The Florida State Seminoles have come under fire recently as the entire college football world ushers in a new NIL era of revenue sharing. As of July 1, schools across the country have adopted a new model that allows them to negotiate and pay players directly, a practice previously handled through third-party collectives and endorsements.

The problem described by one Big 10 general manager as “not normal” arose from the generally “aggressive” fine print that Florida State has included in its preliminary player contracts. For instance, an athlete can be charged up to $2,500 for losing equipment or face a total contract termination due to injury, according to Chris Hummer of CBS Sports.

While the Seminoles attempt to maneuver in the new NIL landscape, multiple figureheads in the college football world have spoken out. The Triple-Option host Mark Ingram has openly criticized the specific language used in the contracts, saying it could deter Florida State from landing some of the nation’s top talent.

READ MORE: FSU football loses four-star WR target to fellow ACC program

“Players aren’t going to go there because, for one, this contract gives Florida State way too much control over your future and your money. It exposes you to risk, injury, discipline, loss of leverage,” Ingram said. “All that. So, if you’re a top player and you’ve got Florida State as your top university and they give you this, I’m sure there’s another university that is going to give you better conditions and treat you like a partner, not an asset.”

Sportscaster and former head coach Urban Meyer also viewed the contract details with hesitation, stating that the power struggle approaching between universities and student-athletes is unforeseen and will hurt recruiting. He went on to express skepticism about the entire ordeal, saying that Florida State’s “days are numbered” if the contracts are finalized.

“I think what’s happening is the pendulum swung so far that the players could leave anytime, unlimited transfers, NIL, no limitations, no guardrails, and now it’s swinging backa nd some people that shouldn’t be involved are getting too involved and they’re putting this power struggle that I’ve never seen anything like that,” Meyer said. “Recruiting, it’s over. You can’t recruit, and in case you haven’t noticed, college football is about recruiting.”

“I’ll make this statement,” Urban Meyer said. “If this is legit, if this goes through, which I’m so skeptical, then the days of Florida State are numbered. It won’t happen. It can’t happen. No chance.”

Florida State released a statement defending its new contract proposals and emphasized its commitment to mutually beneficial partnerships. They acknowledged the uniqueness of each situation’s circumstances.

“As we enter into a new age of collegiate athletics, Florida State has put together an agreement that provides deliverables and expectations for all parties,” the statement read. “Each individual situation will be unique, and the hypotheticals are impossible to predict. However, we are committed to continuing to provide an elite experience for our student-athletes in all aspects of their collegiate career. Florida State is looking forward to the mutually beneficial partnerships with our student-athletes in this new era.”

Still, as the NIL era evolves, Florida State finds itself at yet another crossroads. While the university defends its approach moving forward, critics argue that the language being used may alienate the athletes that it is trying to attract. Whether the ‘Noles will be trailblazing into the new NIL era remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: clarity and trust are starting to become just as valuable as compensation.

READ MORE: Cornerback prospect shuts down recruitment, sticks with Florida State

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The fireworks came with a twist in Texas on Friday as five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo — the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2026 class — surprised by committing to Texas Tech on the Fourth of July. The Mansfield (Texas) Lake Ridge standout had been heavily pursued by Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas, but he ultimately chose the Red Raiders in a stunning late turn of events.

Derrick Shelby, Ojo’s agent, revealed to ESPN that his client received a three-year, $5.1 million revenue-sharing deal to join the Red Raiders. 

Ojo ranks as the No. 5 overall prospect in the class by 247Sports, giving Texas Tech a major boost in recruiting while reinforcing its status as one of the top NIL spenders in college football. That investment has already paid off, helping the Red Raiders land blue-chip talent like Ojo and assemble one of the most expensive transfer classes in the country this past cycle. The program’s aggressive NIL strategy underscores its intent to turn Lubbock into a legitimate football powerhouse – a vision strongly pushed by coach Joey McGuire, whose recruiting efforts have reshaped the program’s national profile.

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Not only is Ojo the first blue-chip commitment in Texas Tech’s 2026 class, he now ranks as the highest-rated pledge in program history. He surpasses former five-star wide receiver Micah Hudson, who rejoined the Red Raiders in April after a short stint at Texas A&M. If Ojo ultimately signs and enrolls, the pair would stand as the only 247Sports Composite five-star prospects to ever join Texas Tech directly out of high school.

Ojo becomes the eighth commitment in the 2026 class for Texas Tech since the beginning of June and 18th overall. Prior to his pledge, the Red Raiders sat at No. 36 in the team recruiting rankings, but they vault to No. 23 following the splash pickup. Texas Tech has finished among the top 25 of the 247Sports Composite team rankings just twice (2024, 2011) during the modern recruiting era.

Ojo holds more than 50 known offers, with the majority coming from top Power Five programs. Notably, Texas Tech was among the first to extend an offer back in January 2024 — well before his recruitment exploded on the national stage.

MORE: Behind the scenes of Felix Ojo’s stunning Texas Tech commitment

Despite being young for his class, Ojo has plug-and-play potential at offensive tackle if he can expand his 6-foot-6, 275-pound frame. He brings a rare blend of length, athleticism and upside to the position, showing “excellent physical tools and relative youth,” according to 247Sports scouting analyst Gabe Brooks, who noted Ojo’s lean frame, movement ability and high ceiling as a future high-major, multi-year starter with pro potential.

What’s next for Texas after losing out on key commit

While this is a massive win for Texas Tech, it’s just as much of a loss for Texas, which hasn’t signed a five-star offensive lineman since landing Kelvin Banks Jr. and DJ Campbell in the 2022 class. Banks became a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, while Campbell is expected to depart after this upcoming season.

“The Longhorns went into this cycle saying, ‘Ojo is our guy. He is our No. 1 guy. We cannot miss on him,'” 247Sports national recruiting analyst Mike Roach said earlier this week on The 105 with Andrew Ivins & Cooper Petagna. “The Longhorns missed on a historic tackle class in Texas last year with Lamont Rogers, Ty Haywood and Michael Fasusi going elsewhere.

“Texas built the offensive line that took them to the last two College Football Playoffs in the 2022 cycle. That was an incredible class, but they have not recruited near that level since. They need to re-energize that room.”

Texas still has until the early signing period in December to try to sway Ojo, but their options are limited if it is unable to. The Longhorns currently have just two offensive line prospects — both rated three-stars — and with Ojo’s commitment, only three offensive linemen in the current Top247 remain uncommitted.

It’s decision day for three in-state Texas targets: Aledo Top247 WR Kaydon Finley, Mansfield Lake Ridge five-star OT Felix Ojo, and North Crowley Top247 IOL John Turntine III.

Here’s what you need to know heading into each announcement.

Kaydon Finley, 4-star WR, Aledo 

Height/Weight: 6-foot, 2o0 pounds 

Rating: No. 110 overall prospect, No. 14 wide receiver, and No. 15 overall prospect in the state of Texas per the 247Sports Composite rankings. 

Scouting report: 

“Massively productive receiver with a solid, sturdy build in the 6-foot, 200-pound range and gifted with big hands. Strong football pedigree as the son of a former standout pass-catching tight end at the high-major college and NFL level (Jermichael Finley). Know-how shows in route-running acumen, in-the-air ability, and run-after-catch toughness. Three-sport experience that includes basketball and track and field. Explosive testing numbers in broad jump and vertical categories. Physical pass catcher who transfers that play style to RAC situations. Still developing more juice at the top end, but initial juice consistently eats up cushion to get on top of DBs. Capable of playing outside or in the slot. Could potentially excel as a short-to-intermediate chain mover who can break chunk plays with that aforementioned RAC ability. Build and run strength suggest possible wildcat option if desired. Projects as a valuable asset in a high-major receiver room who could follow family footsteps to the pro level.”

Schools in contention: Arizona State, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M

Crystal Ball: 100 percent Notre Dame 

Announcement time: 6:30 p.m. CT 

Announcement method: Social media — X: @KaydonFinley… Instagram: @kaydon.finley18

What Horns247 makes of his recruitment: 

The Texas legacy was one of the first prospects in the 2026 cycle to pick up an offer from the Longhorns. The burnt orange were in great standing for most of the time since, but eventually Notre Dame weaseled into the recruitment and went from dark horse to legitimate contender after hosting Finley for several unofficial visits earlier this spring. The Fighting Irish made a savvy move by getting Finley to campus for an unofficial visit in early June about a week and half before his Notre Dame official visit, and the Fighting Irish have been trending since and have weathered the storm that was Finley’s June 20-22 official visit to Texas. Horns247 likes Notre Dame ahead of the evening decision. 

The era of revenue sharing is here, opening on July 1st. Since then, Opendorse and Teamworks, both of which are systems that schools are using to distribute that rev-share to athletes, have told On3’s Pete Nakos and Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger that there are some staggering numbers.

Between Opendorse and Teamworks, Dellenger reports that more than $16 million was distributed from schools to student-athletes, and Nakos reported Opendorse distributed $10 million on July 1. That, notably, doesn’t include any information on distribution from the Big 12 and Big Ten, who reached an agreement to distribute through PayPal, and PayPal hasn’t shared any of that information to this point.

However, it goes beyond those rev-share numbers, making $16 million seem like a relatively small figure. Teamworks also tells Dellenger that there were massive June numbers being paid to student-athletes through collectives. That’s over $71 million to athletes in June. The reason that number got so high is likely due to schools and collectives front-loading payments before the House settlement took effect on July 1st.

The House settlement allows for rev-share. It has also changed enforcement over NIL deals. NIL deals above $600 will need third-party approval and will be sent to a new clearinghouse called NIL Go. That oversight is hoping to set a new market. There is, on top of that, a new enforcement agency in place called the College Sports Commission. 

In essence, schools and collectives wanted to get those deals done in June, so there would be less oversight on them. There can still be NIL deals, which are different and unique from rev-share, but they’re going to need approval. There’s also going to be questions about how the College Sports Commission handles these types of investigations.

The House settlement allows for rev-share where each school can distribute as much as $20.5 million to their student-athletes. Schools can distribute that as they wish, but football is expected to receive the most at schools with FBS programs.

The Big Ten, PayPal make payments on behalf of schools

While Ross Dellenger reported that PayPal had not made its figures public, there is some interesting insight that can be gleaned from their process with the Big Ten. In it, Dellenger adds that it is the conference itself making payments on behalf of schools.

Essentially, it works by the schools submitting the athletes who are supposed to receive payments, and for what amount. It is supposed to avoid complications from the school managing those payments. On Tuesday, July 1st, the Big Ten began this process by sharing revenue with athletes from three schools. By the end of the month, all schools will have money distributed.

As was the case with schools using Opendorse and Teamworks, many Big Ten schools front-loaded payments in June. That helped to create those smaller initial distributions on Tuesday.

Oklahoma has been playing varsity college football for 131 years this coming season, but it was the Bud Wilkinson era beginning in the late 1940s that truly started the Sooners’ ascendancy to the blue blood level of the sport.

Bob Stoops (190 wins) and Barry Switzer (157) both had more wins than Wilkinson’s Oklahoma teams, but it was Wilkinson’s teams of the 1950s that combined for 93 wins in 103 games and a decade-best winning percentage of .895 that produced the best decade in OU football history.

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During that record-setting decade of Oklahoma football, the Sooners won three national championships (1950, 1955 and 1956), 10 consecutive conference championships and produced a Heisman Trophy winner in Billy Vessels (1952), who played halfback, wide receiver and returned kicks for OU. Also during that decade, Oklahoma ran off a record-setting 47 consecutive wins between 1953 and 1957, a mark that still stands today and many believe may never be broken.

The 1950s proved to be the first of several more decades of Oklahoma football supremacy under legendary coaches Switzer and Stoops. In the six decades that followed the 1950s, the Sooners ended the 10 years among the top four teams in total wins in four of the six, and was No. 2 in that category twice (1970-79 and 2000-09).

Not every decade of Sooner football since the 1950s, however, has lived up to typical Oklahoma standards. The two least satisfactory decades in the last 75 years were in the 1960s and1990s.

Gary Gibbs, Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake were at the helm for Oklahoma in the 1990s before Bob Stoops took over in 1999. From 1990-99, Schnellenberger and Blake were a combined 17-27 over four seasons and Oklahoma was 61-51 (.543), 49th among teams at the NCAA Division I level.

OU also went through a period of coaching transition in the 1960s. It was the tail end of the Wilkinson era (1963 was his final season), and the Sooners would have three other head coaches (Gomer Jones, Jim Mackenzie and Chuck Fairbanks) before the decade ended. Oklahoma was tied for 23rd in the country in the decade of the ’60s with 62 wins and 40 losses and a winning percentage of .606.

Oklahoma’s 706 wins since 1946, or the end of World War II, are the most of any team in college football. Over that period, the Sooners have won all seven of their national championships and 44 of their nation-best 50 conference championships.

In the seven decades beginning with the 1950s, Oklahoma has won more than 90 games in a decade, an average of at least nine wins per season, five times with a winning percentage of .820 or better in four of the seven decades.

For those who might be interested, Oklahoma is 42-21 through the first five seasons of the 2020s. Two of those (2022 and 2024), however, were losing seasons in three seasons under head coach Brent Venables. To put that into context, Oklahoma has only had seven losing seasons total since 1950.

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