In my mind, high school and college football are getting too big, and there's too much money at stake. At some point, I think the system needs to shift away from the current model and move toward a similar system as major junior hockey in Canada (16-20 year olds). There's a draft, the players still must go to school (but without the farce of calling them 'student athletes'), they can be drafted into the pros and, if they aren't ready, sent back to their junior teams, with the pro team still holding their rights. The teams themselves are run like pro teams, are for-profit, players can be traded, and players not drafted to the pros or deemed 'not ready' can still go back and play at the university level when they get too old (although not in the US because they're no longer considered amateurs...but seriously, a lot of these elite high school and college players aren't really 'amateurs' either). Kids who are late bloomers or not considered 'elite' or good enough for major junior always have the option of playing at the university level.
I know that won't be a popular option for the St. Thomas' and Bamas of the football world, but it makes the most sense to me. Prepare them for the pros without having the ridiculous limitations of the 'rules' and everyone doing everything they can circumvent those rules.
