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USC’s latest recruiting coup has sent shockwaves through college football: the Trojans landed five-star tight end Mark Bowman, reportedly set to earn up to $10 million in NIL deals.

The staggering figure, more commonly reserved for quarterbacks, has ignited debate—but analysts say USC is investing in more than just a position. They’re paying for a game-changing mismatch.

Why USC Paid $10 Million For A Tight End

When news broke that Bowman, the nation’s top tight end, would be earning between $8 million and $10 million in NIL deals at USC, the reaction was swift and polarized. Critics questioned the wisdom—and fairness—of such an outlay for a non-quarterback, while rival fanbases accused USC of buying its way to the top.

Yet, as analyst J.D. PicKell explained, the investment is about much more than Bowman’s position.

“USC is not paying for a tight end,” PicKell said. “USC is paying for a mismatch in their game plan every single weekend… You’re not thinking about how much you’re paying Mark Bowman when he’s catching a game-winning touchdown against Ohio State in the Big 10 Championship… The mismatch part of it is awesome. That’s what you’re actually paying for.”

Bowman’s rare blend of size, speed, and versatility makes him a nightmare for defenses, precisely the kind of weapon head coach Lincoln Riley has built his offenses around. Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 225 pounds, Bowman moves like a receiver but blocks like a lineman, drawing comparisons to NFL-bound stars. In his last season at Mater Dei, he hauled in 32 passes for 435 yards and eight touchdowns, proving his ability to impact both the passing and running game.

USC’s approach is as much about strategy as it is about spectacle. Riley’s offense thrives on creating mismatches, and Bowman’s skill set fits perfectly into a system designed to exploit defensive weaknesses with tempo, motion, and creative personnel packages.

The Trojans aren’t just buying a player—they’re securing a tactical advantage that could define the next era of USC football.

Beyond the Numbers: The New NIL Reality

The Bowman signing emphasizes a massive change in college football recruiting. Even among signings sparked by NIL, financial packages are becoming a central part of the pitch for elite talent.

Though the $10 million number is eye-popping, it’s also emblematic of the market’s new realities. Top programs use their resources and location — USC’s campus in Los Angeles is a big part of the pull — to sell athletes on exposure and the earning potential few schools can offer.

But money wasn’t the only factor in Bowman’s decision. USC’s proximity to his Southern California home, the prestige of playing for a historic program, and the chance to be a focal point in Riley’s high-powered offense weighed heavily. Other bluebloods like Georgia and Texas were in the mix with competitive offers, but USC’s holistic pitch proved decisive on and off the field.

But they have not been without controversy. Others fear that NIL-created recruiting disparities will widen the haves-and-have-nots gap, ruin team chemistry, and chip away at the establishment amateur ethos of sports at the college level.

KEEP READING: ‘It’s a Blessing to Carry That Legacy’: 5-Star Ohio State Commit Chris Henry Jr. Reflects on His Father’s Impact

But as PicKell and others say, this is just the new normal: programs must be aggressive and clever to get the sorts of difference-makers that can change the game.

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Andrew Brandt and U of L AD Josh Heird were colleagues at Villanova from 2016-19 and bonded over their love of running.Brandt said Heird reached out to him in November after hearing about legal machinations ahead with the House settlement and the implementation of revenue sharing in college sports.Andrew Brandt, former vice president of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, started as a consultant for the University of Louisville Athletic Association (ULAA) in January to help U of L navigate the upcoming era of college sports.

The House vs. NCAA settlement, finally approved by Judge Claudia Wilken on Friday, established a revenue-sharing system whereby schools can directly pay their athletes starting July 1 with a $20.5 million cap per institution. Brandt is charged with helping the Cards negotiate contracts and handle “free agency every year” via the transfer portal. He spoke with The Courier Journal about his new role.

“I’ve really enjoyed it. He’s really got a good team,” Brandt said of working with Louisville athletics director Josh Heird and his department. “I think I told Josh at the beginning, ‘Listen, I’m new with this too. I just have to be up front. You’re not hiring an experienced college sports consultant.’ He understood, and it’s really been a nice partnership so far.”

Brandt said Heird reached out to him in November after sitting in on ACC and general counsel meetings diving into the legal machinations ahead with the House settlement and the implementation of revenue sharing in college sports. They were colleagues at Villanova from 2016-19 (Brandt working as director of the Moorad Center for Sports Law; Heird holding a couple administrative positions in the athletics department) and bonded over their love of running. 

Various schools had previously approached Brandt to talk about general manager positions, considering his NFL background. He worked as vice president of the Green Bay Packers from 1999-2008. In that role Brandt negotiated player contracts, managed the salary cap and handled all football business operations.

But a GM job didn’t interest him. He didn’t want to leave Villanova. Or abandon any of his other projects, like the Sunday Seven newsletter, Business of Sports podcast and his Sports Illustrated column. So a consulting gig with Louisville sounded like the perfect way to marry Brandt’s desire to be involved with college sports and maintain his other responsibilities.

“What (appealed) to me was a way to keep my involvement in sports and advising college sports,” Brandt said.He and Heird came up with the title “Consultant to the University of Louisville Athletic Department.” They officially agreed to a deal in January.Brandt’s current contract with U of L runs from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, according to a document obtained by The Courier Journal. The deal can be renewed at the discretion of both parties but must never exceed 12 months at a time.He will be paid a $150,000 fee for his services distributed in monthly payments of $12,500. Brandt can also be paid up to $15,000 for travel expenses. His compensation will max out at $165,000, and he agreed to indemnify the ULAA against any “costs, liability, expenses (including reasonable attorney fees), damages, and lawsuits whatsoever arising from” his performance. Brandt’s role is that of a consultant, not an employee of the university or athletics department. His job is described in the agreement as “providing expert guidance on contracts and contract negotiations involving student athletes.”The section of the contract describing the services Brand is to provide reads as follows:“Andrew will assist us (the ULAA) in negotiating contracts where student-athletes are paid directly by institutions, a significant change expected to take effect on July 1, pending the settlement approval of the House vs NCAA court case. Given the rapid pace of developments in revenue-sharing models and the transfer portal, his guidance will also support our efforts to address immediate concerns with current and potential transfer students engaging in these discussions.”

How are the Cardinals preparing for July 1? What will revenue-sharing contracts look like?

At Villanova, Brandt has advised athletes on selecting agents, the business of sports and career options in a mentorship capacity rather than working directly with the athletics department. But before that, he helped the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles negotiate contracts.

From his perspective, college sports gain a closer resemblance to professional ranks with each passing day.

“Everything we’re talking about now have been staples of pro sports for 30 years,” Brandt said. “Salary cap, contract negotiations, player rights versus team rights, player discipline, contract clauses about morals, about redshirts, termination. All these kind of things have been staples of what I’ve done in the past.”

But there are some ways in which college athletes have it better than the pros. The main difference: free agency.

In the NFL, players have to wait three, four or more years to become a restricted or unrestricted free agent. In college sports, there’s free agency every year with the transfer portal (or twice a year for football with its December and April windows). 

With that in mind, how do the revenue-sharing contracts Brandt’s helping draw up at Louisville differ from those he negotiated in the NFL?

“They (pro athletes) are under contract for a series of years based on what we negotiate,” Brandt said. “There’s no opportunity to get out of the contract after one year, unless, of course, it’s a one-year deal. You have more rules and regulations, you have more restrictions, you have more things to reference in a collective bargaining agreement about benefits, about protections and trades, all those kinds of things. “We’re not there yet in college sports. But we are there in terms of free agency.”Brandt said learning about free agency in college sports has been a “striking experience.” As a lawyer, though, he understands. The argument lawyers have made and judges have agreed to basically comes down to: If a music or engineering major can transfer every year, why can’t a college athlete? Sure, it can be frustrating for coaches and fans to see players switch teams and have to assemble entire rosters from scratch every season. But until Congress passes some legislation regulating the process or college sports reaches a collective bargaining agreement, that’s just the way things are.Louisville’s templates for revenue sharing contracts are standard for all athletes, though some language differs by sport. When asked whether they’ll include performance incentives like bonuses for winning conference player of the year or averaging certain stats, Brandt said these agreements primarily cover name, image and likeness rights and compensation, but they’re starting to address performance and non-performance as well.While the House settlement’s approval brings some clarity to those in charge of running college sports, there’s still a lot they’ll figure out — just like they had to in the NIL era. Brandt and Louisville will figure it out together.

Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.

For Philadelphia, whose only FBS football program is forever on life support, the biggest news from the House v. NCAA settlement appears to be that Big East member Villanova belongs to the conference whose men’s basketball programs are expected to have the most money at their disposal of any conference.

The settlement means schools now can disburse a floating pool of money, expected to be a maximum of $20.5 million in the upcoming school year and increasing annually. This is on top of whatever name, image, and likeness money student-athletes negotiate for themselves, as long as the process of procuring that NIL money meets new guidelines.

In short, schools now will officially be paying their athletes salaries, and doing so in a sanctioned manner. Super. Good for the kids.

» READ MORE: Big changes coming in college sports after Federal judge approves settlement. Here’s what to know.

This will not, in any way, create any sort of equity, nor will it keep schools and boosters from cheating. It is lipsticking a pig that is irredeemably ugly and irretrievably unfair.

There are a mind-numbing number of other likely consequences, from the Power Four conferences continuing to splurge on their powerhouse football teams, to roster limits squeezing both recent college recruits and existing players off teams on which they planned to play or teams on which they’d already played, to kids getting grandfathered into schools but not on to the teams.

There’s a possibility the ruling is delayed by further legal wrangling, but when it goes forward, there will be tons of fallout and a few lawsuits, too: For example, when some Title IX audit at, say, Alabama reveals that the football team received $20.4 million while women’s soccer, tennis, and swimming split 100 grand. Roll over, Tide.

» READ MORE: Athletes express concern over NCAA settlement’s impact on non-revenue sports

And what would an NCAA resolution be without the creation of yet another layer of bureaucracy? Enter the College Sports Commission (CSC), a (supposedly) independent LLC tasked with enforcing the rather nebulous new rules, investigating alleged violations, and handing down punishments for those who run afoul of the nebulous new rules. This means that the bumbling NCAA, for decades a study in misadministration, no longer will selectively oversee or inconsistently adjudicate violations.

The CSC will rely on athletes self-reporting outside NIL deals. It also will be run by Bryan Seeley, whose last jobs involved running Major League Baseball’s often bizarre PED and domestic-violence investigations. He was hired by the commissioners of the Power Four conferences — the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, and Atlantic Coast Conference.

So, an MLB guy hired by bigwigs to police those same bigwigs.

What could possibly go wrong?

At any rate, using a formula that Division I programs like those in the Big East are unencumbered by FBS football programs — Villanova’s team is in the FCS, formerly known as Division I-AA — they’ll have more cash available for their premier programs. This should give teams like Villanova more available revenue, approaching $6 million on average per school, according to numbers presented at a the Global NIL Summit and reported by ESPN.com’s Dan Wetzel, or about 23% more than schools from the next highest-spending conferences.

Of course, that’s just the money coming from the school. That does not include money from third-party NIL sources, like NIL collectives such as Villanova’s “Friends of Nova,” which reportedly this season delivered $1.7 million in NIL money to star forward Eric Dixon. That source of money will not be capped, though any amount exceeding $600 must be validated by the CSC. And that money must be self-reported by the athlete.

Despite an already healthy NIL pool, Villanova missed the NCAA Tournament all three years after Jay Wright’s retirement and fired coach Kyle Neptune. The Wildcats hired Kevin Willard in March.

The main intent of the House class-action lawsuit was to pay current and former athletes in arrears of the next 10 years, and the NCAA and the group formerly known as the Power Five conferences (the Pac-12 used to be a power conference) will pay out nearly $2.8 billion to about 390,000 former and current athletes who played before 2021, when the current NIL rules were created, and it also resulted in the revenue-sharing model for the immediate future. Division I schools have until June 15 to opt in, and all of Philadelphia’s D-I schools either have or are expected to opt in. The Ivy League, which includes Penn, has said its schools will not opt in.

The adjudicators also sought to produce a path to contain NIL bidding wars that might make playing fields more even and oversee NIL income and expenditure.

For instance. Ohio State’s benefactors essentially bought a national title last season by spending a record $20 million on its team. However, assuming the Buckeyes and their ilk muster third-party NIL money, there’s no reason they can’t spend more than double that amount annually.

More locally, after the 2022-23 season, Penn lost Jordan Dingle, the Ivy League Player of the Year. He entered the transfer portal and landed at St. John’s, where he cashed in on NIL money in his final season of eligibility — NIL money that doesn’t exist in any large amounts at Ivy schools, since the league does not allow NIL collectives.

The Quakers went 9-5 in the Ivy League in both 2021-22 and 2022-23 with Dingle leading the way, but fell to 3-11 in 2023-24 without him. A 4-10 mark in 2024-25 led to the firing of coach Steve Donahue after nine seasons.

Donahue’s replacement, local high school and college legend and former Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, was hired in part because of his familiarity with NIL and the transfer portal.

» READ MORE: Penn brought Fran McCaffery home, where he can be near his brother, a longtime sportswriter recovering from a stroke

How McCaffery navigates these new, uncharted waters will be fascinating to watch.

As for Villanova:

No more excuses.

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