The jump from college football to the NFL is a difficult transition for the average college football player. That jump is magnified for the average college football coach.

National champion head coaches such as Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban have left prominent college football jobs only to return after unsuccessful stints in the NFL. Coaches such as Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh have succeeded in the NFL after many years in the college ranks, but the former is true for most coaches looking to make the jump.

The NFL currently has two head coaching vacancies: the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants. Among the coaches being floated around for the Giants’ vacancy is Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman.

Since Notre Dame was excluded from the 2025 College Football Playoff field, Freeman’s odds have spiked to become the next head coach of the Giants.

Freeman joined the Notre Dame staff as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2021. He had served in the same roles at Cincinnati in the previous four seasons.

Brian Kelly left Notre Dame to take the LSU head coaching vacancy at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Freeman was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach.

Despite a start with losses at Ohio State (21-10) and against Marshall (26-21), Freeman guided the Fighting Irish to a 10-3 season in 2022 that culminated in a 45-38 victory over South Carolina in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. The Fighting Irish suffered losses to Ohio State (17-14), at Louisville (33-20), and at Clemson (31-23) in 2023, but they once again reached 10 wins.

The 2024 season was an upward surge for Freeman at Notre Dame. Despite an early loss to Northern Illinois (16-14), the Fighting Irish won their other 11 games to return to the College Football Playoff for the first time in four seasons. Notre Dame took down Indiana (27-17), Georgia (23-10) and Penn State (27-24) before falling to Ohio State (34-23) in the national championship.

Should Freeman leave for the Giants, he will head to an organization that has not had the same head coach for more than four seasons since Tom Coughlin (2004-15). Ben McAdoo (2016-17), Pat Shurmur (2018-19) and Joe Judge (2020-21) each coached the Giants for about two full seasons before their terminations.

Brian Daboll was the last head coach terminated by the Giants on Nov. 10. Despite winning the NFL Coach of the Year in 2022, he finished his tenure with the Giants 20-40-1.

Nike is taking another major step into the NIL space. In the process, the company is also strengthening its relationship with LSU.

Nike announced an extension with the Tigers through 2036, continuing a partnership that spans more than five decades. In addition, the brand launched the new Blue Ribbon Elite NIL program, featuring 10 LSU athletes as its first NIL deals.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

Two LSU football players, DJ Pickett and Trey’Dez Green, are part of the initiative. Gymnastics’ Kailin Chio, baseball players Derek Curiel and Casan Evans, softball players Tori Edwards and Jayden Heavener, volleyball’s Jurnee Robinson, men’s basketball’s Dedan Thomas and women’s basketball’s ZaKiyah Johnson are also on board.

“LSU and Nike are two of the top brands in sport and an ideal duo. We are both continuously looking to innovate and stay ahead of the game, and that’s what we intend to do in the future with this extended partnership,” said LSU athletics director Verge Ausberry in a statement. “LSU has always been at the forefront of NIL strategy, and as the launchpad for Nike Blue Ribbon Elite, we look forward to working with Nike to offer our student-athletes unrivaled opportunities to capitalize on their brands.”

Blue Ribbon Elite makes Nike the latest company to launch an NIL-focused initiative with its partner schools. Adidas has been doing something similar, including NIL components in new agreements at schools such as Tennessee and Penn State.

Through Blue Ribbon Elite, Nike will collaborate with athletes through campaigns with the brand, as well as product innovation and creative direction. Nike has already been active in the NIL space, signing multiple notable deals with college football stars this year, not to mention its growing basketball roster. Now, The Swoosh is taking the next step toward working with athletes in addition to their schools.

“College sport is woven into Nike’s DNA, and we’ve always believed its future should be shaped in lockstep with athletes,” said Ann Miller, Nike executive vice president of global marketing, in a statement. “Renewing our partnership with LSU and welcoming 10 new NIL athletes is about more than gear.

“It’s about collaboration, creativity and meaningful impact, giving athletes a platform to influence product, innovation, storytelling and culture. LSU and these athletes aren’t just representing Nike — they’re helping us redefine what partnership means in this new era of college sport.”

Nike is expanding its footprint in the name, image and likeness space.

The renowned footwear and apparel company announced Thursday that a new approach to partnering with college athletes is underway. In conjunction with announcing a long-term partnership extension with LSU that runs through 2036, Nike is unveiling the Blue Ribbon Elite NIL program. The program is a new collective within Nike that will feature 10 LSU athletes across football, basketball, gymnastics, softball, baseball and volleyball.

The Blue Ribbon Elite program — named after one of the first shoe brands created by Nike founder Phil Knight — will not only feature monetary and product-based contractual deals with athletes but also will expand to collaborations with product innovation, brand campaigns and creative designs for each athlete.

“I would tell you LSU is one of the first; it won’t be the last,” said Ann Miller, Nike executive vice president of global sports marketing, in an interview with The Athletic. “As you can imagine, lots of colleges and universities are excited about that, and we’re working with many of them. This one opportunistically came at the right time with the announcement of the renewal.”

Collectives are typically backed by boosters, businesses and fans to create NIL opportunities for college athletes, and now Nike wants to get in the mix with its own. Though the company has numerous existing NIL partnerships with individual college athletes, the latest move to create an LSU-based collective signals Nike’s desire to leverage the brand of a particular program.

LSU athletes joining Nike’s NIL list are Kailin Chio (gymnastics), Derek Curiel (baseball), Tori Edwards (softball), Casan Evans (baseball), Trey’Dez Green (football), Jayden Heavener (softball), ZaKiyah Johnson (basketball), DJ Pickett (football), Jurnee Robinson (volleyball) and Dedan Thomas Jr. (basketball).

“With Nike and LSU’s help, I’m excited to show little girls — especially the ones that look like me — that being yourself is all you need to do to get to where you want to be,” Robinson said.

Miller said investing in players at this level goes beyond just putting a Swoosh on their shirt or shoes. Nike wants to do what it has done for decades: help tell the stories of its athletes.

“What’s fundamentally different is that we’ve taken our time to really think about, how do we develop partnerships that are richer and deeper than just a, ‘Hey, we’ve signed you, it’s transactional and we don’t actually get to you know, we don’t get product insight, we don’t listen to your voice,’” Miller said.

“We’re really trying to flip it on its head and say if we’re going to work with you, it’s because we not only believe in you, not for what you might be later, but for what you are right now and the value you have right now.”

Miller said before the launch of the school-specific collective, Nike had NIL partnerships with about 50 athletes at 15 universities across the country. Some recent prominent Nike NIL athletes include USC star basketball player Juju Watkins, Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams and former UConn star Paige Bueckers, who was the first NIL athlete to have a Nike player edition shoe last December.

Miller said this particular approach, launching a collective with one school, is a chance to see how a move like this could work elsewhere.

“(College is) a perfect playground to learn. It’s a perfect playground to try new things,” Miller said. “It’s one of the best things about having this roster of both athletes and colleges and universities. They’ll try stuff with you. It’s the best place to learn.”

Miller did say that although Nike could extend these types of partnerships swiftly across the college landscape if it wanted to, her team will instead take a more disciplined approach. Asked whether she had a target number of schools she’d like to extend NIL collective partnerships to in the future, she said there isn’t one currently, “but if there’s an amazing athlete, an amazing college out there, I want them.”

As for Nike’s NIL budget as a whole, Miller declined to offer specific numbers.

“I think it’s safe to say this is a growing area where every day what you thought you’d spend is off,” she said.

“I think it’s going to continue to be an area of rich interest and investment.”