Category Archives: NIL

You Might Not Have a Union, But You Certainly Can Strike

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With the back and forth in Washington and in the front offices of the SEC and B1G, there’s something to be said that there are many who are attempting to put the kibosh on the wild and reckless spending that is coming out of the NIL and Portal era of College Football.

But would cutting spending in half be the end of it all? Long term, maybe yes. Short term, it’s opening up a new world of problems…player strikes.

Think of it this way. Schools at the top level are essentially paying $40 million for their football rosters and $20 million in basketball right now. If that pool of money shrinks by half — and it likely would, by design, if the Protect College Sports Act becomes law — it would be a huge mistake to underestimate the wildfire of discontent that could follow.

“There’s a virality to it,” one source who operates in the space told Yahoo Sports.

Historically, organizing college athletes into a real labor movement has been an impossibly difficult task. Various groups have tried to build underground movements, but they only go so far.

It’s not just a numbers problem — try getting a football locker room of 100 diverse backgrounds to do anything in unison, then multiply that by the amount of teams you need to execute a real national boycott — but an issue of incentives. Pre-NIL, most athletes fell into two camps: They were either making a pit stop before the NBA/NFL, or they had no future in pro sports and just wanted the education. Neither had much reason to rock the boat.

As former Michigan basketball player Duncan Robinson revealed to The Athletic after graduating, he and two teammates started down the road of organizing a player boycott of the open practice on the Friday before the 2018 Final Four. They approached players on the other teams, who also had interest. And then, because of concerns it wouldn’t be a unified front, they backed away.

And that was just for an open practice, not a Final Four game with millions of people watching and massive amounts of money at stake.

I’d imagine that a pay cut would warrant many to reconsider their current line of employment, but given that there would be no other options, save for being a MLB early prospect, what else would they do?

Oh, they might decide to sue. Unionize. Then imagine what would happen next.

Nick Saban, Frugal Advocate of College Football

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I’m not going to pay a lot for this stacked roster!

Question – how much did they spend prior to the first year or NIL?

Second question…was Nick singing the same tune when he was the highest paid coach in college football, setting off the space race for coaching salaries that we’re dealing with today?

Trolling a Joint Together

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The SEC, the B1G, together again. Dogs and cats living together. It’s the rapture (of money, probably).

I will agree, if you want something to go slow, get politicians involved. So, yes, they have a point to that…but to suggest that anyone in college football has pivoted quickly to regulate anything is a laughable farce.

And don’t get me started on the “equity” that is being quietly communicated here, too. One of these two groups has reaped the benefits of the NIL era more than the other, so for the two to come together and pretend they’re on the same page is lunatic fringe material, too.

And finally, “lasting stability for college athletics”…is doing some heavy lifting.

Howdy, Partner

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I mean, what could possibly go wrong with this?

Mustang Partners today announced an innovative, multi-year partnership with Krida, a digital engagement platform founded by Bhavesh Kalia, a graduate of SMU’s Cox School of Business. The agreement will launch the SMU Mustang Coin as a new fan engagement platform designed to connect Mustang fans, student-athletes, and students through interactive digital experiences and community-driven programming.
 
Krida is a Dallas-based platform redefining how universities engage with their fans in the modern era of college athletics. Built at the intersection of sports, culture, and digital engagement, Krida partners with schools to launch official digital fan engagement programs – such as the SMU Mustang Coin – that unlock interactive experiences, exclusive access, and rewards that deepen participation and strengthen community connection.
 
“This partnership is truly ‘By Mustangs, for Mustangs’ and we are so proud to support an SMU graduate and entrepreneur and join together as first movers in this exciting new space,” said Brian Ullmann, Executive Deputy Director of Athletics. “Our partnership with Krida reflects Mustang Partners’ focus on identifying new, bold, untapped opportunities that enhance the fan experience. In this hyper-competitive era of college athletics, it is critical for SMU Athletics to continue to innovate and create new opportunities.”
 
“Returning to SMU just one year after graduating to build something meaningful with the university is incredibly special,” said Bhavesh Kalia, Founder of Krida. “This partnership is about creating new ways for fans to engage, for students to learn, and for Krida to continue building for the future.” (emphasis added)

So a recent grad has a thunk, it involves copious amounts of money to lure athletes to the University on a palace made of sand, and people are expected to invest heavily in it and expect that, of all places, SMU, nothing will go wrong.

History has a strange way of repeating itself, and I think we might see it again sooner than later.

Also, desperation is a smelly cologne.

Ute Can’t Be Serious

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Desperate for cash? Make sure you’re paying attention to what’s happening in Utah right now, okay?

Utah needed money, Otro Capital offered a mirage of an oasis to a parched program, and the next thing you know, the university is $500 million to the good — and still firing employees. 

Check me if I’m wrong, Sparky, but half a billion seems like enough cash to keep everyone employed. 

In an email sent to athletic department employees and obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan described the firings as — are you ready for this? — “impacted employees” of an “unsettling process” during their “transition.”

Then came the official response from an athletic department spokesperson, and it wasn’t much better. 

“In preparation for the growth of Crimson Brand Partners, the university has begun the process of transitioning select units of some university operations to the new company. The first step of that process requires the discontinuation of the individual positions in those units through a reduction in force (RIF), to be followed by CBP’s hiring process.”

So a massive infusion of cash results in…downsizing? Sounds about right.

That’s gotta be worth a uniform patch or a helmet sticker, amirite?

Buc ees Loves the Bulldogs?

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Quick note: the game has been pushed up to 5 pm today on SEC+ because of potential inclement weather.

If you’ve been watching the Diamond Dawgs this season, you’ll know that Sour Power has been a big part of the dugout and the post-game celebrations. Well, folks, Buc ees heard that they were running low on supplies and sounds like they’ve stepped up.

In case you haven’t seen it…

You know what this means, though…I’m sure Josh is thinking of it already…

Bound to happen…but until then, thank you Buc ees and Go Dawgs!

The Spring Portal Loophole: Track and Field

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You had to have known someone would find a way around it, didn’t you?

Ingenuity and creativity win the day. It’s a shame Nico didn’t think of that to get to UCLA in the first place. Remember Nico Iamaleavingya? He’s still there!

Can’t say I blame anyone for finding a loophole; however, this adds one more wrinkle for the NCAA to consider before they just wave the white flag and say “fuck it”. One more step to breaking away from the NCAA, and a step closer to the eventual formation of the super conference that will someday govern itself. Just ask Ted Cruz:

Sigh.

I’ll Tell If You Tell

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Pete Golding, with a stern retort to the idea that the NCAA is going to investigate him and Ole Miss’s tampering allegations:

MIRAMAR BEACH, FL – Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, at the center of a high-profile NCAA investigation into alleged tampering, has informed the NCAA he will expose rampant tampering in the sport if sanctioned, a person close to the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

Golding declined comment to USA TODAY Sports when asked Wednesday if he threatened the NCAA — but spoke at length on tampering problems in college football.

“I think a lot of things make headlines,” Golding said. “There’s a lot more people involved that everybody might not know. I’m not gonna sit up here and say whatever we did or we didn’t do, was it right or was it wrong? But, you know, when you go through what we went through (with tampering), and what you’re seeing day-in and day-out, some things you feel like shouldn’t matter that, you know, they’re making a big deal about.”

In truth, it’s the offseason, so there is probably more being blown up about this than it would receive were it during the season. But, for some reason, Golding is the first coach to get really called out on it AND have the threat of NCAA investigations to follow. Tampering has been alleged for as long as the portal and NIL have been a thing, but something about this has a stink to it.

Is it that no one can believe Ole Miss is this good? You don’t hear the same for the Indianas and Miamis of college football who thrive off this, so why Golding and Ole Miss? Is it because Golding killed Alabama’s defense and King Saban is giving the thumbs down from afar?

If Golding decides to sing, let me be the first to say it’d would make me happy to give me more blogging fodder, but do I think anything would happen to anyone as a result?

Nah. But it would worth buying some extra popcorn, wouldn’t it?

IPTAY: I’ll Pay Ten Attorneys, Y’all

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Dabo versus Golding ain’t over yet, folks

According to documents obtained by ESPN through an open-records request, an NCAA associate director of enforcement emailed Ole Miss senior associate athletic director for compliance Taylor Hall on Jan. 23, a couple of hours before a news conference in which Swinney blasted Golding for allegedly tampering with Ferrelli, who, after transferring from California, had enrolled at Clemson before then leaving for Ole Miss.

“Thanks for speaking with us earlier today,” the associate director wrote in the email to Hall. “As we discussed, the enforcement staff is opening an investigation into the football program at the University of Mississippi. Additionally, please let this email serve as a reminder that the institution and its representatives have an affirmative and automatic duty under Bylaw 19.2 to preserve all relevant materials.”

In the email, the associate director requested that Golding’s university-issued cell phone and personal phones be forensically imaged. The NCAA also requested the same of phones used by Ole Miss general manager Austin Thomas, inside linebackers coach Jay Shoop, outside linebackers coach Matt Kitchens, director of player personnel Jai Choudhary and senior associate athletic director for strategy/cap management Matt McLaughlin.

The NCAA also asked that Ferrelli’s phones be forensically imaged and that each individual’s phone records from December 2025 to January 2026 be submitted to enforcement staff.

An Ole Miss official declined comment when contacted by ESPN on Friday. Clemson also declined to comment.

Well. I thought they were just going to sweep this under the rug and everything, but it looks like it’s not dead, yet.

Question is, what makes this unique enough to warrant this level of investigation, versus the countless other allegations of tampering we’ve head about in recent years? Was it because Dabo came out publicly and had receipts? Was it because Ole Miss already had eyes on them for other reasons?

Inquiring Minds would like to know. What’s more important is that, somehow, Golding is making this guy look like he was a moral figurehead at Ole Miss.

That’s some heavy lifting, as they say.

PeeWee Gets a Purse

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Well this came out of literally nowhere.

Adam Wexler, a 2007 graduate of Georgia and the founder of PrizePicks, is committing $10 million to the Bulldog men’s basketball program. The money will be used for “personnel and operating expenses within the Georgia men’s basketball program, with a portion going toward the Athletic Director Excellence Fund”, according to a release from Georgia.

The commitment is the largest philanthropic commitment in UGA Athletic Association history.

“The University of Georgia has always meant a tremendous amount to me and my family,” Wexler said in a statement released by Georgia. “Watching my father’s lifelong connection to this university shaped my appreciation for what Georgia represents: opportunity, culture, and excellence. There has never been a more interesting time in the history of collegiate athletics for donors to make a difference, and I’d love for this to be the start of something much bigger for the Bulldog community.”

Wexler’s father, Alan Wexler, was a two-sport athlete at Georgia, playing on the football team alongside Fran Tarkenton. The senior Wexler also spent time as the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Red & Black.

Say, let’s use that money to attract some of those pros back from the NBA to Athens. Here’s one we can go for:

I mean, if LSU and Alabama can do it, why can’t we? We just need a local judge’s blessing and we’re good to go.