Good luck with those education degrees, kids.

Meyer has been silent on this, so it’s not known if he’s been doing any prodding behind the scenes. There is so far no suggestion he is, leaving us to assume for the moment that it’s all Machen’s idea.

Meyer is an excellent coach. I’m not arguing that. I’m not even arguing that he’s making too much money. By the standards of his profession, he’s not. Anyway, the money that Machen would pay Meyer would come out of the surplus in the athletic department budget. So no students or programs have to make up the difference.

Machen’s rationale, as told to the Sentinel, is this: “Especially in a dynamic business like athletics, you invest a lot of resources and time in something. It may not pay off for three or four or five years, but if you stop, then it's just going to slow you down."

Special feature Tebow time Take a look at Florida's star quarterback on and off the field. NBCSports.com

That’s true, but he’s already shown that it doesn’t count when it comes to the non-athletic budget. There, it’s OK to stop spending and let things deteriorate because, after all, it’s just anonymous kids getting degrees so they can scratch out an existence in the real world. But heaven forbid the football program slips a notch and fails to beat Miami and Florida State. That would be a disaster.

Priorities. It’s about priorities. I believe a lot of college courses get into the importance of setting priorities in life and in business.

And the priority Machen is setting is football first, education second.

It’s not about the money. It’s about the message.