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NIL

Iamaleava brothers raise new questions

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8 months ago

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Iamaleava brothers raise new questions

The surprise transfers of brothers Nico and Madden Iamaleava have prompted fresh questions about contracts and name, image and likeness buyouts for athletes in a college sports landscape looking increasingly like the pros.

Nico Iamaleava, who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season, walked away from a reported $2.4 million NIL contract to seek higher pay elsewhere. He joined UCLA on Sunday, reportedly for half the money though terms of any NIL deal were not released.

Arkansas freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava entered the portal this week not long after spring practices wrapped up and will join his brother at UCLA, according to multiple media reports.

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek released a statement indicating he would support efforts by the Razorbacks’ NIL collective to enforce buyout clauses in athlete contracts. Iamaleava reportedly had a contract valued at $500,000 upon signing with Arkansas on Dec. 4, according to reports.

Arkansas Edge, the school’s collective, requires Iamaleava to repay 50% of their remaining contract value for leaving before the contract expires, according to reports. The Arkansas athletic department declined to comment and Arkansas Edge did not respond to messages.

Yurachek, in a post on X that did not name Iamaleava, wrote: “I have spoken with the leadership team at Arkansas Edge and expressed my support in their pursuit to enforce their rights under any agreement violated by our student-athletes moving forward. We appreciate Edge’s investment in our student-athletes and acknowledge the enforcement of these agreements is vital in our new world of college athletics.”

The latest cycle of transfers has seen a lot of chaos and accusations of tampering. Earlier this year, Wisconsin said it had “credible information” that Miami and Xavier Lucas made impermissible contact with each other before the former Badgers cornerback decided to transfer to his home-state school.

All this comes with final approval of the $2.8 billion NCAA antitrust settlement looming. The plan will clear the way for Division I schools to share up to $20.5 million each with their athletes annually but also assess NIL deals athletes sign with third parties.

The settlement would go into effect July 1, and athletes have been scrambling to renegotiate contracts or find better opportunities at new schools before deals valued at $600 or more must be approved through a clearinghouse that will be administered in part by financial giant Deloitte in a bid to establish fair market value.

Rich Stankewicz, the director of operations for the Happy Valley United collective backing Penn State athletics, said he thinks there is a time and place for NIL buyouts, citing a spring transfer departing before playing a snap as an example. He favors incentive-based contracts contingent on in-season academic and athletic performance.

“If more money is paid out in those time frames, that gives incentive for the player to stay and see those dollars from their contract, rather than potentially collecting up front and then deciding the grass is greener somewhere else three months later,” he told the Associated Press.

Russell White, president of The Collective Association, said buyout clauses have been baked into high-value NIL contracts for some time but that those clauses probably will become standard for all athletes going forward.

White said collectives have been mostly successful quietly coming to settlement terms with athletes who leave — which, according to New York-based employment attorney Dan Ain, is advantageous to both sides.

“Suing 19-year-old kids isn’t a great look,” Ain said.

Iamaleava, who is from Long Beach, California, initially pledged to UCLA last May. He made a signing-day flip from the Bruins to Arkansas and enrolled in January.

Some of the questions amid all the transferring and severed deals center on whether NIL deals are enforceable contracts with the NCAA settlement not yet approved.

Matthew Shepherd, an attorney and member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, co-sponsored the state’s NIL law. He said if Madden Iamaleava left on his own volition, the terms of the NIL deal would be subject to standard contract law.

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Indiana standout DE Stephen Daley likely to miss CFP after postgame incident

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December 11, 2025

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 25 UCLA at Indiana
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Indiana defensive end Stephen Daley will likely miss the College Football Playoff due to an injury he sustained after the Hoosiers’ victory over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, coach Curt Cignetti said on Wednesday. Daley appeared to hurt his leg during the postgame celebration while jumping to high-five Hoosiers fans in the stands. He was later seen in an air cast as trainers took him into the locker room on a cart.

Daley underwent tests over the weekend that revealed the extent of the injury, which Cignetti called “serious” and said is anticipated to keep him out for the remainder of the season.

Daley would have been one of the top defensive players in the CFP if not for the injury. The senior led the Big Ten this season with 19 tackles for loss and racked up 5.5 sacks in his first year on a Power Four roster. He joined Indiana through the transfer portal last offseason after spending the first three years of his career at Kent State.

“This postgame was a little different than most,” Cignetti said to reporters on Wednesday. “So I didn’t get into the coaches room probably until 45 minutes after the game, and that was the first I had heard about [Daley’s injury] and then we were walking to my press conference.

“Sunday was still sort of waiting a little bit on images to come back, that sort of thing. So when I had my press conference (on Sunday), there was a little more information that still had to come in. I was still processing the whole thing because it was sort of unbelievable when I heard about it, and I think that is why I said we had nobody hurt in the game, during the game.”

While Daley was not a full-time starter during the regular season, he made an immense impact for one of college football’s most formidable defenses. He recorded at least one tackle for loss in all but two games and hit his stride down the stretch with 2.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage against Penn State, 3.0 against Wisconsin, 4.5 against Purdue and 1.0 in the Big Ten Championship Game.

The absence of a premier force on the defensive front could prove problematic for the Hoosiers given that their road to a national championship runs through a few of the sport’s top offenses. Indiana will play the winner of Alabama and Oklahoma in the quarterfinals when it opens CFP play as the No. 1 overall seed.





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The 5 toughest jobs in college football: Which ones do coaches, staffers consider the hardest?

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1 hour ago

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December 11, 2025

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Story by Antonio Morales, Bruce Feldman and Sam Khan Jr. 

One of the most active — and no doubt dramatic — coaching carousels took another wild turn when Michigan fired Sherrone Moore on Wednesday. Sixteen Power 4 schools (at least) will have a new coach in 2026. Five SEC schools hired a coach on the same day.

Some of these jobs are set up for a new coach to step in and succeed right away. Others are far more daunting, complete rebuilds at places that have struggled to compete.

A year ago, we polled 50 people in the sport and asked a simple question: What are the top five jobs in college football? Well, this year we’ve flipped it. We’ve asked a mix of coaches, personnel staffers and administrators the following: What are the five toughest jobs in college football?

They were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly.

We asked them to rank five in the Power 4 leagues and five in the Group of 5. The Athletic conducted a similar poll four years ago, but a lot has changed in the sport since then.

Of course, “toughest” can mean different things to different people. It could be the most difficult path to success. Or the most pressure to meet enormous expectations. Or several other things.

So we left “toughest” up to everyone’s own interpretation. Let’s get to the results.

(First-place votes were worth five points, second-place votes were worth four, etc.)

Power 4

1. Stanford

Points: 68
First-place votes: 7
Last winning season: 2020

Stanford received just one point when this exercise was done four years ago. From 2010 to 2015, the Cardinal played in five BCS/New Year’s Six bowl games, and they won at least 10 games six different times during the 2010s.

But times have changed, and the most recent headwinds across the sport have left Stanford in the wilderness. The university’s administration was late to adapt to NIL. Rigorous academic and admission standards make it difficult to add talent through the transfer portal. And the latest wave of realignment resulted in the Cardinal landing in the ACC — an unnatural fit with no real connection to the rest of the schools in the league besides its rival Cal.

“To me, that one jumps off the page,” one Group of 5 head coach said.

“Academic rigor. Difficulty of transfers. Has money,” a Group of 5 offensive line coach said. “But would need a developmental approach and unique style that might take a cycle of older players hitting at the right time.”

Stanford finished the 2025 season 4-8 under interim head coach Frank Reich, which was actually a step up after four straight three-win seasons. General manager Andrew Luck tabbed Tavita Pritchard, a former quarterback at Stanford and, most recently, the quarterbacks coach of the Washington Commanders, as the new head coach.

2. Purdue

Points: 62
First-place votes: 7
Last winning season: 2022

The Boilermakers played in the Big Ten title game in 2022 but have won just seven games in the three seasons since. Coach Barry Odom opened his tenure this fall with wins over Ball State and Southern Illinois, but lost the final 10 games. The Boilermakers lost their last 11 games of the 2024 season, so that’s 21 losses in their past 23 games.

It will take some time for Odom to turn things around, but realignment and the Big Ten getting rid of divisions only made life harder for this program. It doesn’t help that Indiana is thriving now under Curt Cignetti.

“(It’s a) historic talent gap,” a P4 receivers coach said.

“Purdue is the least successful football school in the Big Ten, and I think it has the least amount of money,” a G5 personnel staffer said.

T3. Vanderbilt

Points: 61
First-place votes:  8
Last winning season: 2025

The Commodores recently suffered through 10 consecutive losing seasons but are on a major upswing thanks to their coach/quarterback combination of Clark Lea and Heisman Trophy finalist Diego Pavia. However, there are plenty of people around college football who are skeptical that Vanderbilt, a strong academic school that just clinched the program’s first 10-win season, can maintain this sort of success in a loaded SEC.

“(The) schedule is brutal,” a G5 head coach said. “Pavia is lightning in a bottle. Cannot sustain.”

“It’s the hottest it can ever be,” a P4 cornerbacks coach said.

Lea started off slowly, with three losing seasons to start his head coaching tenure before he broke through with a 7-6 record in 2024. This season was the best in school history. Lea is a Vanderbilt alum who likely could have pursued openings at several other Power 4 schools, but he signed a six-year contract late last month and will remain in Nashville.

“Awesome job six days a week, impossible on the seventh,” a director of player personnel said.

T3. Boston College

Points: 61
First-place votes: 4
Last winning season: 2024

Eagles coach Bill O’Brien enjoyed a solid first season with a 7-6 record in 2024, but he just finished an ugly 2-10 campaign that included only one win against an FBS opponent.

The Eagles won at least eight games every year from 2001 through 2009, but haven’t won more than seven games since. Boston College isn’t in a fertile recruiting area, and it’s not a big NIL spender. So acquiring talent is a problem.

Can O’Brien overcome that?

“Poor recruiting footprint, lack of history, hard to get to and not an ideal conference to recruit to,” a P4 running backs coach said.

“Maybe the hardest (job),” a G5 AD said. “They’re getting the s— beat out of them in every sport.”

5. Rutgers

Points: 56
First-place votes: 4
Last winning season: 2024

Greg Schiano is the only coach who has enjoyed sustained success with the Scarlet Knights. He won nine games or more three times during his first stint at Rutgers, but that’s when the program was in the Big East.

Things are a lot more difficult now in the Big Ten. Schiano has the program in a good place — compared to its early years in the Big Ten — but he still hasn’t won more than seven games in a season during his second go-round.

“Historically bad — now in the Big Ten — what’s the ceiling? Eight wins?” one P4 director of player personnel said. “Only one coach has ever figured it out.”

Toughest jobs, Power 4

Rank School Votes (1st place)

1

68 (7)

2

62 (7)

T-3

61 (8)

T-3

61 (4)

5

56 (1)

6

55 (2)

7

52 (4)

8

32 (2)

9

30 (1)

10

25 (2)

Other schools that received first-place votes: LSU (3), Alabama (1), Auburn (1), Iowa State (1), Nebraska (1), Ohio State (1), Oregon State (1), Syracuse (1)

An FBS general manager on Northwestern: “If you have the staff alignment who embrace the degree as a selling point instead of b—-ing about it as a hurdle, you can have a lot of success. Unbelievable facilities and fertile recruiting grounds (relatively speaking).”

A G5 athletic director on LSU: “The pressure to win and the short timeline. You gotta win right off the bat and enamor the fan base and then sustain it. … If you have a one-year trip up, you get fired two years after winning a national championship at LSU or Auburn.”

A G5 athletic director on Iowa State (before Penn State hired Matt Campbell): “I think when Matt Campbell leaves, they’re in trouble.”

A G5 personnel staffer on Alabama: “Any coach for the foreseeable future is going to be measured against (Nick) Saban, who didn’t really have the same challenges of winning that future coaches will have (NIL, expanded College Football Playoff access, etc.).”

P4 receivers coach on Auburn: “Unachievable expectations. Always compared to Bama.”

Group of 5

1. Kent State

Points: 100
First-place votes: 6
Last winning season: 2020

The Golden Flashes removed the interim tag from Mark Carney in late October. He won five games this season, and that should be viewed as a major step forward considering Kent State won just one game over the previous two seasons.

Sean Lewis, currently the head coach at San Diego State, went 24-31 at Kent State from 2018 through 2022, and he was considered a miracle worker.

There’s no real history of success. The resources are lacking, as is the commitment. And there are several losses baked into the schedule every season because the program has to play so many “buy” games against P4 powers — the Golden Flashes played Texas Tech, Florida State and Oklahoma this season.

“Virtually impossible,” a G5 personnel staffer said.

2. UMass

Points: 98
First-place votes: 8
Last winning season: 2010 (FCS)

The Minutemen returned to the FBS ranks in 2012 and have yet to post a winning season. They went 0-12 in 2025 and have lost 16 consecutive games dating back to last season. They haven’t beaten an FBS opponent since October 2023.

It was coach Joe Harasymiak’s first season, so we’ll have to look for any small sign of progress next season. But with no real blueprint or roadmap for success in the program’s history in the FBS, it’s going to be tough.

“Bad location, lack of resources, no history or previous success, hard recruiting footprint,” a P4 running backs coach said.

3. Louisiana-Monroe

Points: 77
First-place votes: 5
Last winning season: 2012

Bryant Vincent won five games in his debut season in 2024, and even though the Warhawks missed out on a bowl game, that felt like a real positive step for the program.

But ULM took a step back this season and won only three games.

“The guy at ULM (Vincent) is the head coach, coordinator and (interim) athletic director. They have no money. That job is impossible,” a G5 athletic director said, before the school named SJ Tuohy as the new AD.

The lack of resources might be insurmountable at this job.

4. Akron

Points: 62
First-place votes: 5
Last winning season: 2015

The Zips have not posted a winning record since 2015. Coach Joe Moorhead led the team to a 5-7 mark this season — a sign of unquestionable progress since the program had not won that many games since going 7-7 in 2017.

Similar to Kent State, the resources and commitment are lacking, though Moorhead has improved things in recent years. He’s won nine games over the past two seasons. The Zips won seven games in the four seasons before his arrival.

“Low resources, poor academics, not a great town, no pedigree,” a G5 personnel staffer said. “It’s a very tough place to sell and win.”

5. UTEP

Points: 59
First-place votes: 3
Last winning season: 2021

Dana Dimel looked like he had things headed in a positive direction with a 7-6 season in 2021, but the Miners won a total of eight games over the next two seasons, and Dimel was fired. Scotty Walden, previously at FCS Austin Peay, replaced Dimel and is 5-19 over his two seasons.

Location was a big talking point when discussing the difficulty of the job.

“You’re in the middle of nowhere, and not in or near a football hotbed,” the G5 personnel staffer said. “Low resources, lack of historical success.”

Walden hasn’t been able to get it going, but not many coaches have in El Paso. Mike Price is the only coach in the past 30 years who has led the program to two winning seasons.

Toughest jobs, Group of 5

Rank School Votes (1st place)

1

100 (6)

2

98 (8)

3

77 (5)

4

62 (5)

5

59 (3)

6

58 (3)

7

34 (4)

8

18 (0)

9

16 (1)

10

14 (2)

Other schools that received first-place votes: FIU (2), UConn (2), Boise State (1), Bowling Green (1), Oregon State (1), UAB (1)

A P4 director of player personnel on New Mexico State: “Without Diego Pavia, they have won more games than lost four times in 45 years.”

A P4 offensive line coach:  “Wild cards are UConn, Washington State and Oregon State. They are nomads at this point.  Not even sure how to rate them.”

A P4 assistant coach on the G5:  “Whew, those are way harder jobs now because if you have anyone decent, they leave you. The much shorter list is, what are good G5 jobs?”



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Last Week’s NIL Deals Recap

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2 hours ago

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December 11, 2025

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Data provided by Student Athlete Score

(Dec. 10th, 2025) — Another week, another wave of notable NIL activity across college sports. From Texas Volleyball partnering with Fairfield by Marriott to major football and basketball names teaming up with brands like Raising Cane’s, Whataburger, Dr Pepper, and Puma, this week highlights the continued expansion of athlete-brand collaborations across every corner of the country. Wrestling, softball, gymnastics, track, and hockey athletes also secured meaningful deals—showing just how broad and dynamic the NIL marketplace has become. Below is a full breakdown of the latest partnerships.

For a full, searchable archive of past deals, visit our NIL Deal Tracker.



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Here’s the reason Troy Aikman didn’t get thanked by that UCLA football player

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3 hours ago

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December 11, 2025

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Troy Aikman said he’s “done with NIL” after writing a check to a UCLA football player who never thanked him and went on to leave for another school after one season.

There was a reason for that lack of gratitude, according to one person familiar with the Bruins’ football name, image and likeness operations from that time not authorized to discuss donor information publicly.

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The player in question didn’t know who funded his NIL deal, only that it was coming from the team’s collective, Men of Westwood. It was standard practice for players not to know which donors or alumni contributed NIL funds that were distributed to the team.

Aikman, who did not identify the player in his remarks, did receive thanks from Men of Westwood leadership, coach Chip Kelly and athletic director Martin Jarmond, according to the person familiar with the situation.

Read more: UCLA donors question athletic director Martin Jarmond’s leadership, future viability

Aikman, the former UCLA quarterback who led the Bruins to a victory in the 1989 Cotton Bowl before going on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys, voiced his frustrations about NIL on the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch.

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“I gave money to a kid, I won’t mention who,” Aikman told Deitsch. “I’ve done it one time at UCLA, never met the young man. He was there a year, he left after the year. I wrote a sizable check, and he went to another school. I didn’t even get so much as a thank-you note. So, it’s one of those deals, to where I’m done with NIL. I want to see UCLA be successful, but I’m done with it.”

Aikman went on to say he believed that players should be able to leave one school for another amid coaching turnover but should have to otherwise stay with the program paying them.

“There’s got to be some leadership at the very top that kind of cleans all of this up,” Aikman said. “Starting with players that accept money. There’s got to be some accountability and responsibility on their behalf, to have to stick to a program.”

Sign up for UCLA Unlocked for big game takeaways, recruiting buzz and more UCLA sports insights.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.



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Troy Aikman not thanked by UCLA QB for NIL donation due to school protocol

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4 hours ago

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December 11, 2025

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College football star QB sends strong message on $91 million coaching move

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5 hours ago

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December 11, 2025

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The 2025 college football carousel is spinning faster than it has ever spun before.

In the Power Four ranks, 16 different college football programs have made head coaching changes: Virginia Tech, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Penn State, LSU, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Michigan State, Iowa State, Kansas State, California, Stanford, Kentucky and Michigan.

While this cycle has created chaos throughout the college football landscape, none of the changes compare to Lane Kiffin’s decision to leave Ole Miss, the No. 6 seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff, for the Rebels’ Magnolia Bowl rival in LSU.

The subject of Kiffin’s departure has sparked much debate about leaving a Power Four program while in a position to win championships and about the current layout of the college football calendar.

The Kiffin saga was recently addressed on Outta Pocket, a podcast hosted by Heisman-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III and his wife, Grete Griffin.

On a recent episode of Outta Pocket, the Griffins were joined by current Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed as a guest. Grete asked Reed about his reaction to the news of Kiffin’s departure to LSU.

“I felt like it was going to happen,” Reed said. “No disrespect toward Lane or anything, but you can’t talk about it that long and it not happen. If $91 million for seven years was in front of my face, I would not pass it up.”

Coaches are no longer the only ones college football programs are attempting to lure away from their rivals. The work Reed has accomplished at Texas A&M has turned him into a hot commodity for the Aggies and something they need to protect for their future.

Reed came to Texas A&M as the fourth-string quarterback behind Conner Weigman, Max Johnson and Jaylen Henderson in 2023. After very limited action in the regular season, he pieced together a strong first start in a 31-23 Texas Bowl loss after Johnson and Henderson entered the transfer portal.

The Aggies featured Reed in all but their season opener in 2024. He finished his redshirt freshman season with 1,864 passing yards, 15 touchdown passes and six interceptions while rushing for an additional 547 yards and seven touchdowns.

Texas A&M made a significant jump in 2025 thanks to Reed’s guidance. His numbers ballooned to 2,932 pass yards with 25 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions while he rushed for an additional 466 yards and six touchdowns.

The Aggies’ 11-1 record is their best in a regular season since 1992. Their performance has them as the No. 7 seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff, hosting No. 10 Miami (10-2, 6-2) in Kyle Field on Dec. 20 (Noon EST, ABC).

Marcel Reed warms up before Texas A&M's football game at Texas.

Nov 28, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) warms up before a game against the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images





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