Texas A&M boosters pay $30 million NIL to get #1 recruiting class
- Thread starter YouSayPotato
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This stuff won’t last. It will always persist but boosters will get tired of paying out insane sums of money for little return and things will go back closer to normal vs these kids getting promised millions of dollars before even stepping onto a COLLEGE field. These kids think they are used now…what if they never see a penny of the money they were promised because they don’t ever play or achieve on the field?
all NIL deals SHOULd be public and registered with the schools IMO.
all NIL deals SHOULd be public and registered with the schools IMO.
Yep, the NCAA sure cleaned up the corruption marring the college athletic landscape. Thanks, guys. None of us saw this coming- right? (very TIC)
The way it is explained they neither have to achieve or even play. They sign up and get paid just by showing up on campus in the fall (or spring if the family wants the money right away, probably).
For those boosters this is likely not obscene money- they can go on doing this forever. If they continue to do this the team's win/loss will certainly be impacted in a positive way and that makes it money well spent. It will just spread to other programs that have resources to make it happen, leaving the rest of us behind, just like before this problem was "fixed" only now it is done openly without fear of penalties of any kind.
It may not always be 30 million but it will always be in the millions. Boosters, especially in the SEC, have already been doing this for a decade plus. This will absolutely be the new norm. I have personally witnessed people without much money giving thousands of dollars to high school football players. They take football serious down here.
I disagree...it not only will last, but, it will get to a point even where a very small subset schools will dominate as a result...a true case of the "rich getting richer".
This is happening and developing...seems like a no-brainer that this happens with OSU sooner than later...UM as well.
If true and accurate, that is just dumb. This isn't pay to play. Its pay to enroll. And for what? Meaningless recruiting rankings? Just dumb.
If Boosters want to throw their money away, they can go ahead and do so if they want.
Ewers got a $1 million NIL deal at OSU. He stayed a year and transferred. What did OSU get out of that?
It is not just for "meaningless recruiting rankings"...it is to get the best players.
OSU got Ewers and had the chance to play/use him if he was indeed the best QB. He left because he was not...OSU lost nothing at all (not like THEY paid him), and, they will do the same with another HS QB no doubt and maybe with the next one, he is THE guy.
Boosters want to have their team win, and, they desperately want to feel like they helped with or played a part in that. The problem is that there are some incredibly wealthy guys more than willing to spend money for their favorite school.
Again, this is only going to get worse...tip of the iceberg only at the moment...in time, there will be only a small group of power (and wealthy) schools landing the best players and competing for National Championships.
I concur with your gloomy assessment. You can pretty much name about ten schools that will pony up big NIL bucks and the rest will be in their dust. U of Texas already has a $50,000/yr club for offensive linemen and they pulled in one of the top OL recruiting classes this year.
Frustrating thing is that none of this has to be reported to the NCAA, or the conference, or even to the football team's own school administration. It's really all an underworld where recruits are being quietly bid upon and then they sign with whoever pays top dollar.
$50,000 per OL per year
OSU lost nothing, nor did their boosters. The $1 million deal required that he start at QB for at least eight games his freshman year. When he arrived at Columbus and saw that he wasn't #1 on the depth chart, he transferred.
That's exactly my point. Booster can pay all they want but it guarantees nothing. OSU boosters got the #1 QB to sign. That is meaningless because he left.
Wasnt this already absolutely true?
Alabama, OSU, Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Alabama, Clemson, Alabama, Alabama, Alabama.
Notice something there???
It is exactly what it is...and, exactly what anyone that paid attention expected/predicted. It is a complete joke, and, it will do far more damage than good.
Like say, schools like A&M, Texas, Alabama, Georgia...and plenty of others...they will (and have already) use this...OSU is going to do it (and is one of the few in the B1G that will be able to at a level along the lines of those other mentioned schools).
THIS is why there is no need for CFP expansion...it is already going to be a case of the same teams every year being in it...the only reason they want expansion is to be able to ensure that they can be a part and in turn maintain these arrangements.
Lol. He still signed at OSU because of an NLI deal. That's what you are complaining about right? Signing the best players because of NLI deals?
Point is, it didnt matter anyway because he left.
On your first point, they had the kid though...if he happened to be Trevor Lawrence, it was well worth it...and, maybe the next time, it is. Well worth getting him on campus to see. They kept him from going somewhere else...that was a bonus as well, especially had he been as great as they hoped.
As to the second point...it is true...just going to be more true. These things were happening at some of those places already...it just was covered up...now...just can blatantly happen...and, is/will...to an even greater extent.
So we’re believing a message board user named “Sliced Bread” for this “scoop”?
Have Wolegib or JohnnyLOLOLOLOLOL weighed in with their reporting yet ?
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They're not preventing him from going elsewhere because he left. They can leave in the portal whenever they want.
Boosters can offer whatever they want to get a kid so sign. But that is still meaningless without winning games.
Just like you said about Ewers... If they're not #1 on the depth chart, they will just leave. The NLI becomes meaningless. And if they were actually paid just for signing, then those boosters are idiots.
Jimbo's press conference was outstanding with respect to this particular matter...and "source".
Well, A&M coach Jimbo Fisher went on a rant about the story but if you read his words, he doesn't deny it. He further says an ND administrator and several SEC coaches are also saying these 'lies' about A&M.
I believe Sliced Bread and I think we're going to see a lot more of it.
Jimbo goes ballistic
I am not sure by what you keep referring to as "meaningless".
They got the kid...if the kid were indeed the greatest QB ever, then they "won" or what not. He was not, but, that does not take away from the fact that they got him had he been...he just ended up not being better than who they had.
By getting him, they also kept someone else from getting him. So, they won in that regard...even more so if he might have played at somewhere else and beat them despite not playing for them.
It did not work out for Ewers at OSU...that is on Ewers, not OSU...but, they got him and had him (and would still have him likely had it worked out). That said, what keeps Alabama or USC or Texas A&M from offering him more money to come play for them even if he was indeed THE guy at OSU? I mean, Georgia's top WR just transferred to Alabama.
Meaningless as in the NLI accomplished nothing because he never played a down for OSU and left after 1 year. They didnt keep him from anyone because he still left and still has 4 years of eligibility elsewhere.
If George and Bell signed with Purdue but never played a down and they left after 1 year...their signing would be meaningless. Because they accomplished nothing for Purdue. It's the same as if they never signed with Purdue the first place.
Your last point about transferring is an issue with the Portal itself. And Georgia's top WR going to Alabama is a bad example. He's going from a national championship winner/contender to a national championship winner/contender. It changes nothing in the grand scheme.
This is my concern. Not losing recruits to the big boys, that is and has been happening forever. But losing proven, established PLAYERS is another thing.
What if Nic Caraway, who grew up near College Station, tears it up this fall? What’s to keep these TAMU boosters from contacting his family, HS coach, etc with a more lucrative offer?
Are you serious? He's obviously transferring for a hefty NIL payout. NC contenders have nothing to do with it.
I’m sure there is at least a little truth to it. But I’d like to see more proof before I believe the amount.
I guess sort of. But if they hit on 7 of 10 then they are probably rolling so seems like a win to me. Pointing out one guy that didn’t work as proof the overall strategy doesn’t work seems silly to me. My guess is that the teams paying the most have the best classes and the teams with the best classes will mostly stay in the top ten. I am certain this strategy works and will continue to do so.
That is the real concern yes. It's a real problem with the portal and immediate eligibility. If he had to sit 1 year, would it still happen? I dont know.
It is absolutely going to happen...
Lucky for Purdue, NIL was not in play while they were fortunate enough to have Rondale Moore, George Karlaftis and David Bell.
Maybe in some cases...with some kids...it won't matter...but, it absolutely will for/with others.
Without question Alabama would have reached out to David Bell if he were not able to declare this year...
It will be the same in time with basketball as well...hell, it already is the case with Auburn and LSU...was at/will be at Louisville...same for UK.
At least in basketball, you have a fighting chance to find a guy or two...you only are dealing with 13 guys and 5 starters.
Great point...not one that I had not considered, I just failed to mention it explicitly...but, yes, Portal/Immediate Eligibility only compounds the problem...significantly.
Precisely...and, all coincides with NCAA basically saying "F@(k it!"
A legit free for all...to an extent that has never really existed before.
Jimbo Fisher pretty much confirms it himself in a Freudian slip during his rant:
"This $30 million deal is a joke. This thing that there's some fund out there and it was written on BroBible by some guy named Sliced Bread and all of a sudden the country believes it, it's a joke," Fisher said on CBS Sports HQ. "It didn't affect recruiting at all. The people who wanted to make comments on it have no idea what's going on. It's insulting to the players who come here and the people around us."
Notice he did nothing to deny that the NIL fund existed. Instead, he seems to confirm its existence by saying "It didn't affect recruiting at all."
Exactly WHAT didn't effect recruiting at all?
In essence, they already have. You can buy PWOs if you give them big enough NIL deals.
So $30 million being promised for distribution among 29 high school kids didn't affect their decisions?
And that in fact summarizes the entire problem.
I agree. But that figure strikes me as a jealous Horns fan pulling a number out of his backside.
Mmmmm. Now that is an idea. Think it will work?
Let's say OSU offers all of UMs recruits NLI deals the eve of signing day. $1 million each, to sign as PWOs at OSU for one year....
Yikes.
That may be true unless the boosters have wealth that mirrors Jeff Bezos. (Which could happen with assets off the books like land).
if the boosters have $1B in asset wealth….and they make 7% each year, that’s $70M each year in disposable income.
I can guarantee I were Jeff Bezos there is absolutely NO WAY David Bell and George Karlaftis would have turned pro this year, because they would have had NIL contracts that would have made them richer than the NFL in 2022. (HINT: there is no “salary cap” in CFB). Same with Demarcus Mitchell and several others in the portal.
I wonder at some point if College Football could compete with the NFL for talent, at least for players between 18-23 yrs old. (And actually beyond age 23 if Boosters are thinking intelligently of ways to circumvent the system limitations).
There’s lots of oil money in Texas and Oklahoma and I expect T Boone Pickens offspring (and the like) are trying to find ways to make Oklahoma State #1.
welcome to Pandora’s box.
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