Often controversial Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin has lent his opinion to one of sports’ more controversial topics.

Asked on Tuesday what his thoughts are on paying amateur athletes following the recent FBI investigation into several major college basketball programs, Kiffin initially said the issue was "above me" before explaining that he sees both sides of the long-running debate.

"I’ve been there with the elite guys — whether they go pro or stay and how much they give up by doing that," Kiffin said. "I’ve been with the elite players who have made that university a lot of money."

Kiffin’s first NFL draft as a head coach was in 2007, a year that saw 40 underclassmen declare early. This past April, 95 players entered the draft early, not to mention an additional eight underclassmen who declared after fulfilling the requirements for their degrees.

As Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16, Kiffin saw both wide receiver Amari Cooper and running back Derrick Henry declare early. Cooper has blossomed into a two-time Pro Bowler for the Oakland Raiders, while Henry has run for 668 yards in 19 games over the past two seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

Kiffin’s rise to prominence came as an assistant coach with the Southern Cal Trojans, a team whose 2004 national championship and the entirety of its 2005 season were vacated after it was found that running back Reggie Bush illegally took gifts from agents.

Basketball player O.J. Mayo, currently banned from the NBA for drug violations, was found guilty of the same violation while at USC, causing the Trojans to give up the wins from their 2007-08 season and sit out postseason play in 2010.

"They used to say — I won’t say which player — but a player said, ‘Coach, I don’t get it. I walk into the bookstore and they’re selling out on my jersey. I get nothing out of it,’" Kiffin recalled. "I see that side of it."

FAU’s on-campus bookstore does sell team jerseys, but with No. 61 to represent 1961, the year the university was created. Licensed T-shirts of former FAU running back Alfred Morris are sold, as well, though they come from his 2012-15 tenure with the Washington Redskins rather than his 2007-11 stint with the Owls.

Part of what has Kiffin torn, the coach explained, is there’s not an easy balance if schools begin paying players.

"Where is your answer going to be? Are you paying all (of the players)? Are you paying them equal?" Kiffin asked. "I don’t know that you could start playing them because I don’t know there’s a way to do it."

The issue of where the money to pay student-athletes would come from is also an issue, Kiffin added. Notably, he touched on the recruiting element where a player may choose one school over another simply because of the payday, not unlike how free agency works.

"You got smaller schools who can’t afford to do it, and obviously you can’t pay them from school stuff because people then start saying, ‘Well, OK, where’s that money coming from?’" Kiffin said. "I see both sides. I just don’t know how you can do it."