NIL Effect on Clemson, Rest of College Football

Say it with me; name, image, likeness.

Now it’s very important to understand that universities do not pay student athletes; they earn money from outside organizations utilizing only their own name, images, or likenesses.

Make no mistake, the implementation of NIL is a paradigm shift for college athletics, particularly football. Although we won’t fully understand the long term effects for several years, we can take a peek at what has transpired the first few days since it’s inception.

Since listing many of the deals that have already transpired will result in this article being incredibly long and lose focus, I will simply post a link that will include some of the higher profile deals that have already happened. Click here.

If you take a look at the list, you will see that Hercy Miller just signed a lucrative deal worth $2 million. Now he is the son of rapper Master P, so I’m sure that influenced the deal itself.

The number of deals already signed is immense, with athletes banking on everything from set dollar amounts, to commissions, and even the selling of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Some will be very lucrative, life changing money, definitely not chump change.

Although it’s been made clear that NIL cannot be used as a recruiting advantage, it would be disingenuous to actually believe that it will never happen. I mean, the speed limit shows 55 mph, but that doesn’t stop most of us from driving about 5 mph over.

It’s clear that the universities that choose to embrace and encourage NIL signings will have a tremendous recruiting advantage. Schools will also need state legislation cooperation to take full advantage of the NIL. At the time of this writing, 2 dozen states have already passed pro-NIL bills.

So what happens if a state and/or university refuses to cooperate? In short; it sucks to be you. Disregarding the possible legal ramifications (the Supreme Court ruling made it very clear that NIL is legal and here to stay), do you really believe that blue chip student athletes would choose to commit to a university in which the financial possibilities are non existent or limited? Of course not, they would choose an NIL friendly school and state in which they could make money. Wouldn’t you?

Luckily for Clemson fans, the state and University have embraced the NIL and several players including DJ Uiagalelei, Justyn Ross, Nolan Turner, Darien Rancher, and Trenton Simpson have either already signed or are in the process of securing deals. This is great news for Tigers fans as it will keep the players happy and aid in recruiting. Hopefully our beloved university will continue to help provide every opportunity to take full advantage of NIL deals for our student athletes.

When reading fan reactions, it quickly becomes clear that most are concerned that NIL may destroy the sport we love. It’s true, money does have a way of corrupting things. At the same time, you have to consider the viewpoint of the student athletes. College sports, particularly football, takes in massive piles of cash each year for many universities. Clemson earns over $50 million annually for football.

With those kinds of earnings, is it fair to restrict the athletes that make this treasure chest of riches for the school from making any themselves through their blood, sweat, and tears? Sure they get a scholarship, but is that really enough compensation for kids that literally risk life and limbs for the sport? How many players have we seen carted off the field due to injuries over the years? Pretty sure, “Man this was all worth that scholarship” wasn’t going through their head at that time.

Most of us have jobs which we earn a living. Imagine a world in which we were prevented from earning any other type compensation since we are contracted to our job. No side gigs, none whatsoever. It doesn’t sound so pleasant when the shoe is on the other foot.

What most fear isn’t really the NIL, it’s change itself. Death and taxes aren’t the only things in this world that are certain; add change to the list. Babies become kids, kids become teenagers, teenagers become adults, adults have kids themselves, adults become grandparents. It’s the natural cycle of life. Change is cyclical and inevitable, even moreso than Thanos.

As far as the rest of college football, expect change on the horizon, but likely not on the massive amount some are expecting. Sure, there will be some advantages to being in larger markets and more prominent areas, but it’s not insurmountable.

We live in the internet era, in which a zoom meeting can have us present anywhere in the world. The internet will help level the playing field. Don’t expect teams like Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Ohio State to just fade away. History shows us that although we may initially be resistant to change, we eventually accept and embrace it.