NIL

Syracuse Players Reveal Fran Brown's Strict NIL Stance That Can Lead to 5

‘‘It’s always about relationships, but now it’s about how much money you’re going to pay them.” Nick Saban’s wife, Terry Saban, perfectly summarized how the current waves of college football are under the clasp of the NIL. This marks a time when players like Nico Iamamleava are leaving their old school to chase fatter checks. […]

Published

1 month ago

May 24, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Syracuse Players Reveal Fran Brown's Strict NIL Stance That Can Lead to 5

‘‘It’s always about relationships, but now it’s about how much money you’re going to pay them.” Nick Saban’s wife, Terry Saban, perfectly summarized how the current waves of college football are under the clasp of the NIL. This marks a time when players like Nico Iamamleava are leaving their old school to chase fatter checks. But head coaches like Fran Brown are ensuring that Syracuse players do not let themselves let the money control them. And for that, Brown is tightening the reins, keeping players on their toes. Discipline is the key to success, they say. And the Syracuse head coach is following it to T. Mess up once, and your wallet will feel it.

As per On3 reports, Brown’s Syracuse holds an average NIL value of $19.2k. Now, that’s too low as compared to big powerhouses like the Alabama Crimson Tide, which holds a valuation of $213k. However, within this small amount, Brown is very particular about the spending. Syracuse offensive tackle Byron Washington and defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. gave a sneak peek of Brown’s tight discipline.

On May 22, they appeared on the State of Orange podcast. Samuel Jr. shared, “We get fines for missing morning, two absences in class. We got class checkers. If you don’t have your jug or your tablet…”

That’s when Washington chimed in to inform, “That’s $50.”

Fran Brown is also very particular about the numbers on the weighing scales. There is often a clear instruction to lose or gain two pounds in a week. And guess what? Brown keeps a tab on the progress throughout the week. As Samuel Jr. shared, “You weigh three times. On Monday, it’s kind of more lenient. Wednesday, you kind of want to be there; on Friday if you are not there, that’s a quarter.” In that way, the Orange players are seen pushing themselves to great lengths on Thursday. “You see people starve on Thursday. You see them eat on Thursday night..because you know that quarter is coming if you don’t make it.” The same process gets repeated another week. The outcome? Empty hands and pockets.

“You can really lose your whole check,” Samuel Jr. and Washington said in unison. When it comes to Brown, that man has got some revolutionary moves when it comes to NIL. The Syracuse HC has become the first coach to sign with Network, a sports marketing agency. Brown is well known for characterizing the acronym D.A.R.T.—Detailed, accountable, relentless, and tough. So, compromising with discipline? A BIG NO NO for the Syracuse head coach. Meanwhile, he is not compromising on NIL, either.

Fran Brown and Trebor Pena’s NIL Clash

Redshirt senior and wide receiver Trebor Pena was the pride of Syracuse. His numbers for Brown’s squad last season were phenomenal, with Pena catching a team-high 84 passes for 941 yards and nine touchdowns. As the Orange’s leading returning receiver, his unexpected announcement in April truly shook the team: on April 14, Pena declared his intention to enter the transfer portal.

This decision must have deeply affected Coach Brown, especially since Pena was a team captain who had previously encouraged fans to donate to players. However, Fran Brown took a firm stand, refusing to give in to what he considered undue demands. Despite Pena’s contributions to the program, Brown didn’t hesitate to put the brakes on the negotiations.

“We paid him enough. He was going to get paid more,” Fran Brown stated sharply. “There were some numbers that were asked to me that I didn’t feel I would be able to do and move on.” He then seemed to further jab at Pena, adding, “You gonna make $2 million at wide receiver? That’s the homie at Ohio State [Jeremiah Smith]. Ain’t nobody else making that money. I’m not giving no wide receiver $2 million in college. That ain’t me.”

Fran Brown clarified his stance, stating, “Sometimes people be asking for an outrageous number. You’re not about to make more than every coordinator.” This shows Brown clearly holding his ground without flinching, even while Sherrone Moore splashes out a hefty $12 million in NIL deals.

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A screenshot from College Football 26 showing Dabo Swinney’s in-game model sparked strong reactions online.

A screenshot from College Football 26 showing Dabo Swinney’s in-game model sparked strong reactions online. originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is officially in a video game — but fans are wondering if EA Sports has ever actually seen him. Advertisement On Tuesday morning, EA Sports released a much-anticipated deep dive […]

Published

56 minutes ago

June 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

A screenshot from College Football 26 showing Dabo Swinney’s in-game model sparked strong reactions online. originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is officially in a video game — but fans are wondering if EA Sports has ever actually seen him.

On Tuesday morning, EA Sports released a much-anticipated deep dive into the Dynasty Mode of College Football 26, unveiling gameplay footage and new features ahead of the July 10 release. Among the biggest additions: real head coaches are now officially featured on the sidelines — a major upgrade from the generic placeholders used in previous versions.

But when the Clemson faithful caught their first glimpse of Swinney’s digital likeness, the reaction was… not kind.

The model, which appeared in a screen capture during the EA Sports YouTube reveal, drew near-instant criticism across social media. Fans pointed out that while coaches like Kirby Smart, Marcus Freeman, and James Franklin bear a strong resemblance to their real-life counterparts, Swinney’s digital double looks like a random character generated from scratch.

“This isn’t Dabo. This is Dale from Clemson, who eats at the Esso every Sunday after church and thinks NIL is witchcraft,” one user joked on X.

Another fan added, “EA really looked at Dabo Swinney and said, ‘Let’s make him look like a divorced stepdad who sells pest control door-to-door.’”

Others compared the in-game Swinney to a mash-up of Jeff Daniels, Liam Neeson, Bob Odenkirk, and even former president George W. Bush — anything but the Clemson coach fans know so well.

Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney talks with media.© Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

To be fair, the inclusion of actual head coaches — including assistants like Garrett Riley and Tom Allen for Clemson — is a welcome and long-awaited improvement. It adds authenticity and immersion to a franchise that had been dormant since 2013 due to NIL-related legal battles.

Still, many wondered how EA could get Swinney so wrong after reportedly receiving thousands of reference photos from Clemson. “If this is the worst part of the game, we’ll survive,” one fan admitted. “But seriously, they had one job.”

This isn’t the first time EA Sports has missed the mark with a Clemson figure. In last year’s College Football 25 trailer, a quick shot of the Tigers running down The Hill showed an unrecognizable version of offensive lineman Walker Parks.

Parks, listed at 6’5”, 310 pounds, looked closer to 375 in the game — fans joked he was “one biscuit away” from needing his own zip code. The clip went viral and sparked a wave of laughs and eye-rolls across social media.

Now, with Dabo’s look causing a new stir, it seems Clemson still can’t catch a break from EA’s character modeling team.

EA Sports has yet to respond to the criticism, but based on the flood of memes and commentary, the developers may want to consider a last-minute patch — or at the very least, a more accurate rendering in next year’s release.

Until then, fans will have to settle for watching “Not-Dabo” roam the sidelines, looking more ready to lecture on the dangers of TikTok at a Rotary Club than lead Clemson into Death Valley.

Related: FSU QB’s Trash Talk Gives Clemson Major Motivation for November Showdown

Related: Clemson Poised to Snatch 4-Star Safety From Jaws of Michigan, Miami

Related: Former MLB Umpire Who Ejected Clemson Star Strikes Again in CWS Controversy

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.

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Jeremiah Fears NIL Deals

Published

2 hours ago

June 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

I cover NBA at the Playoffs. I specialize in covering breaking news, Previews, in in-depth analysis (breaking down numbers, complex stats, nuances of the game, and converting them into reader-friendly content). Furthermore, I got into the sports media while looking for an entry into the media industry. I love International Relations, and since entry without majoring in the subject was difficult, I got into sports. Now, while majoring in International Relations on one side, I also like covering sports as part of the journey as a young Journalist.

NIL

Steve Sarkisian highlights what sets Texas apart in NIL recruiting battles

Texas Longhorns’ head coach Steve Sarkisian adamantly believes his program has the best product in the country. The Longhorns have certainly reached new heights under Sarkisian since he took the job in 2021. After a losing season in his first year, Texas has posted a 33-10 record with a Big 12 championship in 2023 and […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Texas Longhorns’ head coach Steve Sarkisian adamantly believes his program has the best product in the country.

The Longhorns have certainly reached new heights under Sarkisian since he took the job in 2021. After a losing season in his first year, Texas has posted a 33-10 record with a Big 12 championship in 2023 and back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances over the last two seasons.

Things have also improved significantly on the recruiting trail, as Texas is coming off the nation’s top class of the 2025 cycle after signing the No. 6 class and No. 3 class, respectively, over the previous two cycles.

Additionally, the Longhorns have produced the most NFL Draft picks (23) by any program over the last two years.

Sarkisian noted those accomplishments, along with making the 2024 SEC title game in the first season in the conference, when explaining why Texas is such an enticing spot for some of the top players in the country.

“All the while that’s occurring at a top five public institution in the United States,” Sarkisian said Tuesday on “3rd & Longhorn.” “All the while being part of an athletic department that’s won four of the five last athletic director’s cups.”

Longhorns football is backed by a large NIL war chest that is estimated to spend $22.2 million this year, the most in the country, per NCAA estimates. And Sarkisian believes there are additional opportunties for his players given Austin’s lack of professional sports teams.

“But all the while you’re doing it in the city of Austin, which, oh, by the way, is the largest city in the US with no pro sports,” Sarkisian said. “So, no NFL, no major league baseball, no NBA. So, who are getting those NIL deals?”

Sarkisian and Co. appear to be using that aspect to sign recruits and transfers to lesser deals than they might get elsewhere, something he believes has to happen to maintain depth and stay near the top of college football.

“Maybe we get a guy for a little bit less than another school’s offering,” he said. “Especially in this day and age, that’s got to happen … I (a recruit) want to look at more of the long-term money and Texas is going to provide me an opportunity to to create more opportunities whether it’s on the field, off the field, degree, NIL, brand building, player development, opportunity in the NFL.”

“We’ve got a lot of avenues to go come here and be really successful,” Sarkisian continued. So, there’s a lot to it. But like I said, I think we have the best product in the US. I don’t think there’s another school that can say that.”

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IU basketball recruiting target Sammy Jackson picks VCU – The Daily Hoosier

Darian DeVries suffered his first high school recruiting decision day loss this afternoon. 4-star wing Sammy Jackson surprised many Wednesday when he picked perennial mid-major power Virginia Commonwealth over Indiana and Texas, along with St. Joe’s. Jackson announced the decision at his high school. His father, long-time NBA player Marc Jackson, also started his college […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Darian DeVries suffered his first high school recruiting decision day loss this afternoon.

4-star wing Sammy Jackson surprised many Wednesday when he picked perennial mid-major power Virginia Commonwealth over Indiana and Texas, along with St. Joe’s.

Jackson announced the decision at his high school. His father, long-time NBA player Marc Jackson, also started his college career at VCU before transferring to Temple.

A Philadelphia product, Jackson chose to play at VCU for another product of his hometown. New VCU head coach Phil Martelli, Jr. played at St. Joe’s in Philadelphia.

Jackson took an official visit to IU earlier this month.

DeVries and the IU staff have several other wing players on their 2026 board, including Prince-Alexander Moody, who is on an official visit in Bloomington this week.

For more on where things stand with IU’s class of 2026 recruiting efforts, GO HERE:

IU basketball class of 2026 recruiting scorecard: Here’s where things stand in late June

For complete coverage of IU basketball recruiting, GO HERE.

The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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The importance of regaining the aura of Alabama Football

Published

3 hours ago

June 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The aura has been lost, and in year two of the DeBoer era, it is more important than ever for some of that to return to the Alabama football program. With the NIL and transfer portal era, there is a lot more parity in college football, and because of that, we’ve seen Alabama be less dominant and opponents having more confidence than ever before that they can beat Alabama. We saw that in 2023 with how Quinn Ewers came into Bryant-Denny Stadium and dominated, and it was seen far too much last season.

This summer so far, we’ve seen Diego Pavia’s social media response to Ryan Williams, and the newest hot topic this week is what Thomas Castellanos had to say about the week one matchup. I get it, players should have confidence in their abilities and teams being able to beat Alabama, but it’s a different world when Vanderbilt legitimately feels like they are on the same level, or a team coming off a 2-10 season has any bulletin board material to give going into the season. The jury is still out on the Crimson Tide going into this season, and because of that, now more than ever, teams feel like it’s time to get their licks back.

Everything seems to still revolve around what Nick Saban did and what he still does to help the program. Though his presence is important and his run will always be held in high regard, it is important that in Kalen DeBoer’s second season that we start to see less of that focus on the past. The big question is, how do you do that? And the simple answer is to win games, and that starts with winning convincingly in Tallahassee, winning all three revenge games at home in 2025, and ending the season much stronger than 2024 with at least one playoff game. The path of transition is far from easy, but if Duke was able to transition from Coach K to John Scheyer without much, if any, drop off, there is no doubt the same can be done in Tuscaloosa.

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St. John’s Coach Rick Pitino On NIL, Transfer Portal: ‘Complaining is of No Value’

Rick Pitino took St. John’s from being a team that was nowhere to be found in the NCAA Tournament conversation to a No. 2 seed in just two seasons. How did Pitino get the Red Storm to rise to prominence so quickly? Living in the reality of NIL and the transfer portal, rather than fighting […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Rick Pitino took St. John’s from being a team that was nowhere to be found in the NCAA Tournament conversation to a No. 2 seed in just two seasons.

How did Pitino get the Red Storm to rise to prominence so quickly? Living in the reality of NIL and the transfer portal, rather than fighting it.

“I felt the change was here and quitting, resigning, complaining is of no value,” Pitino said about NIL on Wednesday’s edition of “The Herd.” “You have to win the day. You have to get the job done, and I just felt that ‘Okay, we’re going to use it to the best of our abilities at St. John’s.’

“So, we’re an urban school; we’re a computer school; we play in Madison Square Garden as our home court: How can we maximize our potential by embracing the NIL and the transfer portal? We went away from high school basketball players, although we have taken one or two to develop, but by and large we’ve gone after older players.”

Pitino also expressed that parents have never been more involved in the recruiting process than now.

On the basketball front, Pitino explained what his practices look like.

“We have player development sessions every morning, Monday through Friday, where we go three-to-four different sessions with four players, and we try to take players like a Donovan Mitchell, a Terry Rozier who maybe’s not ranked top-20 or 25 in high school, and they’ve got a little bit of a weakness. Donovan Mitchell had a weakness with the arc on his jump shot. Everybody’s got a weakness coming out that’s not top 10, so we try to take those player development sessions and make the players better,” Pitino said.

“Our practices, yes, are very difficult, but I will say this: They’re not long. We don’t go more than two hours, but we go hard for two hours. We’re up and down for two hours. If I make a comment or a correction, it’s going to be within 12 seconds, and then we’re moving on because conditioning is a gigantic part of our style of play.”

After going 20-13 in the 2023-24 season, Pitino and the Red Storm put together a 31-5 campaign highlighted by winning the Big East regular-season title with an 18-2 conference record, winning the Big East Tournament and claiming a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While St. John’s was upset in the second round by No. 10 seed Arkansas, the 2024-25 season marked the first time in six years that the program had made the NCAA Tournament and the first time in 10 years that it had done so without having to play in the First Four round.

On the personal front, Pitino won the 2024-25 Naismith, AP and Big East Coach of the Year awards. St. John’s is Pitino’s sixth full-time men’s college basketball head-coaching gig, with the Hall of Famer previously coaching three seasons at Iona before leaving for Queens in March 2023.

St. John’s had a gargantuan transfer portal class this offseason, reeling in former five-star recruits and now sophomores Ian Jackson (previously of North Carolina) and Joson Sanon (previously of Arizona State), former Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, former Cincinnati forward Dillon Mitchell and former Stanford wing Oziyah Sellers, among others. 247Sports ranks St. John’s transfer class as the best in men’s college basketball.

While the Red Storm have minimal returning players, they have big man and 2024-25 All-Big East honoree Zuby Ejiofor back for his senior season. Next season, St. John’s will square off against SEC powerhouses Alabama and Kentucky, among other notable out-of-conference matchups.

Rick Pitino on the 2025 NBA Draft, Caitlin Clark’s Impact, Cooper Flagg

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