Link: 2026 Transfer Portal

[Isaiah 63:1]

I've been thinking a lot about why NIL is prevalent in college football and doesn't seem to be relevant in any other sport other than college basketball, but even that pales in comparison. Why isn't this done in the NFL?

It is done in the NFL. It's called an endorsement deal, whereby an athlete is paid to endorse a product based on the value of that athlete's name's being attached to the brand. It's what NIL was supposed to be before it became, through SMUification*, unvarnished pay-for-play...

* - SMUification noun | /ˌsmoo-ɪ-fɪ-keɪ-ʃən/

Etymology:​

Mid-1980s American collegiate slang, from SMU (Southern Methodist University) + -ification; first whispered in compliance offices, later mainstreamed in the early phases of unregulated "Name, Image, and Likeness" (sic) collegiate athletics deals.​

​

Definition:​

1. The process by which college athletics are transformed into a lavish, booster-funded spectacle when alumni of a major public university or small but wealthy private university - armed with abundant disposable income and a nostalgic indifference to rules or ethics - attempt to purchase overnight competitive dominance for their alma mater's sports teams, especially in football.
2. A cautionary condition marked by recruiting miracles, stunning transfer portal acquisitions, and the collective amnesia of anyone who remembers NCAA rulebooks or the intended meaning of "NIL".

Characteristics:​

• Rapid influx of cash described as “enthusiasm,” “community support,” or “sound investment.”
• Competitive success that accelerates faster than governance structures can invent new acronyms.
• Public insistence that this time it’s different, modern, transparent, and definitely allowed.
• Commitment to spend more next year when this year's team fails to win a playoff game (e.g., SMU 2024) or to make the playoff field or even its weak conference's championship game (e.g., SMU 2025)

Usage:​

• “What started as NIL ended in full-blown SMUification.”

Synonyms:​

Boosteritis, Pay-to-Play Maximalism, Efficient Player Pricing Mechanism, Pony Up Capitalism​

​

Antonyms:​

Humility; work-ethic; The Process​

​

See also:​

Death penalty (collegiate, historical); rule circumvention, creative; money cannon​

​

Note:​

Often invoked ironically, sometimes prophetically, and almost never by Dallasites wearing red and blue.​

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

I think this is what the staff does, they lay out a value to a "name", and see if they bite. The worst they can say is "NO".

I feel like Alabama fans are knowledgeable enough to not panic because some high profile players go elsewhere.

I believe that is what we have already seen and some here are saying that the GM isn't doing his job...

 

[KrAzY3]

I'm hearing this guy committed: https://247sports.com/player/caleb-smith-46141592/
From the area, former 3 star recruit. Not even sure this is an NIL deal situation, but with the 105 spots Alabama might have been able to offer him a scholarship now.

I think the answer is one of either two things. The first possible reason is that it's a ridiculous notion that fans would pay players to play for their team. NIL is still relatively new and somewhere in its infancy the power brokers at the schools got caught up in this and decided that collectives were a good way of paying players large sums of money within the rules. But I wonder if, at some point in the not too distant future, these power brokers are going to realize "what are we doing and why are we doing it?"

I think I can kind of answer the why part of this by explaining how the money actually works in college sports.

For years the media basically lied to the American public with the notion that college athletes were taken advantage of, that some unseen entity was getting rich off the hard work of these athletes. Not only was that not true, it was the other way around. Unseen entities were pouring literally billions of dollars into college athletics.

College sports are expensive. Here's a chart that doesn't really explain what's going on, but it shows some of it: https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances

The key to understand here is that allocated number. That's: "The sum of student fees, direct and indirect institutional support and state money allocated to the athletics department" Think of that number as college sports welfare. You'll see once you scroll down that most programs are in fact on welfare and usually it's a substantial part of their operational budget. To give an example, half of Central Florida's budget comes via this method. In some cases I've seen states spending 40 million a year to prop up a single athletic department.

This number does not reflect boosters/donors though. You'll note Texas is at 0%, Oregon at only .35%. The boosters donations in these cases are substantial, I think the biggest I've noticed was something like a single year where Phil Knight donated 100 million to Oregon athletics and A&M raising a similar amount. So it's fair to calculate something like another 10-20% of these budgets are coming via booster donations.

Once you factor it all in, college athletics are primarily funded by giveaways. Student giveaways, city giveaways, state giveaway booster giveaways, etc... Yes the biggest programs rely far less on handouts, but even programs like Alabama usually get 8 figures from donors a year.

It's basically the school bake sale culture on steroids. College sports followed the amateur model, and the amateur model has always been driven by donations. The only rule, the only thing protecting this whole model is you couldn't pay them directly. You could fund every element of their education, their participation in sports, their facilities and you could do so lavishly, you just couldn't put money directly in their pocket.

Now you can put money in their pocket, so that machine that's already built to pour billions into college athletics is now out of control because it's not built on a for profit model at all. There's no logic to restrain it beyond what people are willing to give.

To revisit an example, not that long ago Alabama built a golf practice facility for 47 million. Boosters played a large part in making that happen. It's an enormous waste obviously but these guys are programmed to do stuff like this. The golf program doesn't really make any money, most people will never see it, but still there were people who wanted to pay millions for it to happen. No for profit model would ever do such a thing. Apply that sort of "logic" to NIL and you see how we got here.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

I guess NIL money is what we have to pay the player to be able to use his name on his jersey....

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

I'm hearing this guy committed: https://247sports.com/player/caleb-smith-46141592/
From the area, former 3 star recruit. Not even sure this is an NIL deal situation, but with the 105 spots Alabama might have been able to offer him a scholarship now.

Ah! A "Sleeper"...finally!

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I wish real life was like college football. New job wants to hire me but I demand 5k just for the privilege of speaking to me.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2011170418615587162

 

[CrimsonTitles]

I do not profess to have powers to predict the future, but I could have told the Alabama staff on Portal day 1 that Coleman was not coming to Alabama. They should have realized this plus our WR room ain't exactly chopped liver. The truth is we did not need Coleman nearly as much as we do DL and OL transfers. I can only imagine the time, stress, and money wasted on trying to buy a Lamborghini when your budget only supports a Ford or Chevy.

So they just shouldn't try? Maybe they thought they had a shot due to the Derrick Nix connection. We were the only visit he took that isn't gonna play the crazy money game, so I'm guessing the staff was led to believe they had a shot despite not having the best offer. DeBoer and Grubb like having a big bodied receiver to go with the speedy ones, and we were missing that since Horton left. Colemen would've been a great fit, so you gotta try. It was no harm done here, because we got a receiver the next day, not quite as big as Coleman or Horton, but still a solid receiver with decent sizs.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Kirkpatrick Jr is coming back to Alabama.

 

[CrimsonTitles]

Kirkpatrick Jr is coming back to Alabama.

Great news! He's gonna be a stud when he fully develops, if he can stay out of trouble.

 

[bamamc1]

If the current situation seems to be getting worse regarding NIL I think Alabama may have to take a look at a Private Equity deal. If not, I’m not sure what will happen.

 

[Snuffy Smith]

Great news! He's gonna be a stud when he fully develops, if he can stay out of trouble.

I always feel like he is 1 tackle away from a targeting call - I like his motor but he needs to learn to control it a bit (no pun intended)

 

[CrimsonTitles]

If the current situation seems to be getting worse regarding NIL I think Alabama may have to take a look at a Private Equity deal. If not, I’m not sure what will happen.

The problem with that is, you can't use it for NIL, so I don't know that it would really help with what we want. It's always helpful to have extra revenue, but it's my understanding that NIL deals have to come from a third party, because you're supposed to have to prove it's strictly an endorsement deal, and not pay for play. I think we need to establish some sort of entrepreneurial program aimed at producing billionaire graduates, who would in theory, provide NIL funds.

 

[sanjosecrimson]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2011170418615587162

He wanted to be closer to home and stated when Bama reached out to him it was a no brainer to flip. Mind you, he's going to be a true sophomore coming in this summer with 3 years remaining on his eligibility

 

[CrimsonTitles]

He wanted to be closer to home and stated when Bama reached out to him it was a no brainer to flip. Mind you, he's going to be a true freshman coming in this summer.

Did DeBoer recruit him at Washington before he left? Just trying to get an idea of his upside. It doesn't look we offered out of high school.

 

[sanjosecrimson]

Did DeBoer recruit him at Washington before he left? Just trying to get an idea of his upside. It doesn't look we offered out of high school.

From further reading on his recruitment, Deboer did not offer him. I think adding depth is the primary objective here. He has room to grow and we know this staff can identify talent, see Landon Simmons for example on 3 star DL.

 

[CB4]

He wanted to be closer to home and stated when Bama reached out to him it was a no brainer to flip. Mind you, he's going to be a true sophomore coming in this summer with 3 years remaining on his eligibility

True sophomore but technically a redshirt freshman in terms of eligibility, right? I don’t think he played at Washington last year.

 

[Tide-one-on]

Is Junior College a thing anymore? We used to get a couple of guys years ago that usually helped us out when depth was thin.

 

[bamamc1]

The problem with that is, you can't use it for NIL, so I don't know that it would really help with what we want. It's always helpful to have extra revenue, but it's my understanding that NIL deals have to come from a third party, because you're supposed to have to prove it's strictly an endorsement deal, and not pay for play. I think we need to establish some sort of entrepreneurial program aimed at producing billionaire graduates, who would in theory, provide NIL funds.

I think you’re correct there but in this climate who knows what you can or can’t do. If we only knew someone with connections at Mercedes Benz

 

[Ledsteplin]

From further reading on his recruitment, Deboer did not offer him. I think adding depth is the primary objective here. He has room to grow and we know this staff can identify talent, see Landon Simmons for example on 3 star DL.

Says 265 lbs. That big enough for a DL?