Has The NIL Gone Too Far? Lane Kiffin Thinks So
The NIL or the Name, Image, and Likeness agreement is something that has rocked the college sports landscape since it was first introduced in 2019. The agreement was first shoved into action when the state of California enacted it into law on September 30th, 2019. This allowed all collegiate athletes in state to be able to make money off of themselves, something the multi-billion dollar NCAA (governing body of collegiate athletes) didn’t allow up to that point. The Supreme Court then handed the NCAA a huge loss, when they ruled in favor of a nation wide NIL agreement back in July of 2021. Players were now allowed to make money off of their own image and basically got the rights to themselves back from their respective Universities. This landmark decision forced an unprepared NCAA to respect any endorsements a player could possibly receive. While the NIL may be the right decision, its sudden entrance into the rule book has caused a wild west to appear in the college football landscape. This landscape has caused many fights between coaches, who all have their respective opinions on the NIL. This past month Ole Miss Head Coach, Lane Kiffin, remarked a very startling opinion on what he thinks the NIL has done to college football.
Lane Kiffin has been very blunt with his stance on the NIL. Kiffin has remarked that “In order to succeed with the NIL you have to have really good boosters”. By saying things like this Kiffin has basically set his stance that with the NIL as it is, the Universities with the highest football budgets will get the best recruits. Kiffin likened the current state of NIL to the state of the MLB. Kiffin believes that with no salary cap the teams with the biggest budgets will have a strangle hold on CFB. Kiffin might not be wrong in this regard, as teams like Alabama, USC, and Texas can now sign recruits strictly because they can shell out more money than opposing teams. Kiffin is worried that Ole Miss might turn out to be the Oakland Athletics to Alabama’s New York Yankees.
Kiffin went farther with his comments after proposing the NCAA institute a salary cap just like the NFL. “I’m sure other people said it. I said day one, you legalize cheating, so get ready for the people that have the most money to get players. Now you have it. It is what it is.”
The NIL definitely needs to be improved and Kiffin raises a lot of good points in his statements. What Kiffin fails to realize is that payment to players in the NCAA isn’t a new thing. Legal payment is certainly new but illegal payment is something Ole Miss used to specialize in. Ole Miss and Mississippi State were the headliners in a huge illegal recruitment scandal during the 2010’s, prior to Kiffin’s tenure. Recruits would discreetly receive payments directly from the schools and the recruits would then sign for the school. Ole Miss’ dangerous 2014 team was built from illegal payments to get big recruits such as Laremy Tunsil, Laquan Treadwell, and Robert Nkemdiche. Nkemdiche even reportedly received 250K in illegal benefits directly from Ole Miss.
The NIL is simply allowing players to not have to get their funds directly from Universities. If a player is big enough, it won’t matter where that player goes, he will get paid. Endorsements in the NFL are certainly not based off where a certain player plays. Tom Brady is one of the most profitable players in the NFL, he doesn’t play in New York, he plays in Tampa Bay and still makes a fortune off endorsements. Upcoming 2023 QB Arch Manning is one of the biggest names in college football recruiting. He just committed to Texas, but i’m 100% sure he could get the same endorsements he gets at Texas if he decided to commit to Ole Miss. Sorry Lane, but Nike isn’t gonna stop signing someone just because they don’t play at a specific University. Where Lane does have a point is the NIL opportunities at a local level.
The University of Miami has been through a lot of turmoil in the past 20 years. Ever since the University’s last National Title in 2001, the Canes have found themselves dwindling in a competitive ACC. To combat this, Miami has becoming extremely innovative with the new changes to the NCAA landscape. When the transfer portal became more prominent, Miami made serious pushes for players like Jaelan Phillips and Tate Martell. One of which (Phillips) would help the Canes get back into the competitive scene. Miami is now taking advantage of the NIL. Miami has one of the top NIL collectives which makes them very intriguing to the average recruit. Collectives essentially guarantee that any recruit that signs to the school, will already have a NIL deal in place, just for being rostered. This gives Miami a huge advantage in recruiting and is one of the big reasons why they have seen a surge in high profile 2023 and 2024 recruits.
One of those top recruits is 4 star quarterback Jaden Rashada. Rashada, (who isn’t even the top QB in his class) will receive 9.5 million dollars for just stepping on the Miami campus in fall 2023. This is all thanks to top Miami booster John Ruiz. This deal will pay Rashada more than most NFL first round draft picks! Some notable players he will make more money than are Justin Jefferson, Mac Jones, and Justin Fields. Rashada will even make 7.5 million dollars more than Jones in 2023. To put that in perspective, Rashada most likely will backup Jake Garcia in 2023 and Mac Jones will be in his third year starting for the New England Patriots. To say the NIL benefits have gotten out of control locally is a bit of an understatement.
The NIL is something that is necessary for the freedoms of college athletes but it must be regulated stronger. To have benefits coming to players legally instead of under the table is a huge stride in the right direction, but Kiffin does get it right in regards to regulation. The NCAA should have been better prepared to deal with such a big change like the NIL. In the coming years a cap or some type of regulation should be placed on sponsorships or boosters contributing to athletes. There should be no world where a successful NFL QB is being paid less than a college freshman riding the bench.
The NIL allows players to have the money to go back to school if they fail out in the pros and also allows them to not have to take under the table memorabilia payments to capitalize on their own success. These things are what the NIL should stand for. Allowing kids to get security and funds for what they earned. The NCAA isn’t the NFL and college kids shouldn’t be being faced with a version of free agency this early in their lives. It’s the wild west in college sports right now and the NCAA needs to regulate this quick.
