NIL

The Elite World of Athlete Jewelry

Published

7 months ago

June 20, 2025

Jalen Hurts walked into a postgame press conference in December 2024 wearing what would become the most viral piece of jewelry in pro sports last year: a diamond-encrusted pendant bearing his personal motto, “Breed of One.”

“So that’s what y’all wanted to see, huh?” the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback said as he took his seat in front of the cameras. He was talking about his performance—he threw two touchdowns and ran in a third that game—but the line very well could have been about the chain.

In the lighting of the press room, the Cuban chain and glittering pendant commanded the spotlight. It was jewelry as a statement: a period, a flex, a brand in all caps. A signature chain, custom pendant, or flashy grill can steal the show before an athlete even says a word.

The designer behind Hurts’s piece, New Jersey–based Gabriel Etoile, known by most as Gabriel the Jeweler, saw an immediate spike in demand. “A lot of people followed me, and a lot of new orders came in because of that video,” he tells Front Office Sports.

Jalen Hurts Gabriel the Jeweler Breed of One chain

Etoile is one of a select group of high-end jewelers working directly with professional athletes to create custom pieces that serve not just as style statements but also as career markers and investments in personal branding. In an era of tunnel walks and NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals, eye-catching bling is becoming an increasingly visible part of the modern athlete’s image.

The NFL has particularly latched on—a “more is more” aesthetic prevails in the league, Etoile says. “We call it ‘helmet syndrome.’ Football players make a lot of money and work hard, but because they wear helmets, they’re not always easily recognized. That’s why they get into jewelry—to be seen.”

For NFL players, particularly those at the start of their careers, these high profiles out of the gate can be invaluable. On the NFL Draft red carpet, prospects arrived draped in diamonds and precious metals, each piece a preview of the brand they hoped to build. There were icy Cuban links thick as ropes, oversize logo pendants spelling out nicknames and mantras, and championship rings glinting on fingers. Abdul Carter (at top), drafted to the Giants, wore a massive chain with the letters “INCRDBL” around his neck, one of Etoile’s designs. Green Bay Packers first-round pick Matthew Golden debuted a palm-sized “G” pendant by the Houston jeweler ZoFrost, its yellow-gold base and shooting star details paying homage to his “Golden Child” nickname.

Usually, this kind of intricate custom project takes about two months to complete, says Etoile, but he can get a rush order done in two weeks. This goes for all clients, not just star athletes. “They always somehow need it quick,” he says. “Like, yesterday.”

Be MKE: Hannah Kirby interviewing Matthew Golden at the NFL draft red carpet at Lambeau Field on April 24, 2025 ahead of him being picked by the Green Bay Packers later that night.

“Jewelry is personal, and it makes you feel good,” says Jason Arasheben, founder and CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills, another go-to jeweler for players across every major pro sports league. “Now, with social media, it’s almost as important how you look walking into the stadium as how you play on the field.”

For Etoile, who says his client list now includes nearly 1,000 athletes, the sports world connection started with a single rookie: a college football player whose uncle was a trusted client. In the late 2000s, the jeweler took a chance and lent the player a few pieces while he was still at a major-conference program.

It paid off better than he could have imagined when the rookie got drafted by the New York Giants, whose stadium is just a 10-minute drive away from Etoile’s studio. “He didn’t even have a contract yet, but he showed up to the locker room in our jewelry,” he says. Other players took notice, and word of mouth brought in teammate after teammate.

Jewelry is often as much about trust as design. “The jeweler-client relationship can feel like that of a doctor or therapist—it’s deeply personal,” Janet Heller, a jeweler who works with Olympians including Simone Biles and Tara Davis-Woodhall, tells FOS. Heller prioritizes privacy and discretion, working behind the scenes even as her pieces appear on global broadcasts. When Biles wore Heller’s three-dimensional diamond ”GOAT” pendant during the Tokyo Games, it became a media sensation.

“It was pandemonium,” Heller recalls. “NBC called. Social media blew up. … I had no idea she would even wear it. That was one of the highlights of my career.”

Simone Biles GOAT necklace by Janet Heller

Several years before that breakout moment, Heller’s foray into sports jewelry began with long jumper Davis-Woodhall. The connection was personal—the track and field star had gone to high school with Heller’s daughter and reached out just before the 2020 Games to see whether Heller could make her a custom necklace featuring the Olympic rings.

That small commission opened what Heller calls “Pandora’s box” as other athletes took notice and began reaching out. “Tara is incredibly influential in that world, not just because of her talent, but also because of her relationship with Hunter,” says Heller, referencing Davis-Woodhall’s husband, Paralympian Hunter Woodhall, who has also purchased custom designs.

At the Paris Games, Davis-Woodhall won gold while wearing the rings layered with another Heller commission: a 14-karat gold-and-diamond silhouette necklace based on her signature long jump pose. The jeweler has since created similar pendants for other athletes, adjusting the design to reflect their individual specialties.

Athletes often want to wear their jewelry in competition, Heller says, which introduces challenges most jewelers don’t have to consider—like water pressure, aerial tumbling, or sprint landings. “A few of the swimmer pieces broke early on because of water pressure,” Heller says. “Once I made the chains thicker, we haven’t had any issues.”

Tara Davis-Woodhall Janet Heller necklaces

Her Olympic pendant design, worn by multiple athletes, had to be reworked to withstand movement. “The first chains were too thin for my liking, so I actually took a few back from athletes and remade them with stronger chains.”

Sometimes, a story belongs to a whole team. Arasheben’s studio is behind some of the most elaborate championship rings in recent memory, including the New York Liberty’s 2024 WNBA championship ring, a 110-gram ode to the city in white gold, diamonds, and Liberty-seafoam paraiba tourmalines, as well as eight of the last nine NBA rings and the Eagles’ forthcoming Super Bowl ring.

Arasheben has made rings with detachable compartments, hidden messages, and even pieces of stadium turf embedded inside. The Liberty’s ring has a pair of earrings tucked under the face. “The only way I broke into that space was by reinventing what a championship ring could be,” he says. “It has to tell the story of the team, the city, the season.”

His work with teams often starts with individual players, who become clients and ambassadors. This has been true since he got his start more than 20 years ago. “I didn’t have the money for big advertising,” he says. “So, I had to build my business on that first person who believed in me.” For him, that was the late Anthony Mason of the New York Knicks, who took a chance on a custom piece when Arasheben was a fledgling designer.

Those early custom pieces have evolved into sleeker, more intentional designs. “A player might ask for a pendant shaped like his hometown or a ring that marks a record. We bring those visions to life,” he says. One of his first designs for LeBron James featured a detailed back with a map of Ohio with a diamond star marking Akron, the basketball star’s hometown, and his date of birth. “We built a full narrative into it,” he says.

Despite the six-figure price tags some pieces carry, the jewelry business isn’t just about luxury. It’s about legacy. Etoile says he’s made pieces for athletes on tight budgets and others who’ve spent a half-million dollars in a single visit. Regardless of cost, the principles remain the same: quality, trust, and creativity.

“We never cut corners,” Etoile says. “If we can’t do it right, we won’t do it at all.”

Arasheben is especially conscientious of this today as lucrative NIL deals have brought in younger clientele—some even still in high school. “Now that kids are making millions before they even go pro, part of my job is education,” he says. “I talk to the parents. I help them make responsible choices. I don’t want to be part of someone’s financial downfall.”

As brand deals proliferate and athletes become entrepreneurs and media personalities, jewelry has become one more tool for image-making. “Athletes are learning to appreciate design more broadly,” says Arasheben. “They want their jewelry to reflect that.”

For Etoile, that expanding aesthetic has brought new opportunities—not just in football but also in global soccer. “Soccer players tend to want simpler designs,” he says. “In Europe, it’s not like America—there’s less of a culture around bold or oversized jewelry. It’s more low-key.”

Even so, he recently achieved one of his most ambitious goals: a custom, diamond-encrusted cross for Cristiano Ronaldo. “We thought it would never happen—700 million Instagram followers, global icon,” Etoile says. “But I made the connection through mutual friends, showed him my work, and he loved it.”

While the Portuguese soccer star’s style is more understated, the challenge excited Etoile. “We created something subtle but incredibly high quality. He even signed jerseys for my kids,” he says. “As a dad, that was one of the biggest moments of my career.”

NIL

Trinidad Chambliss strikes NIL deal with Ole Miss, awaiting NCAA decision

Published

3 minutes ago

January 6, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Superstar quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has signed an Name, Image and Likeness deal to stay at Ole Miss that is if the NCAA will allow him another season.

Yes, yes, verily verily I say unto you as much as the NCAA shouldn’t continue to be a part of the Rebels’ future success it somehow always creeps back up again. There is a history here dating back to the days of Jerrell Powe where the NCAA dragged its feet on a decision only to stymie Ole Miss. Those long held memories and grudges from recruiting violations and investigations from the Hugh Freeze and Houston Nutt eras were an albatross for years in Oxford as well.

While the media and sources can say whatever positivity there is, the Cup is in the camp of “we’ll believe it when we see it.”

Chambliss is seeking a waiver for a medical redshirt from one of his seasons at Ferris State and is now under the legal counsel of Tom Mars (a name any long time Ole Miss fan will know). A sixth year of eligibility is not unheard of, and a denial of the waiver from the NCAA could open a can of worms into a lawsuit much like the efforts of Diego Pavia at Vanderbilt this past season.

The commitment of Chambliss to Ole Miss and from the Rebels to its starting QB is the first step or domino to fall, however. He is not ready to jump on the first train to Baton Rouge after the season ends giving the fanbase at least some assurance he could be in red and blue in 2026.

Chambliss came into the starting job after an injury to Austin Simmons who has announced his intentions to transfer. The senior from Grand Rapids, Mich. immediately provided a spark offensively and held onto the starting job for the rest of the season guiding Ole Miss to its first ever College Football Playoff berth. Then, as everyone in the country has seen, Chambliss won back to back playoff games to get Ole Miss in the national semi-final against Miami this week.

His 3,660 passing yards, 520 rushing yards and 29 combined touchdowns were good enough to get him to eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting. A return would easily put him among the favorites in 2026 after the incredible exposure of the CFP first round and quarterfinals.

Chambliss’ attorney is making the case on social media that dozens of pages of medical documents have been submitted to the NCAA to provide for future eligibility. Ole Miss can now do nothing but wait and hope.

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Trinidad Chambliss strikes NIL deal with Ole Miss, awaiting NCAA decision

Published

57 minutes ago

January 6, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Superstar quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has signed an Name, Image and Likeness deal to stay at Ole Miss that is if the NCAA will allow him another season.

While the media and sources can say whatever positivity there is, the Cup is in the camp of “we’ll believe it when we see it.”

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College Football Playoff Predictions: Nick Saban’s Coaching Tree on Display at Semis

Published

2 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Sith Lord Nick Saban is responsible for all of this — the four College Football Playoff teams, and their respective head coaches, left standing in this year’s postseason action.

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Miami’s Mario Cristobal and Ole Miss’ Pete Golding: Those are Saban’s former assistants at Alabama that became head coaches at Power 4 programs across the country. Those are men he recruited, developed and, as he often says, “left to go somewhere else” so that they could bring themselves closer to calling their mentor and boss a peer.

It’s not just that the 2025 CFP national champion will be a program that hasn’t worn the crown in at least 25 years (Miami) — or even once (Indiana, Oregon) — but also that none of their head coaches have either.

So it is with some glee, I’m sure, that Saban will watch one of these men lift the national title trophy and applaud them for winning their first. Leave it to me to remind that one apprentice who will ultimately clutch glory in a couple weeks: He’s got six to go before he even equals Sith Lord Saban (and Kirby Smart already has two).

[2025 College Football Playoff Odds: Lines, Spreads for Each CFP Semifinal Game]

Now, people of college football’s Galactic Empire, here are my latest CFP bracket predictions for the semifinal games:

CFP Predictions: Semifinals

Fiesta Bowl: No. 10 Miami vs. No. 6 Ole Miss (Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET)

Winner: Miami

(Photo by Michael Chang /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)

Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal has put together one of the most devastating defensive lines in the sport. That defensive line, led by edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, has faced some of the most talented signal-callers college football had to offer in 2025: from former South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown, to former Florida quarterback DJ Lagway to Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed.

And the Canes’ defense beat them all.

Still, even Cristobal acknowledged during his first media availability ahead of the Fiesta Bowl that none of those quarterbacks bring the level of improvisation and outrageous acts of escape fit for Cirque Soleil that Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss does.

“We’ve faced some really good [quarterbacks] throughout the course of the year, especially in the last couple of weeks,” Cristobal said. “Watching him on film, he’s on a different level.”

[College Football Playoff Predictions: Ole Miss Has Momentum Ahead of CFP Semis]

Chambliss is the hottest passer in the country, the former Division II hero who toppled one of college football’s mythic-like giants in the Georgia Bulldogs defense. He did it with a Herculean act of labor — 362 passing yards, two touchdowns and one awe-inspiring drive to lead Ole Miss in a comeback win to take the Rebels as close as they’ve ever been in the last 64 years to winning the national title.

“He can do it all. He has excelled in every aspect of the game. He certainly brings a ton of energy to their team. He’s a limitless football player.”

And I’m still picking Miami.

That Canes defense bullied and dizzied No. 2 Ohio State’s offense like a Rubik’s Cube does a fully-functional adult. Perhaps Chambliss the rare nerd — like me — who memorized the algorithm to beat the Rubik’s Cube. But it took me three months. He’s got seven days. Good luck.

Peach Bowl: No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 5 Oregon (Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET)

Winner: Indiana

(Photo by Melinda Meijer/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)

Perhaps it’s as simple as this: Among the good (Lane Kiffin?) and great (Kirby Smart!), it’s Indiana coach Curt Cignetti who took notes and listened to everything Nick Saban said simply so he could replicate it, just as the new era of college football ran Saban off to TV land and allowed Indiana’s head coach to pull out the 55-gallon drum of whoop-ass and pour it all over the sport.

For Cignetti, it’s no coincidence that all four head coaches in the CFP semis were assistants at Alabama for Saban at one point in a 15-year span — 2007 to 2022.

[The Big Picture: Is a CFP First-Round Bye Actually a Disadvantage?]

“I think everybody learned a lot from Nick,” Cignetti said at his first media availability ahead of the Peach Bowl. “He was a great mentor, very organized, detailed; had a plan for everything. Manage, lead, how to stop complacency, game day, recruiting, in recruiting evaluation, player evaluation. I mean, he had it all. And if you were serious about your career and wanted to be a head coach one day, you took great notes or great mental notes.”

“So I felt like after one year with Coach Saban,” Cignetti said, “that I had learned more about how to run a program than I maybe did the previous 27 as an assistant coach, and stayed with him for three more years. So there’s a lot of disciples out there doing well, and that’s why he’s the greatest of all time.”

Cignetti joined Saban’s staff in 2007 and left it in 2011 to become head coach at Indiana University-Pennsylvania, and he’s only held the title of head coach since. See that, kids? Sometimes, the right internship does prepare you for the job you want. But, like Cignetti at Alabama, make sure they pay you handsomely for your time. Your labor ain’t free.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.

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Kirby Moore Adds Brad Larrondo, Seven Assistants to Cougar Coaching Staff

Published

3 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Your Sports Nation

PULLMAN, Wash. (Jan. 5, 2026) – Washington State University Head Football Coach Kirby Moore Monday announced that Brad Larrondo has been named the program’s Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director / General Manager, while also naming seven more assistants to his first coaching staff in Pullman.

Larrondo is a veteran of college athletics for more than two decades. Larrondo brings a wealth of experience to Pullman having spent the previous three seasons working closely with Moore at Missouri. For the 2024-25 seasons, Larrondo served as the CEO of Every True Tiger Brands, an NIL Marketing and Branding agency for Missouri athletes. The NIL marketing and brand agency has established itself as a leading collective in college football. Larrondo spent the 2023 season as an assistant athletic director/director football external relations & recruiting at Missouri. Prior to Missouri, Larrondo was the football chief of staff for Bryan Harsin at Auburn for two seasons and served in a similar role under Harsin at Boise State.

“This is a transformational step for Washington State Football,” said Moore. “The work required to manage a roster, including contract negotiations, player evaluation, strategic planning, recruiting and retention requires full time focus. Brad’s extensive experience in the SEC will help us improve our process and program. I look forward to working alongside Brad as we look ahead to great things for WSU Football.”

Of the seven new assistant coaches, three will be on the offensive side of the ball and four on defense. The 2026 Cougar coaching staff will include Jack Abercrombie (offensive line), Andrew Browning (rush/defensive run game coordinator), Greg Burns (secondary/safeties), Derham Cato (run game coordinator/tight ends), Eti Ena (defensive tackles), Derek Sage (wide receivers/special teams coordinator) and Brandyn Thompson (cornerbacks).

“Adding these seven members to our staff is an exciting step for our program,” said Moore. “Each of them brings experience, energy and a clear commitment to developing our student-athletes on and off the field.”

Last week, Moore announced both coordinator positions, Trent Bray (defensive coordinator/linebackers) and Matt Miller (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), as well as Malcolm Hardmon (director of football athletic performance).

Below are brief overviews for the seven new assistant coaches:

Jack Abercrombie – Offensive Line: Spent past three seasons working alongside Kriby Moore at Missouri, the last two as assistant offensive line coach… in 2025, Missouri rushing offense ranked eighth nationally at 234.1 yards per game, led by consensus All-American running back Ahmad Hardy…has also coached at VMI, Mississippi State and Gannon.

Andrew Browning – Rush/Defensive Run Game Coordinator: Arrives in Pullman after spending previous eight seasons at California, last seven as defensive line coach…Cal’s defense posted 24-plus sacks in five of those seven years…also coached at UTEP for five seasons…began coaching career at Boise State in 2010, where he spent three seasons when Moore and Miller were teammates.

Greg Burns – Secondary/Safeties: A coaching veteran with nearly three decades working with defensive backs at both the professional and collegiate levels…has coached throughout the west, including stops at USC, UCLA, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State and most recently, San José State…played at WSU from 1991-95 under coach Mike Price and was a part of two bowl teams.

Derham Cato – Run Game Coordinator/Tight Ends: Begins his Cougar coaching career after spending previous three seasons working alongside Kirby Moore at Missouri, the last two as tight ends coach…also has coaching stints at Washington, Davidson, Vanderbilt and his alma mater, Dartmouth…following college, played professionally in NFL Europe, the CFL and Arena League.

Eti Ena – Defensive Tackles: A veteran coach with two decades of collegiate experience…spent the past two seasons at New Mexico State preceded by two years at Hawai’i…member of Eastern Washington staff from 2016-21 as the Eagles reached the 2018 season championship game and 2016 semifinal…a native of Inchelium, Wash., graduated from Eastern Washington.

Derek Sage – Wide Receivers/Special Teams Coordinator: Has spent two decades coaching collegiately, most recently working with tight ends at Toledo the past two seasons…making his second stint in Pullman after coaching outside receivers on Mike Leach’s staff in 2017…has also coached at UCLA, where he was tight ends/special teams coordinator, Nevada, New Hampshire and Wyoming.

Brandyn Thompson – Cornerbacks: Thompson arrives in Pullman after spending the 2025 season coaching cornerbacks at Cal Poly…also has coached at Sacramento State and Sacramento City College…2011 seventh-round selection in NFL Draft by Washington after playing at Boise State, where he was a teammate of Kirby Moore…played one season in Washington and then five in CFL.

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The Indiana model arrives at Oklahoma State, where new ‘triplets’ could star

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Your Sports Nation

When Oklahoma State hired coach Eric Morris, attention quickly turned to the spoils of the roster he left behind at North Texas.

Quarterback Drew Mestemaker was the crown jewel, the No. 3 overall player in Cooper Petagna’s 247Sports transfer rankings after leading the nation in passing yards. Running back Caleb Hawkins was close behind, the No. 15 recruit and No. 1 running back transfer after leading the nation in rushing touchdowns. Wide receiver Wyatt Young came in at No. 43 after ranking No. 7 nationally in receiving yards.

In the first 48 hours of the transfer portal, Morris and his staff managed to lock all three players in. And now, the triumvirate is the perfect foundation to build the future of Oklahoma State.

College football transfer portal: Indiana, Oklahoma State among teams off to hottest starts in 2026 cycle

Cody Nagel

Mestemaker is one of the great stories in college football, a former walk-on who never started a varsity game in high school. In his second season, he threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns, the latter of which trails only Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. Other major programs had interest in Mestemaker, but Morris closed the deal. Young was his favorite target, even posting a 295-yard game against Rice.

While 247Sports rated Hawkins as a high-end three-star recruit, the rest of the industry was far less optimistic. His only other reported offers were Emporia State and Central Oklahoma. However, Hawkins rushed for 1,434 yards and 25 touchdowns as a true freshman, one of the nation’s best seasons for a running back.

Immediately, the trio becomes the best set of “triplets” at Oklahoma State since the legendary 2017 combination of Mason Rudolph, Justice Hill and James Washington. And more importantly, the additions announce nationally that Morris and highly-touted general manager Raj Murti are ready to compete on the national stage.

“Having the relationships with the new coaches helped land all three guys, but they also had to pay them what they’re worth and pay serious money for the first time,” GoPokes’ McClain Baxley told CBS Sports. “Until this week, the highest reported player was running back Ollie Gordon in 2024 and that was less than $1 million. Oklahoma State has stepped up by making scoring points a priority and given other prospects in the portal something to think about.”

The Cowboys are coming off arguably the worst season in program history, a 1-11 disaster that lacked a single FBS win. Oklahoma State ranked last in nearly every category in the Big 12 as the final year of the Mike Gundy era ended with a thud.

Gundy was reluctant to embrace the new world of college football, often dismissing NIL and the transfer portal. It seemed to bottom out with a stunning 3-9 season in 2024, after which Gundy claimed he “bought” his first roster for 2025 with 65 new additions, plus nine new assistant coaches. Between bad identification and bad development, the Cowboys rated as one of the worst power conference programs of the past several years.

As of publication, Oklahoma State has 15 total commitments to hold the No. 2 transfer class in the nation. Eleven commitments are directly from North Texas. James Madison running back Ayo Adeyi also ironically started his career with the Mean Green and reunited with Morris in Stillwater.

The strategy echoes that of Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who brought 13 highly-touted transfers from James Madison in 2024. Now, many of them are All-Americans and the leader of the national title favorite. Like James Madison, North Texas finished 11-1 in Morris’s final season.

The transition to the major college level could come with complications. The Mean Green struggled against Tulane and South Florida, the two most talented teams they played in The American. North Texas is bringing several starting linemen, but it’s unclear how they’ll translate. Gundy’s disastrous finish leaves almost no existing foundation on the roster, especially in the trenches.

However, the triplets give Oklahoma State something to build around. The Cowboys are spending big money and competing with the best. With Morris’s history of creating the best offenses in college football, Boone Pickens Stadium should be rocking once more.

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How to fix the college football transfer portal

Published

5 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz are joined by College Football Enquirer host Steven Godfrey to discuss how to fix the college football transfer portal window. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.

Video Transcript

My problem is the fact that the transfer portal opened on January 2nd when we We’re still in the middle of the playoffs.

So there areyes, That is athat is a problem.

So, if you’re the star of college football It is a major problem, yeah.

How do you fix that?

Yeah.

Well, you move it to April, but then we’d start Talking about this thing like it was a professional sport and people don’t want to do That.

Um, no.

We should get it, even though it is out of the way of the playoffs.

We should… What?

Now, whatever do you mean?

Are you implying that it’s a billion-dollar industry that people have made money off of for years, but all of a sudden, when the kids started getting paid, Everything was going to hell in a handbasket?

Except the television ratings are up and Interest has never been higher, so back of the line, nerds.

No, I’m sick of the idea of pearl-clutching over this.

Ah.

I think that it does need revision, and it does need a certain amount of… Again, I feel like I say this in some way, shape or form every time I’m on the show.

We talk about a problem in college sports.

We have no central governance, okay?

We have no one who is in charge of college.

Football, who’s looking out for just college football?

Everything is, like, feudal and it’s these little confederacies of conferences and they They can’t agree on much.

And so the portal is the latest example.

Now, before you feel bad for your local coach who is talking about how tough things are.

On him and his staff right now, the coaches voted for this date.

Okay?

The coaches wanted to have the portal here, And they didn’t want two portals.

So before you’re like, Oh, man.

It’s just so, it’s so tough on my coach right Now, think about just the distractions on and off.

No, no, no.

They wanted this.

What’s funny is some of these staffs aren’t even complete yet.

Next week, I’m going to Charlotte for AFCA, which is the college coaches convention where a A lot of these hires are still taking place, and it’s not, Like, the big ones.

It’s, “Do I have a linebackers coach?”

“Is this guy gonna go…” You know, “Is this assistant gonna go to this team?”

And so At the same time, you’re out there trying to make aggressive offers and also… By the way, it’s two-sided.

You are recruiting players who are in the portal, or might get in the portal, but then you’re also recruiting your players to not get In the portal.

So, is this an ideal system?

No, not at all.

I just don’t care if the kids are getting paid.

And the kids can move around.

That’s fine with me.

I mean, you look at the very top of this graphic right here.

You’re seeing two kids offensively who helped define North Texas’ season.

Especially Mesta Maker, who’s considered to be one of the best quarterbacks in this class.