.

Yogi would change one thing in College Football though, “It’s really easy for me, it would be health insurance for life. If you letter in major college football, you should get health insurance for life.” He broke his neck playing college football and if he hadn’t been working at SC, he would have gone broke. The NFL has elements of this that could be reviewed he feels. The humanitarian would include mental health benefits because this affects most athletes during and after their career.

Speaking of mental health, one big part of that is how an athlete handles and deals with the media. Roth is doing his part to help. Most of the colleges bring him in for media training and the 24 athletes that go to Pac-12 media days. After training UCLA’s football team, 70 kids sent him notes afterward that really meant a lot to him.

Because Roth knows that it’s not easy to handle the media’s hard questions sometimes, he spends time helping student-athletes understand their positioning statement and their brand because it “Transcends the game.”

Fan criticism is only part of an athlete’s life, if an athlete lets it in, it can be difficult to deal with. Roth teaches how to handle fan criticism and preaches using the media to help with their brand, learning how to flip the script.

He advises Athletes that they need to understand that mainstream media have a job and a boss, so he teaches his students to block and bridge. Block the question and bridge the answer to their brand message. Athletes need to understand that a lot of reporters wish they could coach or wish they could play. Answering tough questions gives athletes a chance to tell their stories.

If Yogi is media training or interviewing athletes and coaches, he feels it’s all about the how and why questions, “I think that’s what fun about interviewing college athletes – I enjoy watching how the athletes respond to it.” Yogi trains young players on media interaction determining what their brand, essence, message, and the story is so they can respond appropriately. He feels when asked a tough question from media, the student-athlete can respond while telling their story.

For example, if a QB throws an interception and they are questioned about if they want to take back the interception, they can respond by saying, “Of course I want to take that interception back, but I play with an aggressive fearlessness, so I will take chances to make great plays.”

What doesn’t Yogi Roth do? He is so accomplished and he feels like he is just beginning, bringing humanity into everything he does, and is motivated by the love of the game and his family. Can’t we all add a bit of humanity into our lives? That would be great! We are lucky to be able to ride the wave of his career with him and would like to thank him for sharing himself with us.