NIL
New tools help college coaches and GMs determine which players to acquire, which to keep and which to let walk
I’m asking Brian Spilbeler and Drew Borland a question that Boise State coaches, administrators and donors probably asked multiple times last offseason. How much will it cost to keep Ashton Jeanty? But I want to tweak the question. What if Boise State had been in exactly the same situation — with the star back coming […]

I’m asking Brian Spilbeler and Drew Borland a question that Boise State coaches, administrators and donors probably asked multiple times last offseason. How much will it cost to keep Ashton Jeanty?
But I want to tweak the question. What if Boise State had been in exactly the same situation — with the star back coming off an excellent sophomore season and expecting a transcendent junior season — but with the boosted dollar amounts for player pay that have come this offseason as schools prepare to start paying players directly based on the terms of the House v. NCAA settlement?
Borland taps his mouse a few times, and the living spreadsheet on my computer screen changes. I’m still looking at Boise State’s roster going into the 2024 season — and the evaluation of Jeanty is the one teams would have had going into last season — but Borland has adjusted the amount of money in the team budget to $20 million to simulate what a competitor trying to take away Jeanty might offer.
The total: $722,670.
Knowing what we know now — that Jeanty was the most dominant back in America as a junior — that number is still a bargain, even if it’s probably more than what Boise State had to pay to actually keep Jeanty last year. And it’s the kind of data crunching happening in every major college football program across the country as coaches and personnel officials try to manage their rosters going forward.
Spilbeler and Borland are showing me the product their companies have combined to create to help them manage all this data. Spilbeler works for Tracking Football, which began as a firm that matched documented track data with football recruiting data to help coaches find reliable information to judge players’ athleticism. Tracking Football has evolved into a much larger storehouse of data that builds platforms allow college personnel staffers to compare all manner of performance and evaluation data. Meanwhile, Borland works for SportSource Analytics, which provides data and analytics services to schools and professional teams in various sports.
The general manager tool they’re demonstrating has rolled out this spring, and it’s an evolution of the product the companies teamed up to create earlier this decade when the loosening of transfer rules created an explosion of demand for a way to quickly cut through the volume of data to identify which transfer portal players could be matches for schools.
It’s also not the only product in this space. Teamworks has created a general manager tool as well to help teams manage their payrolls in the revenue-share era. That product helps schools more on the financial side — allowing them to manage deals and even assisting in payroll services. The Tracking Football/SportSource Analytics collaboration is more of an evaluation tool designed to help schools that now need to run their personnel departments like NFL teams do but must be able to evaluate thousands more players on a smaller budget.
The tool uses Tracking Football’s data plus the FBS and FCS data compiled by SportSource. It also ties in data from subscription services all the schools use. Pro Football Focus data is included for schools that subscribe to PFF. Also, On3 and 247Sports recruiting evaluations are included as well as On3 NIL and roster valuations.
It’s a college football nerd’s dream, because it allows coaches and personnel staffers to customize the weighting of different data and factors to help them search for players who might fit in their programs. But now it also incorporates NIL valuation data to help those people answer three key questions:
- Who can we afford to get?
- Who can we afford to keep?
- Who can we afford to lose?
“None of what we do is intended to replace you using intuition, you evaluating tape,” Spilbeler said. “It’s a supplement. It’s providing a framework to provide a starting point and help you defend the spend.”
The process begins with deciding what matters. How do you want to spend your budget? Will it mirror an NFL team? Or will the split be customized to your coaching staff’s preferences? Will you bump up the percentage you give your running back room? And if you do, what position group do you take away from?
If you’re seeking players in the transfer portal, recent production probably should matter more. So you might bump up the weight of the recent PFF score over the career PFF score. If you need help at a position now — which is probably why you’re looking in the portal in the first place — you probably want to boost game experience and experience level and you also probably want to weight more heavily whether someone has been an all-conference performer.
Or maybe you have a deep position group and know you probably can’t afford to keep everyone on the roster. Spilbeler and Borland allowed me to play with Florida’s roster since that’s my alma mater, and one of the situations I wanted to examine was how the Gators’ coaches and collective leaders might have decided which edge rushers to keep.
Florida ended the 2024 season with a really deep room at a position most teams need. That meant it probably wasn’t going to be possible to keep everyone.
Tyreak Sapp led the Gators in sacks with seven. T.J. Searcy, Kamran James and Jack Pyburn looked as if they could be capable SEC starters in 2025. George Gumbs Jr. started his college career as a walk-on receiver at Northern Illinois and had moved to tight end and then defensive end. In his first season at Florida, while still fairly new to the position, he’d finished second on the team in tackles for loss (8) and sacks (5). L.J. McCray, a five-star recruit in the class of 2024, looked the part and made significant progress as a freshman. Justus Boone had logged solid snaps in 2022, missed 2023 because of injury and probably was a victim of the depth in front of him last year.
Most teams would love to have two or three players matching any of those descriptions, which meant some competitive offers were going to be coming for any player considering a transfer.
I asked Spilbeler and Borland to show me the edge rusher group at the end of the 2024 season. Sapp and Searcy were rated the highest, and McCray, James, Pyburn and Boone were clustered closely together. Gumbs ranked lower, dragged down by his initial recruiting rankings. (Walk-on receivers at Northern Illinois don’t come into college with much hype.) But knowing Gumbs’ story — as Florida coaches obviously do — probably allowed them to make an easy upward adjustment.
As I expected, the Gators probably had to make some difficult choices as the collective made offers for the 2025 season. They kept Sapp, McCray, James and Gumbs. Searcy likely will start at Texas A&M. Pyburn likely will start at LSU. Boone transferred to Arkansas.
This type of situation, Spilbeler said, is why it’s important for staffs to know exactly what matters to them and weight the factors accordingly. That way, when a tough decision has to be made, staffs can decide on the best way to spend their budget. It also helps when a player’s agent is using other offers to drive up the price.
“It’s super tempting to be overly concerned with what representatives are telling you other teams are willing to pay for somebody and let that drive your decision making because you want to compete and you want to win,” Spilbeler said. “But if that’s how you’re going to continue to develop your strategy, I don’t know how long that’ll last.”
Conversely, being able to compare all this data — including across multiple teams or portal entries — should allow staffs to narrow down who they might want to add. And Borland points out that if the tool says that linebacker you like should be worth $250,000 and his agent is only asking $200,000, that’s money saved that can be put toward another player.
“There’s your Moneyball right there,” Borland said.
General managers and coaches across the country are trying to find ways to win on those margins. The tools are coming to help them do it.
NIL
EA Sports College Football 26 Player Rankings: Top 20 Quarterbacks
EA Sports College Football 26 rolled out some more player rankings and revealed its top 20 quarterbacks. Get ready to play as these guys with their respective schools. Or of course, try to get them to transfer to your favorite program in dynasty mode! The list is pretty close to the standard ranking of quarterbacks […]

EA Sports College Football 26 rolled out some more player rankings and revealed its top 20 quarterbacks. Get ready to play as these guys with their respective schools.
Or of course, try to get them to transfer to your favorite program in dynasty mode! The list is pretty close to the standard ranking of quarterbacks throughout college football this year.
Without further ado, let’s dive into EA’s QB rankings for the new edition of the game. They are in order to go along with their actual rating.
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about Klubnik being the top quarterback in college football. Heck, some early mock drafts have him as the top QB, if not the No. 1 overall pick next spring.
Last season, he had a career year. Klubnik had 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 63.4% completion percentage to go along with 463 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

Nussmeier is a popular pick to win the Heisman Trophy this coming season, among other quarterbacks. But he’s proven he could fill the shoes of Jayden Daniels and could get LSU to the College Football Playoff this fall.
Last season, Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 64.2% completion percentage. Expect those types of numbers once again this fall.
3. Drew Allar, Penn State – 92
Drew Allar has the build, the skill and the poise to be one of the best QBs in the country. It’ll be interesting to see how he follows up last year’s run to the CFP semifinals with national championship expectations in 2025.
Allar was a more accurate quarterback last year and tossed 24 touchdowns. He also threw for 3,327 yards but had eight interceptions compared to two in 2023.
4. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State – 91
Leavitt broke out last season, helping the Sun Devils win the Big 12 and make the College Football Playoff. The hype train around Arizona State is still chugging along.
Last season, he threw for 2,885 yards, 24 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 61.7% completion percentage. He added 443 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.

Sellers is a dual threat quarterback and would be fun to play in a video game wouldn’t he? Especially after his 2024 season and following some development, he’ll be a player to watch in the SEC this fall.
Last year, Sellers threw for 2,543 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 65.6% completion percentage. He also ran for 674 yards and seven touchdowns.
Mateer is about to get way more hype now that he’s in the SEC. That’s just the way it works despite his really productive season as a quarterback at Washington State.
Last year, he threw for 3,139 yards, 29 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 64.6% completion percentage. He also ran for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns. Good luck stopping him!
Beck gets a fresh start at Miami following his transfer this offseason. The former Georgia quarterback had a lot of ups with the Bulldogs, but also some downs and ended last year with a season-ending injury.
Last season, Beck was productive, but his completion percentage went down (64.7%) and interceptions went up (12). Still, he threw for 3,485 yards and 28 touchdowns in 13 games.

This man is a hammer! Horvath would run through a brick wall over passing it any day! In all seriousness, he’s a quality quarterback for Navy.
As a passer, Horvath only threw for 1,353 yards, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 57.6% completion percentage. But as a runner, he’s a stud: 1,246 yards, 17 touchdowns and 7.1 yards per carry.
Manning was already getting a lot of hype going into his first full year as a starting quarterback. Now, the latest EA video game already has him as a top 10 player.
In limited opportunities, and two starts, Manning threw for 939 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions last year. He can also run really well, clocking in as one of the fastest QBs in the country, and he ran for 108 yards and four touchdowns on just 25 attempts.
10. DJ Lagway, Florida – 90
Lagway has a lot of potential as a quarterback and it seems like EA is banking on it as well. As long as he develops and stays healthy, he could really elevate Florida to new heights in 2025.
As a freshman, Lagway threw for 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 59.9% completion percentage. If he cuts down on the turnovers and the offensive symmetry improves, it should be a good year.
11. Avery Johnson, Kansas State – 89
12. Kevin Jennings, SMU – 89
13. Darian Mensah, Duke – 89
14. Luke Altmyer, Illinois – 89
15. Kaidon Salter, Colorado – 88
16. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA – 88
17. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt – 88
18. Rocco Becht, Iowa State – 88
19. Jake Retzlaff, BYU – 88
20. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor – 88
NIL
City of Detroit claps back at Sophie Cunningham after WNBA expansion dig
The city of Detroit fired back at Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham for her comments Tuesday about it being selected for WNBA expansion. Cunningham said in an interview prior to that evening’s WNBA Commissioner Cup final that she didn’t know “how excited (players) are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).” That led to the […]

The city of Detroit fired back at Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham for her comments Tuesday about it being selected for WNBA expansion. Cunningham said in an interview prior to that evening’s WNBA Commissioner Cup final that she didn’t know “how excited (players) are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).”
That led to the official X account for the city of Detroit drumming up a response. It cited the success of the previous WNBA franchise, the Detroit Shock, which won three championships in its existence from 1998-2009. It also called Detroit a “sports city,” noting the success of its other professional teams.
“The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals,” the post read. “Additionally more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft. Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning.”
The Detroit Shock were highly successful during their time as a franchise, and there was plenty of fan interest. They led the league in attendance for three straight seasons from 2006-08.
However, the team dropped to fifth in attendance and lost $2 million during its final season in 2009, according to the Detroit Free-Press. After owner Bill Davidson died, his wife, Karen, sold the team and the new owners relocated it to Tulsa. The franchise stayed in Tulsa through 2015 before relocating again, and is currently the Dallas Wings.
Detroit is also home to NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams. It has the fifth-most championships among the four major sports with 22 total.
Sophie Cunningham’s point was less about the city of Detroit supporting the team and more about whether players would want to live there. She argued that there were more desirable destinations, at least from her point of view.
“You want to listen to your players, too,” she said. “Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I do think that Miami would have been a great one. Everyone loves Florida. Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity. There’s a huge arena downtown that no one’s using. I think the women’s soccer league is showing that people draw.
“So I’m not so sure what the thought process is there. But at the end of the day, you also want to make sure that you’re not expanding our league too fast. …So I just think it’s kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).”
NIL
SEC Program Selling Jersey Patches to Sponsors
In the modern era of NIL, every team is looking for an advantage and a way to make more money for their NIL program to give their program an upper hand in recruiting and NIL for players. Revenue sharing should slow that when you look at trying to find an upper hand to […]

In the modern era of NIL, every team is looking for an advantage and a way to make more money for their NIL program to give their program an upper hand in recruiting and NIL for players.

Revenue sharing should slow that when you look at trying to find an upper hand to pay current players, but the revenue sharing model does not say anything about recruiting. As a result, some programs are still shelling out significant money on the recruiting trail.
So, how do programs make money? Some teams increase ticket prices, while others, like Tennessee, are putting sponsors’ logos on the football field.
UTEP v Tennessee
Another SEC team is looking at going the same route as Tennessee, with On3 Sports reporting that the LSU Tigers are planning to sell jersey patch advertisements. The advertisements are pending NCAA approval, according to the report.
The Tigers are one of the premier schools in the SEC, and appear to be spearheading one of the biggest changes in the SEC this upcoming season. Some teams, namely in the NBA and the NFL, sell jersey patch advertisements during training camp and, for the NBA, the regular season.
While Alabama has not yet made a change like that to the traditional Alabama uniform, would you want to see Alabama make this change and sell jersey patch advertisements?
Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men’s basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.
Alabama Thrashes LSU 42-13 in Death Valley
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
Alabama Football 2025 A-Day
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
Alabama is Upset by Michigan in 2024 Reliaquest Bowl
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
NIL
NIL Go
“NIL Go,” the new clearinghouse born from the House settlement, is rapidly becoming one of the most discussed and debated developments among college coaches, student-athletes, and their representatives. On December 9, 2024, the NCAA issued guidance requiring any third‑party deal leveraging a student-athlete’s name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) valued at $600 or more be submitted […]


“NIL Go,” the new clearinghouse born from the House settlement, is rapidly becoming one of the most discussed and debated developments among college coaches, student-athletes, and their representatives. On December 9, 2024, the NCAA issued guidance requiring any third‑party deal leveraging a student-athlete’s name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) valued at $600 or more be submitted for a fair‑market‑value evaluation. Enter Deloitte’s solution: NIL Go. The new platform forces the threshold deals through a three-step process: (1) payor association verification; (2) business purpose validation; and (3) range of compensation analysis.
STEP 1 Payor association verification begins the process by determining if a payor is considered an “associated” entity or individual, which serves as the threshold question regarding the need for a fair‑market‑value assessment. This evaluation uses criteria including: whether the payor primarily exists to support a school’s athletics program; whether the payor offers exclusive NIL opportunities for the school; if the payor has contributed over $50,000 across its lifespan to the school; and whether the payor employs or is owned by individuals connected to the school or its associated entities.
STEP 2 To make sure a prospective NIL deal has valid business purpose, schools must assess whether the payor’s intention is to legitimately leverage the student‑athlete’s NIL for advancing real business objectives. This assessment at the payor level requires the school to confirm the payor’s identity and intent. Moreover, at the deal level, the schools examine the specifics of the NIL agreement and supporting documentation to identify any concerns. Payors must demonstrate a legitimate commercial rationale behind the deal, such as using the student-athlete’s NIL to promote a good or service offered to the public for profit. Separately, the payor must also ensure the deal is and remains compliant with current NIL regulations and applicable state laws.
STEP 3 The range of compensation analysis conducted by Deloitte applies a multipoint review of the proposed deal to determine if the offered compensation is consistent with deals involving similarly situated student-athletes. Importantly, Deloitte’s analysis only targets third‑party NIL agreements with “associated” payors and relies on historical data from both collegiate and professional athlete deals (excluding squad-based value and recruiting incentives) as benchmarks. Deal factors considered in the multipoint review include (i) the student-athlete’s performance obligations, athletic performance and social media reach; (ii) external benchmarks; and (iii) the local demand and market reach of the student-athlete’s school and athletic program.
Finally, following submission and review, NIL Go will place the deal in one of three categories: “cleared,” “not cleared,” or “flagged for additional review.” The affected student-athlete has the following three options if their executed deal is designated as not cleared: (1) revise the terms of the third-party agreement and resubmit it to the NIL Go platform; (2) terminate the deal in its entirety, which includes the student-athlete refunding whatever monies they already received under the agreement; or (3) appeal Deloitte’s decision through a neutral arbitration process. If a student-athlete fails to act on any of the options and, alternatively, elects to carry out the deal as prescribed, the consequences for both the student-athlete and, if they are aware of the designation, the school could be severe. Student-athletes can anticipate the loss of athletic eligibility being an early consequence of defying the NIL Go process. Importantly, Deloitte does not block deals; instead, it informs student-athletes of the eligibility implications and lets them decide whether to proceed.
NIL Go gives schools and student‑athletes a systematic, transparent method for verifying the perceived legitimacy and objective fairness of NIL deals with associated third-party payors. The platform aims to balance compliance and opportunity, while helping safeguard NCAA eligibility. As more schools onboard the new platform and Deloitte’s processes improve, NIL Go will quickly become central to all qualifying third-party NIL agreements.
Ensuring that student-athletes keep these steps top-of-mind throughout the deal process can be challenging.
[View source.]
NIL
Dez Bryant blasts Nike for losing Jeremiah Smith to Adidas
Superstar Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith shocked the sports apparel world Wednesday by inking a lucrative NIL contract with Adidas, the major rival of Nike, which is the Buckeyes’ official team sponsor. Minutes after Smith’s deal with Adidas was announced, former NFL receiver Dez Bryant took to social media to call out Nike for quite […]

Superstar Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith shocked the sports apparel world Wednesday by inking a lucrative NIL contract with Adidas, the major rival of Nike, which is the Buckeyes’ official team sponsor. Minutes after Smith’s deal with Adidas was announced, former NFL receiver Dez Bryant took to social media to call out Nike for quite literally dropping the bag with Smith.
“Nike about to lose all credibility,” Bryant wrote Wednesday. “How did they lose Jeremiah Smith to adidas?”
Bryant also believes that by signing Smith — widely considered the best receiver in all of college football — Adidas is making a play for Nike’s spot as the top-ranked sports apparel brand.
“Adidas coming for the #1 spot,” Bryant tweeted.
Smith enters the 2025 college football season as the sport’s biggest brand name without the surname Manning after helping spark the Buckeyes to the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship with a Big Ten-best 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns on 76 receptions as a true freshman.
But given Nike’s longstanding relationship with Ohio State, which is in the midst of a 15-year apparel agreement that began in 2018, Smith’s signing with Nike’s biggest brand rival is already sending shockwaves through the sports apparel world.
“One of the most memorable moments from last season was losing my black stripe and officially becoming a Buckeye,” Smith said in a statement released by Adidas. “Fast forward a year and I’m blessed to be adding three, joining the fastest brand in football. It’s crazy to be partnering with a brand that has such a talented roster of players and that I’ve been wearing since I was a young kid. We’re not done yet.”
Jeremiah Smith vows to never lose to Michigan for rest of Ohio State career
Jeremiah Smith had a borderline perfect first season at Ohio State. The wide receiver busted onto the scene, catching 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns during the Buckeyes’ national championship run.
He dazzled in every way possible, but there was one major blemish on his team’s season as a whole. Ohio State once again fell to Michigan, suffering a highly-publicized and scrutinized 13-10 loss to the Wolverines on Nov. 30.
Smith caught a touchdown in that game, part of a five catch, 35-yard performance. That was far below the standard he’s set for himself though, and the one he’ll be trying to reach in his sophomore season.
After all the success he’s enjoyed thus far in Columbus, the loss to Michigan still sticks in his craw. Ahead of the 2025 season, Smith spoke with Manny Navarro of The Athletic, where he vowed to never lose to the Wolverines again, as long as the wide receiver is suiting up for the Buckeyes.
“I’m not a sore loser, but I hate losing, and losing to that team up north was pretty crazy,” Smith said, via The Athletic. “In the end, I think it really helped us play the way we did in the playoffs. But I didn’t want to go to Ohio State and lose to that team up north.
“I just hate them. Just something about them. For the next two years, I promise you, I will not lose to them. I can’t lose to them in the next two years.”
— On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.
NIL
New rules
It’s a mess. I don’t think this is a correct fix. I think NIL is going to try turn this into something that is frowned upon if you try to take the Audit clearing house to court. I think there will be some sort of team rules or expectations that if you come to this […]

It’s a mess. I don’t think this is a correct fix.
I think NIL is going to try turn this into something that is frowned upon if you try to take the Audit clearing house to court. I think there will be some sort of team rules or expectations that if you come to this university than you are expected to follow and respect the process.
I am not a fan of that. I am not a fan of Ohio State following the rules to a T because our AD is leading the NIL board. I think that kind of relationship is a double edge sword. I hope the plan works and college football follows the Buckeyes example, but so far the SEC and other programs aren’t.
I believe in the Buckeyes, but all this mess takes the fun out of recruiting for me. I used to get fired up about following a kid from HS to signing day to draft day, and now a days that passion is slipping away for me.
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