When Tennessee swim and dive graduate Griffin Hadley arrived at the University of Tennessee, he entered a college athletics landscape that was already in flux. 

The NCAA had just passed its name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy, allowing college athletes to make money from their brand. Swimmers were just trying to make sense of these changes. 

Now, four years later, Hadley has graduated, but the chaos of NIL remains, and the UT swim team in particular tries to adjust to a new series of changes stemming from the House v. NCAA settlement. 

This lawsuit allows schools like Tennessee, which opt into the deal, to start paying athletes a piece of the school’s athletic department revenue. The House v. NCAA also enforces a roster cap, which limited swimming and diving to only 30 athletes, with the SEC now proposing to lower caps even further, dropping the men’s cap down to 22. 

These changes bring great concern for Hadley, who worries this will only create a divide between Olympic sports and the sports that are deemed to be ‘revenue-generating.’ 

“As far as Olympic sports go, Olympic sports are gonna start fighting for their life,” Hadley said. 

With the new era of NIL and revenue sharing, UT swimming and diving is a unique place as a high-performing team at an ‘Everything School,’ but a non-revenue-generating Olympic sport in the era of the House settlement. Hadley, fellow graduate and 2024 Olympian Jordan Crooks, and former swim and dive strategic information director Josh Lively believe in the future of this team, but recognize that the financial realities of college athletics pose new challenges for programs like this. 

Revenue sharing at Tennessee 

The House settlement allows UT to allocate up to 18.5% of the school’s athletic revenue to athletes. Tennessee has chosen to divide this money, a total of $215,469,808, across all 16 NCAA-sanctioned sports.  

During an October press conference, Tennessee’s Athletic Director Danny White shared the specifics of this revenue-share split. The football team receives 75% of the share, men’s basketball receives 15%, women’s basketball receives 5% and the last 5% is left to “other.” 

The other comes out to about $900,000, he noted.

Based on those percentages and budget reports, during the 2024-2025 season, the football team received $162,539,638 in revenue, men’s basketball received $35,316,920, and women’s basketball received $4,352,348, according to Tennessee athletic public records. Swim and dive earned a percentage of the 5% left, which came out to $370,687 for the combined teams. 

White said that these numbers are “consistent with the House settlement.” 

While swimming & diving’s numbers remain low, despite both the men’s and women’s teams finishing top-five nationally in both of the last two seasons, Lively is still impressed that White allocated any money to swimming and diving. Opting to rev share with those programs, Lively said, emphasizes White’s commitment to the ‘Everything School’ tagline at Tennessee. 

“Danny specifically has been all in on day one of ‘We’re gonna be an everything school. We’re gonna try to give everyone a piece of the pie when it comes to rev share,’” Lively said. “And he has never wavered from that.” 

UT sports studies professor and NIL expert Dr. Adam Love said Olympic sports like swimming have always faced an uphill battle for equitable funding and support, even on campuses like Tennessee’s, where swimming and diving are still getting some portion of the revenue-sharing pie. 

“There are certainly inequities that exist when it comes to NIL rights,” Love said. “But to emphasize, those are also long-running inequities where there is a long struggle for Olympic sports seeking to carve out a little bit more of the pie.”

One way athletes bring in revenue is through storytelling, both at the individual and team level. But on an SEC campus largely dominated by football, capturing audience attention can be challenging.  

Lively’s job was to help sell a story of the swimming and diving team that inspired audience care. He wrote press releases for the program, managed media requests and ran the team’s social media account. 

While his job now falls to Bryant Avery, these athletes have also taken it upon themselves to tell their own stories through social media in an effort to spread the word about the team’s success and generate individual side income through brand deals and social media advertising. UT even links to athletes’ Instagram accounts on the official school roster as a way to drive more traffic to those athletes’ profiles. 

JB Bowling, Tennessee’s chief NIL officer, said that UT is committed to helping athletes capitalize on their experience as student-athletes at Tennessee in the NIL era. 

“The ability to leverage their hard work to build a personal brand and potentially earn money is a tremendous advantage for students at schools like the University of Tennessee,” Bowling said in an email. “The benefits of NIL agreements go beyond immediate financial gains; they also include valuable connections with companies and brands that can lead to further opportunities after their athletic careers.” 

Gui Caribe leads the men’s team in followers with 44.5K, while Mizuki Hirai leads the women’s team with 8,949 followers as of Nov. 17, 2025. Their content serves as an additional marketing arm for themselves and their program.

“It’s hard to showcase people multiple times, let alone consistently enough to be like ‘OK, let me help you build your brand up,’” Lively said.

Olympian Crooks would be one of the most obvious social media and NIL stars amongst the team, but Crooks says he, like Hadley, doesn’t have a ton of interest in social media or NIL. He finds it overwhelming, especially given everything else that he has going on as a student-athlete. 

“It was just very confusing to me, and I wanted to just focus on my sport and be able to have a great four years in that aspect,” Crooks said. “I just didn’t really understand it, so I left it alone.” 

Crooks finished his career at UT as a four-time NCAA champion, two-time SEC Swimmer of the Year and an 11-time conference champion. He credits some of his success to the fact that he chose not to have the distraction of NIL. Instead, Crooks focused solely on his sport and his studies while being on scholarship. 

That was enough for him. 

Investing in building a personal brand in the NIL is extra labor that some athletes choose to engage with, according to Love, but others like Crooks recognize that they aren’t interested in allocating time to such efforts. 

“When I talk to people that have those kinds of followings, they often talk about how it takes a lot of time and effort to build that kind of brand and then develop content that’s gonna keep a large group of followers engaged,” Love said. “So certainly some people have benefited tremendously financially at least from being able to profit from NIL, but of course it’s also given rise to other conflicts, other complications both for student athletes and for athletic departments to deal with.” 

These complications could include time management strains, interpersonal conflicts with teammates over brand deals and revenue, or other financial and personal stressors, situations that Crooks chose to avoid, despite the potential to generate revenue from his brand by pursuing such opportunities. 

Future

During Hadley and Crooks’ careers, the men’s swim team progressed from an 18th-place finish to three top-10 finishes nationally. Meanwhile, the women’s team placed inside the top 10 all four years, climbing as high as No. 4

While Crooks and Hadley appreciate the investment UT has made into swimming and diving as part of its commitment to an “Everything School,” they still worry about the potential implications of this changing landscape on the future of the sport. 

Bowling is more reassuring. 

“NIL will always be a part of the landscape, but I don’t believe it will be the primary factor shaping the future of Olympic sports,” Bowling said. “Providing resources and creating opportunities will be crucial, and we will work to maximize those opportunities for our sports. However, we believe that a significant aspect of the future of our sports will continue to be the overall support we offer and the excellence of our coaches.”  

Swimming and diving is objectively part of UT’s future in the House settlement plan, and 21st-year swimming and diving head coach Matt Kredich does have $370,687 in revenue sharing to play with on the recruiting trail and within his team. 

Kredich is leading a stronger team, athletically and financially, than he ever has before, but Hadley knows as well as any Vol that so much can change in the college landscape in four years. 

“This is the modern day of college athletics, and non-revenue and Olympic sports have to respond. It’s up to us,” Hadley said.

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Why are so many players transferring?

Coach Prime on portal dangers

The 2025 College Football Playoff has reached its semifinal round. No. 10 Miami (12-2, 6-2) will face No. 6 Ole Miss (13-1, 7-1) in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix on Thursday to open the semifinals (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

The second of the two semifinal games is between No. 5 Oregon (13-1, 8-1) and No. 5 Indiana (14-0, 9-0) on Friday in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN). It is a rematch for the Ducks and Hoosiers, as Indiana prevailed 30-20 at Autzen Stadium on Oct. 11, 2025.

One of the most intriguing elements of the rematch involves the battle between the two quarterbacks. Of course, 2025 Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza is one-half of the battle.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder originally suited up for Justin Wilcox at California in 2022 to begin his college career. 2023 was the first time the Golden Bears featured Mendoza in their offense. He passed for 1,708 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns in nine games.

Mendoza started all but one regular-season game at California in 2024. He threw for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions and ran for another 105 yards and two touchdowns. He transferred to Indiana the following offseason.

Through 14 games with Indiana, Mendoza has passed for 3,172 yards, 36 touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 256 yards and six touchdowns.

In addition to the Heisman Trophy, he has received the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Associated Press Player of the Year, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team distinction.

All of these accomplishments in such a short period of time have piqued the interest of franchises at the top of the 2026 NFL draft who are in need of a new starting quarterback. Mendoza is considered the best quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft class, and the Las Vegas Raiders are drafting No. 1 overall and are in need.

Mike Renner of CBS Sports recently linked Mendoza to the Raiders in a projection for the 2026 NFL draft.

“This guy lives in the playbook. You watch the interviews, you watch him talk about the game of football, you see one of the most cerebral minds coming out of the draft in recent memory,” Renner said. “This guy lives it, he loves it. I think if Tom Brady gets this guy in a room, he’s going to fall in love with how much Fernando Mendoza loves the game of football.”

If the Raiders do in fact select Mendoza, he will be the first quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Raiders since they selected JaMarcus Russell in 2007. The last multi-year starter the Raiders selected was Derek Carr in 2014, but he was selected No. 36 overall in the second round.

By Sam Jane, Chris Vannini, Bruce Feldman and Ralph D. Russo

Just days after Demond Williams Jr. signed a contract with Washington to return to Seattle for his junior season, the quarterback reversed course and announced Tuesday night he would enter the transfer portal.

The shocking decision sends ripples through the Washington program and the college football transfer portal. Williams had signed a contract agreeing to return to the Huskies, a Washington source close to the negotiations told The Athletic on Tuesday night. Yet, Williams said on Instagram that transferring was “best for me and my future.”

Washington has no intention of releasing Williams from the contract he signed on Jan. 2, a program source told The Athletic. The dispute could lead to a messy debate over the circumstances surrounding Williams’ status.

Williams, however, had not filed any paperwork with Washington compliance officers to have his name entered into the portal before making his announcement on social media.

As of now, nothing has been submitted.

Washington is prepared to pursue legal action to enforce the terms of the contract, according to a person briefed on the situation.

There have been several recent examples of schools taking issue with player transfers. After cornerback Xavier Lucas transferred from Wisconsin to Miami, Wisconsin said Lucas had entered into a “binding two-year NIL agreement” that included “substantial financial compensation” and allegedly attempted to prevent him from transferring. Georgia’s athletic department is also seeking $390,000 from former defensive end Damon Wilson II, claiming his transfer to Missouri terminated his name, image and likeness agreement with the Bulldogs’ collective.

Williams and Washington head coach Jedd Fisch share the same agent at Wasserman football.

Williams followed Fisch to Seattle two years ago after committing to Arizona out of high school. However, before signing with Fisch at Arizona, Williams initially committed to Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin in late 2022. He de-committed the following summer. Williams started the 2025 season, with Fisch not holding back the hype for his quarterback entering the season.

“I would probably say, at this age, not even 19, he’s the best player I’ve ever been around,” Fisch said on the Until Saturday podcast last spring. “… My goal from when I started recruiting him in high school, and I told him this, we’re going to partner up and find a way to be in New York City when it’s time for the Heisman.”

Williams threw for 4,009 yards and 33 touchdowns against nine interceptions while adding 893 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in 26 career games at Washington. In his first season as the starter, he passed for 3,065 yards and 25 touchdowns, earning All–Big Ten honorable mention honors.

After a four-touchdown performance in Washington’s blowout win over Boise State in the Bucked Up LA Bowl, Williams seemed poised to be one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten this year.

“He does have incredible potential,” Fisch said. “He’s not loud, but I would say he is vocal. He speaks softly and carries a big stick. He’s not going to yell or scream and do all those things that you necessarily would need him to do, but he leads by example. He works his tail off. He never misses anything. He’s constantly involved with the team. He knows when to take the right reps. He knows when to jump in, jump out. So all that being equal, I think his leadership skills are certainly good enough.”

Now Williams says he is moving on. Williams is entering the portal with a do-not-contact tag, according to ESPN, meaning Williams likely already has a landing spot in mind. Notable schools that are currently or could be in the quarterback market include LSU, Miami and potentially Oregon. He instantly becomes one of the top players available in the transfer market.

Washington, which played in the 2023 national championship game under Kalen DeBoer, is 15-11 under Fisch in the last two years, including 9-4 this past season. This would be a major loss for the program.

iStockphoto / © Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Oklahoma State football landed a major upgrade at quarterback in the transfer portal with the commitment of Drew Mestemaker. The North Texas product was the nation’s top passer in 2025.

He will now look to continue his success at the Power 4 level with the Cowboys. He will be paid handsomely upon arriving to Stillwater.

Mestemaker’s story is one of the best in college football. He’s quickly gone from unlikely contributor to one of the sport’s most intriguing prospects.

He entered the transfer portal after his redshirt freshman season with the Mean Green. That move came after his head coach, Eric Morris, was hired by Oklahoma State.

The quarterback opted to follow Morris to the Big 12.

Who is Drew Mestemaker?

The passer was a lowly rated recruit in the 2024 cycle. He made more headlines as a punter and safety than as a quarterback. He walked on at North Texas having not started a football game under center since his ninth-grade season.

Mestemaker sat on the sidelines as a rookie, not making his first start until the team’s bowl game matchup against Texas State. In that debut, he shined.

The signal caller accounted for nearly 450 yards of total offense in a narrow postseason defeat.

The performance provided fans with their first introduction to the talented gunslinger. He put the college football world on notice in 2025.

Mestemaker led the country in yardage as the nation’s only 4,000-yard passer. He threw 34 touchdowns to just nine interceptions while leading the Mean Green to a 12-win season.

He hoped to turn that success into a new opportunity at season’s end and quickly jumped at the chance to cash in with Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys offered $7.5 million.

According to Bill Haisten of Tulsa World, Drew Mestemaker landed a two-year deal to take his talents to Stillwater. In Year 1, he is expected to earn a salary of $3.5 million.

That number increases to $4 million should he stay on to lead the team in 2027.

Haisten reports that a single Oklahoma State booster pledged the money to pay for the quarterback’s transfer. While the financier remains anonymous, the writer says the donor hails from the Oklahoma City area.

The Cowboys had to compete with the likes of Indiana and Oregon to secure Mestemaker’s commitment. The hiring of his head coach played a positive role in that recruitment.

The money didn’t hurt either!

Mestemaker’s massive NIL deal signals a shift in the school’s player payment thinking. The Cowboys have caught up in the new landscape of college sports.

Previous coach Mike Gundy claimed to have only had “around $7 million” for his entire roster across his last three seasons in Stillwater. Oklahoma State’s new quarterback could exceed that number on his own by the time he leaves campus.

For Drew Mestemaker, it’s something that didn’t appear possible just two seasons ago. He’s gone from walk-on to millionaire seemingly overnight.

Oklahoma State will lean heavily on their new football star in hopes of righting the ship under a new coaching staff.