Colleges ponying up in support of football coaches, programs

Ole Miss football is among the most well-supported programs in the country, backed by the Grove Collective, widely regarded as one of the nation’s most organized name, image and likeness groups.

It’s not LSU, though, and that, Lane Kiffin said, is one of the biggest reasons he left Oxford for Baton Rouge. LSU’s financial backing is among the best in the nation, and Kiffin said it played a major role in his decision to choose the Tigers.

“Tell me the numbers and the plan for what the money is for the players, because that’s everything in that area to me,” Kiffin said. “Not what I make — what they make, to understand how you can build this.”

LSU isn’t the only school promising its coaches the resources to build competitive rosters. Several programs — including Michigan State, Penn State, Arkansas and Auburn — have announced major financial commitments aimed at program-building.

At Michigan State, the school received a $401 million donation from Acrisure co-founder Greg Williams and his wife, Dawn, with $290 million earmarked for athletics. It is the largest gift in school history and better positions the Spartans to compete in college sports’ revenue-sharing era.

Newly hired coach Pat Fitzgerald, who dealt with limited NIL resources at Northwestern, will now have far more to work with as he tries to return Michigan State to Big Ten contention.

Arkansas is also working to reshape its football budget. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek hired Ryan Silverfield as Razorbacks coach and vowed to elevate the school’s spending from near the bottom of the SEC to a more competitive level. At Silverfield’s introductory news conference, Yurachek acknowledged Arkansas’ investment had lagged behind the rest of the conference.

“The top-down alignment of a new financial commitment from our board of trustees, the university, the department of athletics and so many generous donors … was the first step to being all in on this goal,” Yurachek said. “This financial commitment will push us to the top half in key SEC items such as our assistant coaches’ pool, strength and conditioning staff, support staff pool, and our talent acquisition through revenue sharing and legitimate NIL.”

Another Big Ten program, Penn State, hired Matt Campbell from Iowa State to replace James Franklin. Since the hire, Penn State has reportedly committed around $30 million in NIL resources, according to reporter Matt Fortuna, on top of Campbell’s reported eight-year contract. That level of investment was hinted at after Penn State moved on from Franklin. Athletic director Pat Kraft made clear in October that the school intended to operate near the top of the national spending landscape.

“This is also about the modern era of college football,” Kraft said. “Our next coach needs to be able to maximize elite-level resources, attack the transfer portal and develop at the highest level.”

At Auburn, newly hired Alex Golesh said during his opening news conference that he will have “every resource known to man.” The Tigers’ administration believed former coach Hugh Freeze had strong enough support, but Auburn posted a 15-19 record during his tenure.

Even schools that aren’t changing coaches are investing more in their programs. Maryland athletic director Jim Smith reaffirmed the school’s commitment to Mike Locksley, promising to direct more resources into Locksley’s team.

“Coach Locksley, Senior Deputy Athletic Director Diana Sabau and I will review every aspect of our football program to make sure we are focused on getting the right type of resources in the right places to build a successful football program in this new era of college football,” Smith wrote in an online letter to fans.

This season, teams such as Vanderbilt, Virginia and Texas Tech have achieved success that outpaces their recent history. Revenue sharing and NIL commitments help make that more of a possibility.

The new wave of financial commitments around football programs introduces another layer to a coaching cliché. Coaches used to say, “It’s not the X’s and O’s, but the Jimmys and the Joes.” Now, more than ever, it’s about the Benjamins.