NIL
Readers still hung up about Tennessee football, Nico Iamaleava but for right reasons
After sorting through my emails, I checked the calendar to make sure summer hadn’t come and gone and September was right around the corner. All my literary contributors wrote about football this week. What does that tell us? It tells us that college football has more seasons than ever, and that those seasons often overlap. […]

After sorting through my emails, I checked the calendar to make sure summer hadn’t come and gone and September was right around the corner.
All my literary contributors wrote about football this week. What does that tell us?
It tells us that college football has more seasons than ever, and that those seasons often overlap.
The regular season lasts from late August to the end of November. The postseason stretches from early December to late January. Spring practice takes up March and April. Preseason practice runs from late July to late August.
And the NIL business lasts all year long.
Glenn writes: Nico’s dad did quite a number on him. Left a successful program and good QB coach for a floundering program and less money.
There is a saying amongst stock market investors that “pigs get slaughtered.” This is what greed does for you. Forfeited in excess of 2 mil for what he has now.
Too bad for Nico, but his dad got what he deserved. Collectives and schools are going to have to put buyouts in all these NIL arrangements.
My response: I wonder what Nico will give his dad for Father’s Day next month. Maybe he can find a piggy bank at an antique store.
Vols Mark writes: In the modern NIL-fueled college football world, a quarterback isn’t a legacy — he’s a fungible biological unit. When one transfers out for a higher bidder, it’s not betrayal; it’s economics. Coaches/Fans need to stop agonizing over lost loyalty and start thinking like logistics managers: replace the departing unit with another of equal or greater efficiency.
It’s not about who left. It’s about how fast you can swap out the part and keep the machine running.
Kudos to Coach Heupel. He gets it. No panic, no pleading. Just reload and move forward.
In this new era, it’s not sentiment that wins championships. It’s adaptation.
My response: Kudos to you for injecting fungible biological unit into my column. That inspired me to watch a video on the “Fungal Life Cycle and caused me to reflect on how long I have had a fungus on my right little toe.
Also, congrats for using a semicolon properly.
Don writes: Why give Derek Dooley a pass when writing about the poor production from Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt?
My first Neyland Stadium game was Vols and Vanderbilt in 1951. Got bitten and have stayed loyal to UT for 75 years.
My response: I apologize for not trashing one of Tennessee’s former coaches. Dooley’s record – three consecutive losing seasons – speaks for itself.
But your email gives me an idea for a future column: Ranking the worst games of Tennessee’s worst stories.
Coming soon.
Parker writes: Enjoyed your articles on ranking Coach Heupel after four seasons and Coach Barnes’ recruiting success. What stood out to me was just how great General Neyland was as a coach and how amazing the turnaround Josh Heupel has brought to the Tennessee football program.
My response: Neyland didn’t just win at a high level. He won in four different decades.
He won his first game in 1926 and his last in 1952. And no matter how much the game changed during that time, he kept winning.
Neyland went 8-1 in his first season and 8-2-1 in his last.
James writes: There were some who said TN did not deserve to be in the playoffs. I just looked at Boise State‘s 2024 schedule. Other than an early game with Oregon (L) and a playoff blowout loss against Penn State, they played no one.
The Mountain West Conference is a joke. Only two teams won more than eight games, and seven of the 12 had losing records.
If running backs Ashton Jeanty (Boise State) and Dylan Sampson (Tennessee) had switched teams, their totals would have been much different. The playoffs need a major revision.
My response: Tennessee did belong in the playoffs. But it didn’t belong on the same field with Ohio State. Few teams did.
Your disdain for the Mountain West Conference is noted.
I thought about forwarding your email to MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez in hope of a rebuttal but decided to clean out a closet rather than search for her email address.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.
NIL
Anonymous SEC Coach Reveals The Most ‘Effectively Run’ Team In College Football
The expectations ahead of Steve Sarkisian’s fifth season at Texas couldn’t be any higher. Next season will mark the beginning of the Arch Manning era, in which the sophomore is already the projected favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. The Longhorns have made back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances, winning their first two CFP games in […]

The expectations ahead of Steve Sarkisian’s fifth season at Texas couldn’t be any higher. Next season will mark the beginning of the Arch Manning era, in which the sophomore is already the projected favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.
The Longhorns have made back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances, winning their first two CFP games in program history last season. Their run ended with a disappointing loss to Ohio State in the CFP semifinals.
There’s no question that Texas has adjusted well to the new NIL era of the sport. This sentiment was echoed by anonymous head coaches who spoke with Athlon Sports ahead of the 2025 college football season.
“This program is one of the most effectively run in terms of personnel, NIL, and the new era of the sport,” an anonymous SEC coach said.
Another coach mentioned how Texas is professionalizing better than most other programs, while highlighting the potential of the program if Manning lives up to the hype in his first season as a full-time starter.
“If Manning blows up and goes to the league next year, this is still the program to chase,” an anonymous coach said. “They’re professionalizing in a way other programs aren’t.”
The on-field success has transferred to the recruiting trail as the Longhorns signed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. The class was headlined by five-star safety Jonah Williams and defensive tackle Justus Terry. According to On3, the Longhorns’ 2025 recruiting class had an NIL value of almost $200K, which was the second-highest valuation in the SEC.
Texas will kick off the season against Ohio State in one of the most-anticipated games of the year. Kickoff is scheduled for Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. CT on FOX. It will also be the host site for ESPN’s College GameDay as Lee Corso makes his final appearance on the flagship show.
NIL
Federal judge denies Zakai Zeigler’s push for fifth season of eligibility
The U.S. Department of Justice and NCAA both told Zakai Zeigler to get a job. Now, a federal judge has ruled against the former Tennessee guard — doesn’t it feel great to say that? — and siding with all that is good in this world. Zeigler’s request for a preliminary injunction that would allow him […]

The U.S. Department of Justice and NCAA both told Zakai Zeigler to get a job. Now, a federal judge has ruled against the former Tennessee guard — doesn’t it feel great to say that? — and siding with all that is good in this world.
Zeigler’s request for a preliminary injunction that would allow him to play a fifth season of college basketball has been denied, On3’s Pete Nakos reports, ending his career as a Volunteer and starting his pursuit of going pro in something other than sports.
He initially filed a lawsuit against the NCAA regarding his eligibility back in May, alleging that the rule permitting just four seasons of competition in a five-year window is “in an unlawful restraint of trade under federal and state antitrust laws.” In the same lawsuit, he alleges his NIL valuation for the upcoming season would fall between $2 million and $4 million based on his value as an “upperclassman with a proven performance record and high visibility, especially in a high-profile conference like the SEC.”
The NCAA responded by saying Zeigler’s push for a fifth year — and anyone else doing the same — hurts future student-athletes, particularly incoming freshmen in need of those roster spots the post-graduate players out of eligibility are trying to take. He felt it would allow him to not only earn one final lucrative NIL deal in college, but he’d also continue his pro development. They said if he “had a viable path to the NBA, given his resume, he would already be a viable prospect. After all, NBA scouts would have seen him play in 138 collegiate contests. … There is no evidence that one more season of participation in college basketball is necessary (for Zeigler to play professionally)” considering he’s already met the age and experience requirements to enter the draft, but passed multiple times in favor of a degree.
“While Plaintiff focuses only on what that means for himself, he does so to the detriment of the entering student-athletes who dream of being the next Zakai Zeigler,” the NCAA said. “… College athletics is a means to a better end for student-athletes — not the end itself.”
The back-and-forth was so egregious the U.S. Department of Justice even decided to get involved — a first in eligibility cases. They asked the court to apply a “flexible rule-of-reason approach” when hearing the case while considering the NCAA v. Alston ruling in 2021 regarding the violation of antitrust laws, making it clear eligibility rules help maintain fairness and academic standards. Following those rules can prevent schools from gaining unfair athletic advantages and distinguish them from professional sports.
Today, U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer agreed.
“This Court is a court of law, not policy,” Crytzer said in the denial. “What the NCAA should do as a policy matter to benefit student athletes is beyond the reach of the Sherman Act and TTPA and by extension, this Court.”
Zeigler’s representation, to no one’s surprise, said they disagreed with the decision and would continue to fight for his right to play.
“We are disappointed the Court declined to grant a preliminary injunction on the basis that the NCAA does not directly control NIL compensation, just days after the House settlement confirmed they would do exactly that,” Litson PLLC and the Garza Law Firm said. “This ruling is just the first chapter of what we believe will ultimately be a successful challenge. We intend to press forward and are evaluating the best path ahead for Zakai.”
Keep on trying, it’s not gonna work. Your time is done. Goodbye Zakai, it was nice. Hope you find your paradise — as long as it’s not on a college basketball floor.
NIL
Ohio State has 36 varsity sports. So how will it handle revenue sharing and NIL?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — College athletic departments across the country have long been preparing for approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which is ushering in a new revenue-sharing era of college sports. Few have more decisions to make than Ohio State, which boasts 36 Division I sports teams. So what will the Buckeyes do when […]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — College athletic departments across the country have long been preparing for approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which is ushering in a new revenue-sharing era of college sports. Few have more decisions to make than Ohio State, which boasts 36 Division I sports teams.
So what will the Buckeyes do when revenue sharing takes effect July 1 and $20.5 million can be shared with athletes?
Much of the department’s energy has gone to finding the correct model for an athletic department that has been firm in its commitment to keeping all of its varsity sports. The model, which athletic director Ross Bjork broke down with reporters Thursday, includes spending $18 million across four sports: football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.
Though Bjork wouldn’t divulge how much each program is getting, he did say Ohio State chose those four sports based on its own metric-based system.
“The sports are popular, the Big Ten is a leader in volleyball and we want to get better,” Bjork said. “Coach (Jen) Flynn Oldenburg is working on a plan to get us back on track. With the attention we can receive, the Columbus market, volleyball is a booming sport and the Covelli Center is an amazing atmosphere.”
The other $2.5 million will be used to fund 91 new scholarships the department is adding for its 36 sports. According to the settlement, every new scholarship must count against the $20.5 million cap, with a maximum value of $2.5 million.
Bjork, who is nearing the one-year mark as Ohio State’s athletic director, is a fan of the newest change to college athletics.
“The main thing is clarity,” Bjork said. “Does it solve everything? Does it solve the employment piece? No, it doesn’t. Does it address Title IX and how that plays out? No, it doesn’t. So it’s not perfect, but it’s progress that we never had. It’s transformational progress.”
Ohio State’s plans don’t stop with the $20.5 million cap. On Tuesday, Ohio State announced the creation of the Buckeye Sports Group, a new name, image and likeness entity that takes the Buckeyes’ NIL efforts in-house. It will be run jointly by the athletic department and Learfield’s Ohio State Sports Properties to facilitate contracts and deals with athletes.
The days of NIL collectives like The Foundation and The 1870 Society working independently are gone, though they will serve in an advisory capacity to the new group.
While the settlement gives every athletic department in the country a set revenue-sharing cap, athletic departments can facilitate NIL deals with companies as long as the amount is based on a “fair market value.” Every third-party deal that exceeds $600 is subject to approval through a clearinghouse established by the College Sports Commission.
Ohio State should be well positioned to take advantage of the new rules, given its historical success, its status as the reigning national champion in football, its revenue as a premier program in the Big Ten and its large fan base, both locally and nationally. Bjork cited the fact that Columbus is the 14th largest city in the United States with 16 Fortune 1,000 companies and 50 companies that employ over 1,000 people. That’s a large base to begin with from an NIL perspective.
“Part of the analysis was how do we continue to capitalize on the brand and the city?” Bjork said. “The really cool thing is they may not have gone to school here, they lived in Ohio, went to school here, moved away, but they are Buckeye fans. Countless people I run into are in that category. It’s how do we reach those people? How do we do a statewide tour? Those are all things we’re mapping out.”
The job of the NIL entity will be to take the companies that are doing deals with Learfield and the Ohio State Properties already and match them with athletes, while also finding new companies to create partnerships with. The companies will pay the athletes, but the Buckeye Sports Group will help arrange the deal.
“We think we are in a really competitive spot, and if you layer in the third-party NIL environment, we are in a competitive spot,” Bjork said. “Now we have to orchestrate that, arrange that and make sure it meets fair market value. Ohio State football is a built-to-last championship brand. That’s not going away.”
In addition to funding 91 new scholarships across its varsity sports, Ohio State will also be able to help find NIL deals for the athletes in sports that may be overlooked. When Ohio State began thinking about its model, one of the first things it said was that it was not going to cut a sport.
“It’s the right thing to do based on legacy, history and an opportunity for those young people,” Bjork said.
(Photo: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
NIL
UTC hopes opting in on NCAA settlement will retain more athletes
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic director Mark Wharton announced Thursday that the school will be opting in when it comes to the settlement for the House v. 0


University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic director Mark Wharton announced Thursday that the school will be opting in when it comes to the settlement for the House v.
NIL
College coaching legend John Calipari has a hilarious take on NIL money
College basketball coaching legend John Calipari has long been known for his candid approach to speaking his mind. He has little regard for the opinions of others when it comes to his thoughts on the state of the game that he loves. As the 96th coach inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in the […]

College basketball coaching legend John Calipari has long been known for his candid approach to speaking his mind. He has little regard for the opinions of others when it comes to his thoughts on the state of the game that he loves. As the 96th coach inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 2025, Calipari has the resume to back up any of his assertions.
While he struggled to adjust to the NBA game as a coach, he has won at every school he has been at in the collegiate ranks. UMass, Memphis, Kentucky, and now Arkansas were all elite programs vying for National Championships every year while he was coaching there. While the University of Arkansas certainly has one of the biggest name, image, and likeness (NIL) backers in the Walton family (heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune), Calipari himself has been critical of the program. He recently shared some hilarious insights on NIL.
My new favorite Coach Calipari quote:
“There were 26-, 27-year-old players playing against 18-year-olds. I look at a kid, he’s waving to his wife and their kids in the stands. And it was the second wife. He was using the NIL for alimony for the first one”
https://t.co/RRuEvOUwCY
— pinto (@pinto479) June 12, 2025
Coach Cal was poking fun at the fact that NIL has enticed many kids to stay in college longer. They can earn millions while in college, despite not being NBA-ready. Former Michigan Wolverine and Kansas Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson utilized every year of his eligibility to earn millions, with little to no chance of making it to the NBA. Calipari gained fame for his use of the “one-and-done” player while at Kentucky. He recruited elite five-star talent to come to Lexington for one year, knowing it was merely a brief stop before the NBA.
While Calipari is certainly utilizing NIL to build his roster, he has a negative feeling about the whole process. It sounds like he views it as a stain on the game and is determined to distribute dollars equally among his team. Regardless of how he approaches it, he never fails to provide a hilarious context when asked about trending topics.
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NIL
Ohio State AD Ross Bjork on the House v. NCAA settlement
Two things will not change in college sports with the settlement of the House v. NCAA case, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said: Athletes will still go to class in pursuit of a degree, and they will still play games. “Everything in the middle of that is going to be different,” Bjork told reporters […]
Two things will not change in college sports with the settlement of the House v. NCAA case, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said: Athletes will still go to class in pursuit of a degree, and they will still play games.
“Everything in the middle of that is going to be different,” Bjork told reporters during a press conference to discuss the effects of the House settlement. “That’s OK. We’re all adapting.”
On June 6, federal judge Claudia Wilken approved the House settlement after prolonged negotiations. The settlement includes a $20.5 million cap on name, image and likeness that athletic programs will pay its players directly. Until now, NIL payments were run through non-university sources, primarily collectives, though colleges could work with them.
Ohio State will use $18 million on NIL payments in four sports – football, men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball. Bjork declined to say what percentage of that money each sport will get, though it’s certain football will get most of it. OSU will spend $2.5 million to pay for 91 additional scholarships spread among its 36 varsity programs.
Bjork said the settlement does not fix all of college sports’ problems. But he said it does provide clarity after three years without clear-cut rules since NIL rights were granted.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s progress we’ve never had before,” Bjork said. “It’s transformational progress.”
Here are six takeaways from Bjork’s press conference:
Ohio State’s 36 varsity sports are here to stay
Ohio State takes much pride in having 36 varsity sports, and that will continue in a post-House landscape. OSU and Stanford are tied for the most varsity sports in the country.
“That was the starting point,” Bjork said. “We will maintain 36 sports. You have an obligation to the young people in those programs. There are a lot of historical programs that compete here. We want to maintain that. We want to grow that.”
Allocating resources to those programs might look different, he said. Not all sports will get an increase in scholarships. A few might face a reduction, though Bjork declined to specify which sports those might be. He said Title IX requirements mandating gender equity would factor into it.
But eliminating sports is not a consideration.
“We can generate the right kind of revenue,” Bjork said. “We’ve recalibrated the expenses the right way.”
Bjork believes OSU remains well-positioned for football
NIL funds were crucial to retaining the seniors and attracting transfers for Ohio State’s 2024 national championship run. OSU was regarded as one of the biggest spenders in NIL. But now that there’s a cap of $20.5 million – or $18 million outside of new scholarships – could that leveling of the playing field be to OSU’s disadvantage?
Bjork doesn’t believe so.
“Ohio State football is a built-to-last championship brand,” he said. “That’s not going away.”
OSU players will still be able to make money on top of what their NIL compensation is. Third parties can arrange deals with a player as long as they are deemed by the newly created College Sports Commission to be of fair-market value and a valid business purpose and not used as a recruiting incentive. Given the passion for OSU football and the size of the Columbus market, Bjork believes that will add to the attractiveness of Ohio State to potential Buckeyes.
“We think we’re in a very competitive spot,” he said.
OSU is devising a formula for NIL payments
The challenge of disbursing NIL now falls on Ohio State. It will have to decide how much to play each player.
“How we navigate it is going to be an evolution,” Bjork said.
He said coach Ryan Day and general manager Mark Pantoni are using analytics to determine the value of each position. Bjork said the hiring of defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, a longtime coach in the NFL, which has had a salary cap since 1994, will be “tremendously valuable.”
Patricia knows how the NFL values different positions.
“You can apply that to college,” Bjork said. “We will always be at the front of the game from a competitive standpoint, but others will have essentially the same resources. Then it’s a matter of how you continue to recruit to a championship brand, and we’re going to be right there every year.”
Bjork believes College Sports Commission judgments will stand
Since the announcement of the College Sports Commission, skeptics have questioned whether its rulings will be affirmed if challenged in court. After all, market value is usually considered to be whatever someone is willing to pay.
But Bjork believes the long negotiation between the parties in the House case will allow the College Sports Commission’s rulings to stand.
“I think what people are missing is it already has stood up in court,” he said. “It was approved. The settlement allowed for the (Power 4) conferences to create rules of engagement. The rules were then created based on valid business purpose, a range of compensation and associated entities. A judge has already signed off on this, and there’s arbitration, which is really hard to pierce.”
Bjork favors CFP expansion
Ohio State was a beneficiary of College Football Playoff expansion in 2024. Under the previous four-team system, the Buckeyes wouldn’t have qualified. Already, there has been talk of further expansion from 12 to 14 or 16 teams.
Bjork is in favor of it, though he didn’t specify a number.
“I could go either way,” he said.
Buy Ohio State posters, books, gear from CFP title win
He favors expansion because it would create more opportunities for players to play for a championship. More games also mean more revenue.
“We need more content because that will drive more revenue, that can drive more NIL opportunities for our athletes,” Bjork said.
The SEC and Big Ten, which are the two most powerful leagues, have pushed for several automatic qualifiers from their conferences. If the playoff expands, that could reduce the incentive to keep conference championship games.
“If you’re doing AQ (automatic qualifier) spots with play-in (CFP) games, could there be a different model? I think that’s a conversation that has to continue,” Bjork said.
Bjork still wants flexibility for football game times
Many OSU fans are grumbling about the noon kickoff for the much-anticipated season opener against Texas on Aug. 30, just as they complained about the Buckeyes being scheduled for eight noon games last year.
Bjork told The Dispatch in May that the Buckeyes tried to get the Texas game moved to prime time and even proposed moving the game to Aug. 31. But Texas, as is its right in the game contract, declined to play on a Sunday. Fox, which gets dibs on games for its Big Noon kickoff, wouldn’t budge, either.
“Really, there’s no flexibility in the contracts,” Bjork said. “Fox bought the noon window. CBS bought the afternoon window. NBC has the night window, and the Big Ten Network and Peacock layer into that.
“What we need is more flexibility. We have carried the day for Big Noon. There’s no question about it if you look at the viewership. We understand why Fox went with Big Noon. We understand why we’re picked all the time, but we’re hoping for more flexibility.”
He said Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti will work with the networks, but he’s not optimistic it will get results.
“Can anything change anytime soon?” Bjork said. “Probably not because those contracts are rigid, and they’re locked in for several years.”
Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts.
Ohio State football beat writer Bill Rabinowitz can be reached at brabinowitz@dispatch.com or on bluesky at billrabinowitz@bsky.social.
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