Bill Self: Kansas coach Bill Self welcomes NIL-related "chaos" with open arms, while hoping for "normalcy" in college basketball

Bill Self is opening up about the changes in college sports. The veteran coach has seen a lot in his lengthy career, including in the last 22 seasons at Kansas. The Jayhawks coach reflected on how NIL has impacted college athletics in a Bleacher Report interview shared on Instagram Friday.

"It's created some chaos, which in some ways, chaos can be good," Self said. "We needed to have some changes, these have just been very drastic changes."

Coach Self assured that despite all of the changes that have come about in the NIL era, normalcy will eventually return to college basketball.

"It's taken, a while to come to grips with it and get back to some normalcy," Self said, "but we will, and when it happens, this sport will be as great as it ever has been. Being part of change makes everyone nervous, because few people like change when you're going through it, but when we come out on the other side, we'll be as big and as strong as we've ever been."

The Kansas coach assured that the best is still to come for college athletics. While opinions on NIL and the ever-changing landscape of college sports vary, Self feels secure in what the future holds.

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Arkansas at Kansas - Source: Imagn

Bill Self named highest-paid coach in college basketball for 2025-26 season

Bill Self will be the highest-paid coach in college basketball for his 23rd season at Kansas. According to Elite College Basketball, the seasoned head coach will make $8,803,800 in the 2025-26 season.

Self is a Jayhawks legend. Since taking over as head coach of Kansas in 2003, he's guided the team to 17 Big 12 regular-season titles, nine Big 12 tournament championships and two national championships in 2008 and 2022.

In his tenure at Kansas, Self has won AP Coach of the Year twice and Big 12 Coach of the Year six times. He secured a lifetime contract with the Jayhawks in 2021 and two years later, it was announced that Self had received an amended five-year rolling contract. He achieved another milestone when he became the highest-paid coach in the sport.

Self believes that the best days of college basketball are still ahead, and he will be a part of them with his lifetime contract at Kansas.

About the author

Lindsey Ware is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over five years of experience working with publications such as The News & Observer, The Daily Tar Heel, Triangle Tribune and Cardiac Cane. She has also worked for Major League Baseball, The Holly Springs Salamanders, The Tri-City Chili Peppers, Tuffy Talk, Super Meteors Basketball, Just Good Network and Living Sport.

Lindsey has a Bachelor’s Degree in Media and Journalism from UNC Chapel Hill. Her education allowed Lindsey to gain experience in sports communication, which she honed in internships. Other than being a storyteller and sports fanatic, Lindsey is also a social media and marketing specialist.

Her favorite college team is UNC, although she grew up a N.C. State fan as both of her parents are Wolfpack alumni. Michael Jordan was a huge deal in North Carolina when Lindsey was growing up, and after a summer spent at UNC’s Sports Journalism Camp back in high school, Lindsey was set on being a Tar Heel.

Lindsey's favorite college coach of all time is Roy Williams. During her time attending UNC Chapel Hill and writing for The Daily Tar Heel, Lindsey was lucky enough to meet and speak with Williams a few times. He was like a celebrity on UNC’s campus and was beloved for his coaching style and success with the Tar Heels, accumulating three NCAA championship titles in 18 years.

When not watching or writing about sports, Lindsey enjoys reading, trying new restaurants and coffee shops, and spending time with my friends, family and dog. She also likes to journal, watch movies and paint.

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Edited by Alvin Amansec