Name, image and likeness (NIL) rights were created to finally allow college athletes to profit from their talent. That’s led to formerly unpaid amateur players becoming instant millionaires, using their newfound wealth to save and invest, help out family, or even share the money with their teammates.

But handing that much money to teenagers is also risky. Grown professional athletes have blown through millions of dollars in the past, and while the stories of “going broke” are more infrequent today, there’s still a risk.

In steps NIL financial advisors, whose sole focus is making money earned from college stretch further than the one to five years an athlete is in school. They advise clients on the benefits of saving, investing, budgeting, taxes, and saying “no.”

In the past 10 years, there has been a massive shift in player compensation. Former and current players across different sports have successfully challenged and sued for greater equity in college sports revenue, including increases in stipends (2015), the right to profit from their NIL (2021), and the right to receive direct compensation from their university (2025).

According to Opendorse, a company that facilitates NIL endorsements for athletes, it’s estimated that college football players alone earned $1 billion from NIL payments in 2024. The company estimates that total will nearly double ($1.9 billion) by the end of 2025 after the introduction of revenue sharing on July 1.

Didier Occident is a wealth management advisor at Milwaukee-based financial services firm Northwestern Mutual. He also runs a financial literacy program, Secure the Bag. It is for college and professional athletes.

Secure the Bag is a 60-minute presentation in which Occident discusses budgeting, personal credit, taxes, and other money matters. It puts the audience through an interactive budgeting game that requires them to make financial decisions based on real-world examples from the four years of NIL’s existence.

For example, there’s an athlete Occident represented who made an expensive, beyond-his-means purchase that got him down to almost no money — $75 to be exact. To get the player’s money back, he posted the item on Instagram for sale.

“There’s always that ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ feeling, but now these guys gotta keep up with IG,” he said.

Occident began working with college athletes around 2018 when conferences began increasing some player stipends by about $2,000. He stressed to athletes at the time to view the stipend as a salary so that they know how to manage any kind of money.

“If you can’t manage $1,000,” Occident would tell the players, “you can’t manage $1 million.”

He’s presented at TCU, Florida State, Michigan, Oregon, Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon State and a few other football programs. He’s also presented with eight NFL teams, including the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers. 

When Occident first talks with teams or meets with prospective clients, he asks them, “What do you want to achieve with your money?” The more specific the goal — to travel the world or one day open a food truck — the more faith Occident has in his ability to show them the steps to reaching it.

“Because they have something that is in their mind that is going to keep them walking that straight line,” Occident said.

There’s a widely held assumption that rich people will eventually lose all their money. Whenever the lottery gets to a certain amount, it’s been said that 70% of lottery winners eventually declare bankruptcy, even though that likely isn’t true. Much of the interest in the various gambling scandals plaguing the sports world stems from interest in rich athletes risking millions on sports betting.

But these are adults we’re talking about. What happens when a bunch of teenagers are handed millions of dollars? It’s easy to assume they’ll blow their riches just as quickly.

Where college athletes spend their money isn’t all that shocking.

“Unfortunately, stereoptical things: the cars, clothes, the jewelry,” said Pat Brown, a wealth manager at Lawrence, Kansas-based financial services firm Creative Planning and the founder of “Financial Literacy for Student Athletes,” which specializes in money management programming for college athletes.

Brown was an all-conference linebacker at Kansas from 1994 to 1999, back when players received $600 monthly stipends compared to the estimated $5 million Texas quarterback Arch Manning is bringing in today.

“That was big money right there. Shoot,” Brown recalled.

During his final season, Brown took a class that introduced college athletes to basic financial literacy tools, such as investing and life insurance. Though Brown grew up middle class in the Ohio suburbs, he didn’t know anything about money management.

“Being Black, we just don’t talk about that stuff,” said Brown, author of the book, Financial Literacy for the Culture: Teaching What Wasn’t Taught-Credit, Budgeting, Investing, and Legacy for the Culture.

It is why Brown sees it as his purpose to teach today’s athletes how to earn, maintain and increase their wealth. He launched “Financial Literacy for Student Athletes” around 2021 and has presented at Kansas, West Virginia and Ohio.

Brown goes over opening bank accounts, the importance of credit scores/reports, and the various types of investment devices (traditional, Roth IRA, stocks, etc.). Through Creative Planning, which counts more than 500 college and professional athletes as individual clients, Brown helps his clients set up taxable and retirement accounts, establish limited liability companies, and review NIL contracts.

“I wasn’t exposed to this stuff until my senior year [at Kansas],” Brown said.

While working toward wealth for all college football players is the goal, it’s especially important for Black players, who make up nearly 45% of the sport.

Black people live within a system that legally held them back until about 60 years ago, creating a wealth gap that persists to this day: Median white net worth in America is almost six times that of Black net worth.

According to popular media such as ESPN’s “Broke” documentary, Black athletes are almost expected to blow all their money: Former NFL receiver Odell Beckham Jr. recently asked, “Can you make that last?” in reference to signing a $100 million contract.

But, young rich Black athletes aren’t any more irresponsible with their money than anyone else: Americans owe $1.23 trillion in credit card debt.

There is no group, Occident said, that has more opportunity to narrow that wealth gap than Black athletes.

“It is my mission to help them do what they can to erase the systemic part of what we’ve dealt with for 400-plus years,” he said.

Occident and Brown believe athletes are uniquely suited to handle money. The discipline to stick to a financial plan is no different than the discipline needed to play at a high level in college. Starring at the NCAA Division I level is almost impossible without being accountable and consistent.

“You don’t get that without being consistent and doing what you need to do,” Occident said.

Baltimore Ravens defensive back Malaki Starks neither had much money growing up nor did he know how to save it.

“It was like get money, spend money,” he said.

But after Occident’s presentation to the Georgia football team while Starks was on the roster, it eased Starks’ mind about managing his $160,000 in NIL deals.

Starks said he now has at least four investment accounts he manages. After getting his first NIL check his sophomore year at Georgia, Starks said he saved some, gave some to his parents, and the rest …

“I kept enough to get gas for the next month and go out to eat, like, twice,” he said.

Martenzie Johnson is a senior writer for Andscape. His favorite cinematic moment is when Django said, “Y’all want to see somethin?”

Football
12/18/2025 12:14:00 PM

Elon Athletics

Jeff Yurk Voted First Team All-American Twice

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 7-5 this season following a season-ending home win over the Wisconsin Badgers with one final matchup left on Friday, Dec. 26 (4:30 p.m.) at Chase Field in Phoenix against the New Mexico Lobos in the Rate Bowl.

The Golden Gophers are led by charismatic head coach P.J. Fleck, known for his motivational slogans (‘Row the Boat’) and history of getting maximum effort and performance out of his oftentimes overmatched teams.

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Fleck coaches in a brave new world of college football including NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) payments for college football players that are often set up by universities, granting lucrative opportunities for student athletes to earn off of sponsorship deals.

On Wednesday, Fleck spoke at a press conference during which he detailed the head spinning world of NIL payments and negotiations while stating that some offers used as bargaining chips by players are not real in his personal estimation.

Fleck’s Stunning NIL Admission

Fleck’s story on NIL was shared by Tony Liebert of ‘Bring Me the News,’ a media company based in Minneapolis.

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“I don’t think the general public actually truly knows what college football truly looks like,” Fleck said.

He painted the picture of a complex process of negotiating contracts that lacks the structure of the National Football League’s professional contracts.

“I think that everybody has representation now,” Fleck said, with the goal of “getting the most money they possibly can.”

He spoke about the complex roles college coaches play in the process.

“The roles we’re in is like, you’re the head coach, you’re the president, you’re the owner, you’re the GM, you’re the director of player personnel, and you’ve almost got to be a negotiator as well of what you have in your budget…And you’re doing that without the systems that the NFL has in place,” Fleck added.

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Fake NIL Offers Cloud Negotiation Process, Fleck Says

A media member commented on the lack of a salary cap in the sport, musing that it must be difficult for Fleck and other coaches to know how much each player is being offered by other schools before writing, proposing, offering and negotiating contracts.

“Sometimes those offers are real, sometimes those offers aren’t real,” Fleck added.

“It is a very unique environment to work in,” Fleck added.

“I truly believe…You could put a camera on somebody’s shoulder…You (could) do a reality show of what’s going on right now,” the Golden Gophers coach added, gesturing that it’s a wild, unpredictable situation.

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“I don’t think the general public truly knows what college football looks like when you peel back the onion.”

Related: Penn State Fans Blast Nick Saban For Comments on New HC Matt Campbell

Related: Michigan’s Kenny Dillingham Chances Get Update From ESPN Reporter

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Dec 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the College section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says college football is a “total mess” in light of athletes shopping around for better deals from programs, and that his efforts to reform it have been paused by Donald Trump’s White House.

Speaking in Sebring, DeSantis said he spoke to a bipartisan group of Governors “about a year ago” and said Governors on both sides of the aisle wanted to “come up with a framework.”

“Honestly, you really only need 10, 12 states, right? Because, you know, if you get Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, now you need Indiana, California,” DeSantis said, explaining that once states with “big-time programs” act, that would be enough to set up a workable structure.

But DeSantis said comments by Trump that the federal government planned to step in halted the state-led effort.

“So we’re like, all right, we’ll let the feds do it,” DeSantis added.

DeSantis said as early as last year that he wanted Governors to join him in some reform effort.

“I know they’re working on something, but I think it’s hit rock bottom just in terms of all the static that’s in the system,” DeSantis said.

He noted that “general managers” in college football make it “like a professional thing,” adding that many of the athletes recruited “haven’t even really produced that well.”

He also suggested that athletes are currently holding up programs for more money when they are performing.

“Now it’s like they have more rights than pro athletes,” he said.

“A quarterback will, you know, throw for four touchdowns. The third game of the season (he will) go, ‘Hey, coach, any more NIL money? Oh, I’m going to hit the transfer portal.’ And then you just go hop around schools. So you can play for four or five schools the way it goes now. And you can even play a few games, do very well, sit out and still get eligibility for the next year.”

Players’ mobility hurts programs, he argued.

“It’s hard to even know whether your teams are going to be good year after year because you don’t know who you’re going to lose. And then to do the transfer portal, right as we’re getting into the playoff, how does that make sense where these teams are going to have to make the decision?”

While the Governor stopped short of saying he regrets signing the name, image and likeness legislation that helped start the current cycle of professionalization of college sports, he does want a “happy medium” between athletes not being compensated and the current system.

But with time running out, reforms may not be realized before DeSantis leaves Tallahassee.

Less than a week after Michigan dismissed Sherrone Moore for cause, the Wolverines are navigating a condensed and high-pressure coaching search, with at least one prominent candidate already drawing serious consideration.

Michigan closed the 2025 regular season 9–3 (7-2 Big Ten) and will play No. 13 Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on December 31 under interim coach Biff Poggi.

The program swiftly moved to remove Moore on December 10 after an internal probe concluded that there was an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

While a cluster of candidates has emerged across national hot boards and analyst shows, college football analyst Josh Pate on Tuesday specifically singled out Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz.

“I think Eli Drinkwitz’s name is involved here,” Pate said. “Names like Eli Drinkwitz get thrown out, and people are really quick to scoff at it… I have always been baffled by people who turn their nose up at Eli Drinkwitz. It’s well known in the SEC, he’s one of the better staffers in the country.”

A former offensive coordinator at Boise State and NC State who won a Sun Belt title at Appalachian State in 2019, Drinkwitz inherited Missouri in 2020 and built the program to back-to-back double-digit win seasons (2023-24) and an 8–4 showing in 2025. 

That on-field progress led to a recent six-year contract extension in late November, which anchors him at roughly $10–10.75 million annually and includes significant buyout provisions.

Drinkwitz has also publicly pushed back on any rumors, calling coaching carousel speculation “just a distraction,” saying he loves Mizzou, is focused on the job, and recently signed an extension.

On the Michigan front, the program has indicated it hopes to finalize a hire before the end of December, a timeline that highlights how little margin the search affords.

In the next two weeks, expect intensified contact between Michigan’s search firm and top-tier candidates, a group many believe includes Drinkwitz.

Read More at College Football HQ

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HELENA — It’s been a two-way relationship between the Carroll College and University of Montana football programs.

Some guys who didn’t quite stick with the Grizzlies — like current Carroll quarterback Kaden Huot — have had success in Helena. And on the other side of the equation, a standout few have jumped up from the NAIA level to the Division I FCS level.

Each of the past two seasons, Carroll has produced the Frontier Conference defensive player of the year. And each time, that player has subsequently transferred to Montana.

“It shows well for our ability to develop,” Carroll head coach Troy Purcell told MTN Sports, “where they didn’t have that opportunity, and now with our coaching and our structure here and our culture here, to develop fine young men and great football players.”

On Dec. 10, Saints cornerback Braeden Orlandi — the NAIA’s reigning tackles leader — announced he was leaving Helena for Missoula. And the year before, it was NAIA All-American Hunter Peck trading Purple and Gold for Maroon and Silver. And following his first regular season with the Griz, Peck made the Big Sky all-conference first team, something he credits his time at Carroll for making possible.

“They did a great job with taking me in, developing me not (just) into a football player, but a young man, as well,” Peck said of his four years at Carroll. “And so, those life lessons are ones that you take off the football field and are arguably the most important part of the game.”

So, in this transfer-portal-and-NIL-dominated era of college athletics, the Carroll coaching staff said they understand their position in the larger college football ecosystem.

“Let us develop you. Let us make you the best you can possibly be for two to three years, get some tape, get some good film out there,” Purcell said. “You get some great ball in along the way. And then when the time is right, and it looks good, you have an opportunity to go up, maybe put a little money in your pocket, and get to play at a higher level. So, maybe that kid could be a walk-on but now has an opportunity to play for us, and like I said, we can develop him.”