The Price
What It Takes to Win in College Football's Era of Chaos
Published on 26. August 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-06-334526-3 (ISBN)
Description
"An explosive tell-all book."-Sports Illustrated
"This is a must-read masterpiece."-Paul Finebaum, ESPN college football analyst and New York Times bestselling author
Two of the nation's most respected sports journalists team up for a vital, hard-hitting investigation into the tumultuous state of big-time college football.
We are living in the Wild West of college sports. Name, Image and Likeness endorsements, the transfer portal, collectives, conference realignment, the powerful influence of media companies have all rendered the notion of amateur athletics a quaint relic of the past, replaced by a Brave New World where money and self-interest rule.
The Price is a sweeping, in-depth, thought-provoking look at an inflection point in big-time college football. Six time New York Times bestselling author Armen Keteyian and award-winning national college football reporter John Talty conducted more than two hundred wide-ranging interviews with head coaches, athletic directors, conference commissioners, administrators, politicians, power brokers, agents and media executives from one corner of the sport to the other. They reveal never-before-reported details on major players such as Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh, Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, and Lane Kiffin. Keteyian and Talty's reporting also lays bare the machinations that destroyed the historic conference that was the Pac-12, purely in the name of greed.
As the sport's premier coaches race for the exits, Keteyian and Talty reveal deep, dark truths about a beloved game under siege-and the financial, physical, emotional and psychological toll taken on everyone whose dreams and fortunes often depend on the final score on a Saturday afternoon.
"This is a must-read masterpiece."-Paul Finebaum, ESPN college football analyst and New York Times bestselling author
Two of the nation's most respected sports journalists team up for a vital, hard-hitting investigation into the tumultuous state of big-time college football.
We are living in the Wild West of college sports. Name, Image and Likeness endorsements, the transfer portal, collectives, conference realignment, the powerful influence of media companies have all rendered the notion of amateur athletics a quaint relic of the past, replaced by a Brave New World where money and self-interest rule.
The Price is a sweeping, in-depth, thought-provoking look at an inflection point in big-time college football. Six time New York Times bestselling author Armen Keteyian and award-winning national college football reporter John Talty conducted more than two hundred wide-ranging interviews with head coaches, athletic directors, conference commissioners, administrators, politicians, power brokers, agents and media executives from one corner of the sport to the other. They reveal never-before-reported details on major players such as Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh, Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, and Lane Kiffin. Keteyian and Talty's reporting also lays bare the machinations that destroyed the historic conference that was the Pac-12, purely in the name of greed.
As the sport's premier coaches race for the exits, Keteyian and Talty reveal deep, dark truths about a beloved game under siege-and the financial, physical, emotional and psychological toll taken on everyone whose dreams and fortunes often depend on the final score on a Saturday afternoon.
Reviews / Votes
"This is a must-read masterpiece. At college football's most critical moment, John Talty and Armen Keteyian have delivered a blockbuster-the definitive, spellbinding, never-before-told story of the sport's wildest period." - Paul Finebaum, ESPN college football analyst and New York Times bestselling author of My Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football"No one has chronicled the increasingly bizarre world of college football with greater depth, breadth, and clarity than Armen Keteyian has. Here Keteyian and John Talty bring perspective to our current hypercharged era, with its unprecedented money, exposure, and pressure, while managing to personalize the price paid by those who still care about the sport's soul. The chapters on the Michigan-Harbaugh saga alone justify the purchase of this great book. I wish I'd written it." - John U. Bacon, New York Times bestselling author of Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football
"An explosive tell-all book." - Sports Illustrated
"If you really want to know what's going on in college football in the NIL era you MUST read The Price . . . . Gives you the inside scoop on everything and brilliantly told." - Seth Davis, New York Times bestselling author and college basketball reporter for CCBS Sports
"Beyond fascinating. As in every page and chapter is incredible." - Tom Crean, former Indiana basketball coach and current ESPN analyst
"Just finished The Price, which has a ton of revealing and interesting details about modern college football and the state of college athletics as a whole. For DMV readers specifically, there's a ton about UMD football's quest to float and then swim." - Jesse Dougherty, college sports writer for the Washington Post
"A great read full of incredible stories." - Marc Daniels, co-host "The Beat of Sports Show," WYGM-AM, Orlando, FL
"A tremendous book. A must read for college football fans." - Matt Josephs, Host, "The Matt Josephs Show," WXGI-AM, Richmond, VA
"A fantastic read." - Glenn Clark, Host, "Glenn Clark Radio" podcast, Baltimore, MD
"Insightful and powerful." - Ron Barr, Host, Sports Byline USA
"An explosive behind-the-scenes look at the chaotic state of big-time college football." - David Lamb, Anchor, CBS42, Birmingham, AL
"Outstanding. Excellent overview of the current state of college football & how we got here, but also some wild stories & anecdotes fans of any team will enjoy." - Creg Stephenson, AL.com sports writer
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 135 mm
Weight
295 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-334526-3 (9780063345263)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Armen Keteyian is an eleven-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and the author or coauthor of six New York Times bestsellers, including The System and Tiger Woods. He lives in Connecticut.
John Talty is the national college football writer for CBS Sports and 247Sports and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban. He lives in Alabama.
John Talty is the national college football writer for CBS Sports and 247Sports and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban. He lives in Alabama.