Diego Pavia has seen the NIL era of college football grow into what it is today as one of the biggest beneficiaries of it. The Vanderbilt quarterback has an estimated valuation of $1.6 million according to On3, making money that was unimaginable to college athletes only a few years ago.

Even he wasn’t always raking in that kind of cash in the early days of NIL. Pavia began his college career at the JUCO level in 2020, before NIL laws had even been passed. It wasn’t until he arrived at New Mexico State in 2022, one year after the first season of NIL, that he got his first deal.

But, as he explained in an appearance on the Bussin’ with the Boys podcast, that was paltry compared to what he was pulling in now. Despite starting eight of 12 games for the Aggies in the 2022 season, Pavia wasn’t even the highest paid player on his own team.

“First crack in the NIL game I was getting paid $1,400 at New Mexico State per month and I was pissed because Eli Stowers was getting paid $3,000 a month and he played tight end and I played quarterback,” Pavia said. “I’m like, ‘Man, f*** that. I need to go harder.’ It all worked itself out.”

Pavia found his form over the back half of his first season at New Mexico State, setting him up to enter 2023 as the clear starter. He would go on to throw for 2,973 yards and 26 touchdowns to nine interceptions while also rushing for 923 yards and seven scores.

The Aggies finished 10-5 that season and Pavia saw the dividends from his big year in the transfer portal. He was not only being offered a monthly pay that was in the six figures range, but gifts in addition to the payments as well.

“Coming from that $1,400 to these others schools were offering my like a car, houses and big time money. It’s like, ‘Holy sh*t,’” Pavia said. “…I would have stayed at New Mexico State for $100,000. Then at Vandy, the quarterback they just brought in, they paid him way over $100,000 and they offered me $150,000, but I didn’t know that. I’m going from $1,400 to $150,000? I’m like, ‘Sign me up.’ So that’s how I took it last year.”

There was some question of whether Pavia would have any eligibility remaining for 2025 because he had played five seasons already. However, the NCAA ruled to grant a waiver to players that did not count their JUCO seasons against eligibility, opening the door for him to play one more year.

Now he’ll get to continue reaping the benefits of NIL as he looks to lead Vanderbilt to its first ever College Football Playoff appearance. But even with all the money coming in, he has been smart with his finances thanks to his family and resources at the school.

“Vanderbilt does a good job of bringing in ex-players or alumni that are big-time people who work in the business. They come back and tell us about (financial literacy). We have probably 8-9 meetings on it. ..,I give it all to my mom and she handles it. So I’ve never touched a dime of my NIL.”

The college sports offseason is in full effect, as we enter the ‘Mount Rushmore’ time of year. But the business part never stops and with July 1st approaching we’re about to officially begin the era of revenue-sharing in college athletics. And there are key meetings taking place this week with the College Football Playoff committee on future playoff formats.

But, there are plenty of other storylines to follow as we inch closer to the upcoming football season, especially the offers that South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers received this past offseason to potentially transfer. There’s also those buyouts that we keep discussing for athletes in this new era of college athletics following the House settlement. 

There’s a lot going on, and given that my inbox has been filled with questions over the past few days, it’s time to dive into a few subjects that have been the talk of college sports recently.

LaNorris Sellers Offered $8 Million To Transfer During Off-Season?

We have seen plenty of stories over the past few years of athletes being offered a nice paycheck to transfer to an opposing school, with quarterbacks Carson Beck and Darian Mensah snagging nice paydays in the ACC. But, for South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, an offer of $8 million was not enticing enough to bolt in the offseason. 

According to The Athletic, Sellers had plenty of suitors following the 2024 season, along with after spring practice, but was not biting. 

“He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers,” his father, Norris Sellers told Bruce Feldman. “I told him he could say, ‘I’m gonna stay or I’m gonna go.’ By my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree and go on about our business. This NIL deal came later. We didn’t come here to make money. We came here to get our education, play ball. And with schools calling, we’re not gonna jump ship because they’re offering more than what we’re getting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“You’re 19. You don’t need ($8 million). You’re in a great spot. There were several talks, but it never really crossed his mind (to leave).”

While Sellers is being taken care of from a financial standpoint in South Carolina, it had to be incredibly hard to see those types of figures and not pull the trigger. But, I still go back to a conversation I had with head coach Shane Beamer a few years ago when LaNorris participated in his first spring practice.

“This kid is going to be special, you just watch. We have big plans for him,” Beamer said on the practice field. 

Obviously, LaNorris did not bite when it came to transferring, but we are clearly seeing schools throw around large figures to poach QBs that they think can help their team move forward. If there is one quarterback in the SEC that I’m excited about watching this upcoming season, and see his progression, it’s LaNorris Sellers at South Carolina. 

Sign me up. 

CFP Meetings Are Being Held This Week. New Format Coming? 

The next round of college football playoff conversations are happening as we speak at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. This particular set of meetings was circled on plenty of calendars, given that we are in the middle of some pretty contentious talks around what the playoff format could look like starting in 2026. 

If you weren’t paying attention to SEC meetings a few weeks ago, the talk was clearly centered around strength of schedule, and how plenty of coaches would be for 11 at-large spots, compared to four automatic-qualifiers for the Big Ten and SEC. The problem is that there has been plenty of pushback from the Big Ten side, given that they would prefer the AQ’s over fighting for at-large spots. 

There was a sense of tension between both power conferences as SEC meetings started, with the Big Ten liking the idea of the guaranteed spots, while SEC coaches were lobbying for the best sixteen teams to make the playoff. But, the biggest problem is how the strength of schedule will be measured moving forward, if the CFP committee decides that the 5+11 model can garner enough votes to pass. 

Remember, the SEC and Big Ten are in control over future playoff formats, thanks to that power being given to them by other conferences last year in a vote. But, that doesn’t mean Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti want to just run rough shot on everyone else at the table. If they can come up with a suitable way to work around not having four AQ’s each, they are willing to listen. Well, at least Sankey is right now. 

CFP chair Rich Clark will present a few new ideas this week, which include how the selection committee uses metrics based on strength of schedule, which the SEC has clearly been lobbying for. If the conference doesn’t have to move to a nine-game schedule, and can still have their SOS weighed in the favor they prefer, or can at least live with, I would expect Greg Sankey to put his weight behind this format. 

The problem is that the Big Ten continues to harp on the AQ’s, and it would take a lot of persuasion to pull them away from voting on a 5+11 format, which takes away four guaranteed spots in the postseason. 

I would expect some interesting conversations over the next two days in Asheville, North Carolina. 

Further Buyouts Coming For College Athletes? Not So Fast

Last week, the NCAA and power conferences released a FAQ that centered around different components of the House settlement, with revenue-sharing obviously being the main topic discussed. 

In the 36-page document that was introduced to help guide schools through the next year, at least, there was a section on buyouts for college athletes. In these revenue-sharing contracts that plenty of players have already signed, the document details how schools could put buyout provisions in contracts that will see the school receive some sort of payout for a player deciding to transfer. 

While we have seen buyout clauses put into NIL agreements over the past few years, it’s hard for collectives to recoup that money, though we have seen one case already with former Arkansas QB Madden Iamaleava. 

How would this work? According to the FAQ, if an athlete signs a one-year contract with a school for $100,000, there would also be a $100,000 buyout provision included. In the case of payment, the athlete would receive $50,000 at the start of the deal, and then receive the remaining $50,000 if they stay until the end of the academic calendar. 

Now, if they decide to enter the transfer portal, they will not receive the second $50,000 payment, and then whichever school they transfer to will then pay the previous school $100,000 as a buyout. 

Ok, now imagine how this would play out for a high-profile player with a contract that is substantially more than $100,000. What if the athlete was quietly shown the door, with the team bringing in another player to take their spot? See where I’m going here? There are way too many problems with this buyout proposal, but obviously this is just a starting point. Also, if both sides get hung up 

I think you’re starting to see the picture when it comes to what will start occurring once we get to July 1st, and the House settlement aftermath officially begins. 

We are in the middle on CFP conversations, schools preparing for the start of revenue-sharing, while the financial figures around transfer quarterbacks continue to grow. 

Or, as we call it in this business, just another Tuesday. 

The House v. NCAA settlement was approved on June 13, and in its simplest terms, it means that colleges can now directly pay their student-athletes.

In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting student-athlete compensation was a violation of antitrust laws. Name, image and likeness, or NIL, was established following the ruling. 

NIL allows for students to profit off of their likeness, however, the money had to come from companies outside of the college. It was the NCAA’s last attempt to keep pretending college sports were not professional and at the amateur level.

In a letter from NCAA President Charlie Baker, he said the new settlement will bring more stability to college sports that was not there due to the initial NIL ruling.

“For several years, Division I members crafted well-intentioned rules and systems to govern financial benefits from schools and name, image and likeness opportunities, but the NCAA could not easily enforce these for several reasons,” Baker wrote. “The result was a sense of chaos.” 

The letter then outlines more details of the settlement, such as the $20.5 million that Division I schools have to distribute among their student-athletes. The ruling will last 10 years, and the initial amount is expected to go up as time passes.

Dan Wetzel of ESPN wrote that the money handed out will most likely go straight to football and men’s basketball.

“One rough initial estimate within the industry is that 75% of the $20.5 million will get allocated to football players, 15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball,” Wetzel wrote. “And 5% to other sports — softball, volleyball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse or whatever specific sport a school prioritizes.”

Wetzel uses this estimate because football and men’s basketball typically bring in the most money for a school.

Minnesota, like the majority of schools, has made it clear that football and men’s basketball are a priority, especially with the recent firing of men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson and P.J. Fleck’s $6.7 million salary.

However, Minnesota always prioritized hockey as well. With nearly 125 skaters sent to the NHL, the estimate of 5% to hockey will likely not cut it.  

This is the reality for other Big Ten teams. Ohio State University put $20 million into their football team last year alone and is already trying to figure out how to get around the budget with “over-the-cap” NIL deals, according to The Athletic.

The NCAA expected this and set up the College Sports Commission. Every NIL deal over $600 must be cleared with the commission. 

The commission is there to make sure that colleges adhere to the new guidelines and deal out punishments if they do not. 

The ruling allows money to start being handed out as early as July 1 and accounts for athletes who never saw a dime during their time playing in college.

ESPN reported that $2.8 billion will be allocated to student-athletes who started playing in 2016 or later and never saw money for their likeness being used. The limited amount of money is projected to mainly be divided between college football and men’s basketball stars.

The landscape of college sports will now be changed forever, but this will likely not be the final answer to the question of how to pay student-athletes. 

Cal Stein, a sports lawyer interviewed by The Athletic, said that the NCAA made their job even more difficult, and the chaos and lawsuits created by NIL are not remedied yet.

“The House settlement started with the goal of the NCAA putting an end to the losses it has taken in these litigations,” Stein said. “The great irony is that it’s really going to lead to more lawsuits.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) — South Carolina’s breakout star quarterback, LaNorris Sellers, couldn’t think of anywhere else to play.

After leading the Gamecocks to a 9-4 (5-3) record in the 2024 season, Sellers, a redshirt sophomore, proved that some things are worth more than money. Sellers’ father, Norris, told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman that his son was offered a two-year, $8 million NIL offer from another school, which he declined.

“He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers,” Norris said. “I told him he could say, I’m gonna stay or I’m gonna go. By my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree and go on about our business. This NIL deal came later. We didn’t come here to make money. We came here to get our education, play ball, and with schools calling, we’re not gonna jump ship because they’re offering more than what we’re getting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

READ MORE | “Gamecocks’ LaNorris Sellers named No. 7 Heisman contender by ESPN ahead of new season.”

LaNorris echoed the sentiment, claiming that he wants to build something special in his home state.

“I’ve been playing football all of my life for free,” LaNorris said. “I’ve built relationships here, my family’s here, my brother’s here. There’s no reason for me to go someplace else and start over.”

Sellers is just the latest quarterback in the college football ranks to command eye-opening amounts of money.

According to On3’s NIL valuation tracker, Arch Manning commands $6.8 million at the University of Texas. Carson Beck, who earned $4.3 million from the University of Miami, was not far behind.

READ MORE | “Sellers’ 20-yard TD run lifts No. 16 South Carolina to 17-14 win over No. 12 Clemson.”

Sellers has built a cult-like following after his slow start in Columbia.

He threw for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns. Sellers also pitched in on the ground, rushing for 674 yards and seven touchdowns.

The defining performance of Sellers’ first year as a starter came in a rivalry game against Clemson, where he ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns in a come-from-behind 17-24 win. He capped off that performance with an impressive 20-yard touchdown run on a third-and-16 play with one minute remaining.

With just one year as a full-time starter under his belt, Sellers is already ranked as a top-five draft pick in 2026, according to ESPN.

But until then, he is comfortable saying that no amount of money can buy him the happiness he felt playing for the Gamecocks.

“He’s made of the right stuff,” Gamecocks Head Coach Shane Beamer said. “He’s got a great family around him. He knows what he means to this state. LaNorris has a chance to leave a legacy here.”