Potential NIL deals are all a part of the recruiting world now, and it’s absolutely okay. College football has to get past the stigma.
NIL deals are part of recruiting now, and it’s okay: Daily Cavalcade
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …
I live in Chicago and it’s February 2nd. I don’t have a slush fund, just slush.
The coach doth protest too much, methinks …
So did you hear the one about the college football head coach worth tens of millions of dollars pretending to be offended because a few other college football head coaches worth tens of millions of dollars pretended to be offended because someone on some message board posted some “irresponsible” rumor that there were tens of millions of dollars sitting there designed to entice college football players who aren’t worth tens of millions of dollars to go play at a school whose football program is worth hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars?
Yeah, so rival schools and coaches and fans were snipping and trolling because Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M just got done bringing in one of the greatest recruiting classes ever …
Welcome to recruiting, son. It’s a contact sport.
By now you’ve probably heard, seen, and/or read about the Fisher rant. If you haven’t, I’ll sum it all up as quickly as possible.
The “garbage” rumor was that Texas A&M has some secret slush fund of about $30 million or so to go to players and prospective Aggies. Instead of blowing it all off as hoo-ha, laughing, and moving on, Fisher went off, honked at a few supposedly hypocritical coaches for questioning A&M’s recruiting practices, blasted away at anyone insinuating anything wasn’t right, and …
Yeah. It was basically just another Wednesday in the SEC.
Here’s my question. If it’s not true, why doesn’t Texas A&M have a pile of $30 million hanging around ready to go towards NIL deals in a systematic way within the rules?
"I am pissed off!"
"Clowns!!"
"Hypocrisy!!!"
Jimbo Fisher pulled zero punches on #NSD22 pic.twitter.com/btT65ZONvc
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) February 2, 2022
Why isn’t it more? What don’t all big-time college football programs with big-time booster clubs and alumni bases have that?
It’s like all the coaches and schools haven’t figured out how reset the default setting to not think it’s a bad thing for players to receive fully kosher, formerly-improper benefits above the table.
It’s okay to have that money.
I know, I know, you’re not able give any NIL money directly to the players, but there are ways to do this. Oh, and by the way, they’re on scholarship and get stipends. They’re already getting paid, in a way.
It’s okay to fund other things – like scholarships for walk-ons – and use in creative ways as long as it’s not technically for NIL deals, and then use it for NIL deals.
But that’s cheating right? Oh, okay, but it’s cool to use that money to give it to … coaches?
Nah, you can’t give money to players, but there’s always enough somewhere to help pay a rich mediocre coach’s buyout clause to kick him to the curb.
Nah, you’re not able to entice prospects with NIL money, but why not have it and boast – just like major universities show off their massive endowments; like around $14 billion at Texas A&M – so anyone who goes to a top football school to play a high-profile position knows some cake will come from somewhere?
For example, do what Fisher pointed out Nick Saban so brilliantly did and grouse about how much Bryce Young is going to make as the Alabama quarterback.
– Recruiting 2022: 5 Schools That Crushed It
We must refuse to insult the intelligence of top college football players, prospects, and recruits by thinking they’re not factoring NIL into their decisions.
Coaches, schools, fellow countrymen, don’t make excuses if you have the infrastructure of NIL deals, funds, and plans in place.
Brag. Pitch. Be ahead of the curve.
It’s okay now. It really, really is.
