Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
Somewhat agree about ND. Some players might feel that way. But if the kid wants to stay in the Midwest and Ohio State or Michigan is offering a hefty amount more $$$ tradition goes out the window.
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From Franchise QB to NIL Fugitive: The Nico Story (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter sm8680
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Somewhat agree about ND. Some players might feel that way. But if the kid wants to stay in the Midwest and Ohio State or Michigan is offering a hefty amount more $$$ tradition goes out the window.
TheDirtyWord
Footballguy
It's always been that - a semi-pro league. Its always been a business - albeit having for most of it's history bypassing primary labor costs.
Ultimately I think the idea of player 'transience' is a bit overblown in the context of school pride. Cam Newton played one year at Auburn...he's still revered there. Quinshon Judkins will likely be on Ohio State's sideline at some point this season watching. Diego Pavia will hold a special place in Vanderbilt lore.
College footballs entire history is littered with 'as we knew it, now gone forever' nostalgic rhetoric only to shed it's skin and morph into the next bigger and better behemoth. If anything the structure of college football where players have '4 years max' to play means that it's setup perfectly to create legends and memorable moments irrespective of people involved, almost a factory of sorts. And the intensity of the experiences these schools can create for their respective student bodies in the fall is unmatched and IMO is what's ultimately responsible for building the culture.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Is he not allowed to shop around for himself? Why would any program or fan be upset or surprised by this?
pinkstapler
Footballguy
On the issues being debated in this thread; I think schools just need to start having them sign contracts. I'm sure the big name schools can come to some kind of hand shake agreement, kind of like how my local gas stations all price within a penny or two of each other. Once enough schools get on board, it'll protect a bit from stuff like this. It feels like the easiest way to go than expecting NCAA to put together some kind of rules system. Everything they touch seems to turn to hell anyhow. And rarely has it seemed like they've had to players rights as a priority, so as someone else said, players have no motivation to agree to any kind of CBA with them. If I was richer and smarter, I'd try to figure out a way to fill that void and basically begin to push/cut the NCAA out of it. I imagine more and more of these top level athletes are getting agents now with so many avenues to make money; I'd try to align with the agents and power 5 schools to create a system that benefits both sides and model it after the NFL to an extent. Until then though, colleges just need to go the legal route and have prospects/players on contracts.
From a fantasy perspective; I think this is good for Nico. While his motivation to leave definitely seems to be money; the Tennessee offense is.... far far from a regular offense is the nice way to put it. Sure as a school they can (and do) find success with it in college, but I've found trying to scout and project college players from that system to the pros to be difficult. And in my experience, it hasn't gone well for a lot of them, what feels like more than average should be. It's what gives me pause on Sampson this year tbh, not denying his skills, but they are also hard to completely define when he's running behind a spread offense where the WRs line up about 2 feet from the boundary and half of all his runs he runs through holes the size of a pickup truck and gets to the second level before even being sniffed by a defender.
Considering he will definitely be entering the NFL draft and will likely be considered one of the top prospects, he should get in a system that will translate better to the NFL leap and work on building that skillset now against lesser competition.
From a fantasy perspective; I think this is good for Nico. While his motivation to leave definitely seems to be money; the Tennessee offense is.... far far from a regular offense is the nice way to put it. Sure as a school they can (and do) find success with it in college, but I've found trying to scout and project college players from that system to the pros to be difficult. And in my experience, it hasn't gone well for a lot of them, what feels like more than average should be. It's what gives me pause on Sampson this year tbh, not denying his skills, but they are also hard to completely define when he's running behind a spread offense where the WRs line up about 2 feet from the boundary and half of all his runs he runs through holes the size of a pickup truck and gets to the second level before even being sniffed by a defender.
Considering he will definitely be entering the NFL draft and will likely be considered one of the top prospects, he should get in a system that will translate better to the NFL leap and work on building that skillset now against lesser competition.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Unlike any other professional sports league in the world, the NFL draft eligibility rules require a player to be three years removed from high school, which provides the league with a free farm system to develop players at no cost (including developing the players NIL which is extremely valuable as we see this time of year with the draft.) At the same time, this arrangement guarantees the NCAA billions of dollars in revenue with essentially no labor cost (tuition, room and board lol.) Until very recently, players were not even allowed to change schools without paying a massive penalty - sitting out an entire season of play and losing a year ofeligibility. Coaches essentially had these kids locked in for their entire college career regardless of circumstances. Some day we're going to look back on this system and marvel at these fat cats ability to keep it going for so long in the face of labor and antitrust laws as well as just simple notions of fairness and common decency.
Max Power
Footballguy
He's allowed to, but he can't be a leader if his commitment is to the dollar. Every athlete and coach on that team is working towards one goal, but he has different priorities. 98% of college players don't go to the NFL and college is the pinnacle of their sports life. I see calling around and asking for money as him letting the team down. Why shouldn't teammates and fans be upset?
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I'm sure some people may be upset and the internet has no shortage of people looking to be mad or offended, but I don't see anything close to a social pitchfork brigade. I live in Knoxville and many of my friends are serious UT fans. They all see it completely as a business and just
He wanted to change what he agreed to and renegotiate. He has that right. He thought he was worth way more than UT did. So they parted ways.
Again, I'm sure some will find a reason to be offended. But everyone I know in real life see it as business.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Like I mentioned above, this opens about 4,000 cans of worms for the universities. They do not want the fallout from that. It's gonna happen eventually anyway, but no one has ever accused the NCAA and big-time college programs of being ahead of the tide.
This also is fairly common. It made headlines because the player is high profile, but I have friends involved in the UT NIL Collective and it's not uncommon for players to renegotiate. It's part of business.
It can be maddening as often the players are getting adivce from non professionals. But it is what it is. This one just made headlines as it was the young starting QB on one of the ealier and splashier NIL deals.
It can be maddening as often the players are getting adivce from non professionals. But it is what it is. This one just made headlines as it was the young starting QB on one of the ealier and splashier NIL deals.
Chaka
Footballguy
Why is he foolish? I have not been following closely but can't he go to any university that will have him and play this year? Seems likely there is a program that will make him an offer equal to or greater than what Tennessee offered?
Why shouldn’t his teammates be upset? Well because this is the new landscape, and a majority of these players are getting NIL and considering/making the exact same decisions themselves. You just don’t hear about the guys getting $100K that went elsewhere for $200K.
He can't got to an SEC school and most places have allocated their NIL money so just getting back whole won't be easy, he already had a really great NIL deal until some players trumped it this off-season.
All that is secondary to his draft stock. I phrased him as being the "consensus" top QB in the 2026 draft but probably should have phrased as it "a lot of people's" top QB in next years draft. Maximizing NIL money should not have been his primary goal and I'll say again he already had a good deal. His maximum goal should be his draft stock. Now you introduce character/leadership concerns for how he handled this, at best some teams will view this as akin to a hold out but others will view him as quitting on his team. And to me all of that is not the the primary issue which is he's risking his draft stock to learn an entirely new offense and scheme and he'll have to do so without benefit of spring practice.
Todem
Footballguy
pinkstapler
Footballguy
Yeah I'm guessing my lack of knowledge on any of that is the disconnect. I figured it'd be easy to just sign players to contracts on an individual basis. Broken contract goes to court. If only one school was doing it, recruits may just avoid that school. But if the majority of the power 5 was, they wouldn't have much choice. I can understand it wouldn't play out as easy IRL as it seems in my head though hah.
massraider
Footballguy
All the more reason for him to get as much as he can.
Maybe his agents figure he's a longshot to be a 1st rounder. Extra million or two is massive if you don't know if you'll ever get a decent pro contract. Huge.
Now, can he get more money elsewhere? I've seen sentiment out there that he wasn't worth the 2 mil TEN was paying, and if he can't get the same money, he might wind up being a cautionary tale.
Max Power
Footballguy
It sounds like his teammates are upset though. The Athletic (NYT) article was talking about how Nico beefing with the coaching staff was one thing, but he had lost the support of the locker room and that lead to Tennessee parting ways.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
This sounds great in an idealistic sense but I don't think this concept holds any water in the real world. There can be no expectation of loyalty running in either direction in college sports anymore. Every player has the right if not the duty to put himself in the best situation possible right now because the window of opportunity for these players can slam shut quickly, sometimes with no warning. I can understand someone thinking he made a mistake, although that takes a remarkably high level of arrogance. I can understand a fan being disappointed he's leaving, in a purely selfish sense, but this is his life and his career to navigate as he decides.
Todem
Footballguy
Agree....make what you can. It can all end at any moment. It's a violent game.
That's the question. He very well could wind up making more money. College teams are desperate for a QB the same way NFL teams are. There very well may be a team that will pay him more. And it only takes 1.
eighsse2
Footballguy
Yeah. It only makes sense to feel out the market each year and see who would be willing to pay the most for your services.
Chaka
Footballguy
@menobrown says most teams have spent their nil money at this point, which kind of makes sense. But, I don't think there is a cap on nil so, if this guy is potentially a Heisman winning future first overall pick caliber talent, I imagine someone will pony up to land him. Heismans and sending players to the NFL are money makers for college programs.
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
Yet the schools do the very same thing to the players, including replacing players they have on their team at the moment.
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
Many of Michigan players are out of state. Out of state tuition is pushing 50K a year with room and board. Given that 90% of the players will never play in the NFL that is a pretty good stipend, and to get educated for their future. So it is not exactly "free labor"
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
It’s not a $50k per athlete cost to the school in term of their labor cost, even if that is the market value of the scholarship to the player. Surely there are massive expenses to operate a top level college football program but player wages aren’t a significant factor, at least not until very recently. But I agree a football scholarship is a tremendous benefit to this 98% of the players who won’t play football after college. I’m not sure how much that matters to the 2% who can claim multi million dollar NIL deals like Nico though.
32 Counter Pass
Footballguy
Highly recommend listening to this episode of the Joel Klatt show for some interesting insights.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
It's coming. I believe the number is $21 pr $22 million per year to be spread across all sports.
But that's not the only source of income for college athletes. As far as I can tell, there's nothing to stop some rich booster from saying to a player "I know State can only give you $2 million, but I'll give you $2 more if you appear in 10 TV ads for my car dealership".
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
Saw a report that Nico Iamaleava was one of a group of players who was considering holding out of the CFP in order to secure more money. The reasoning was that they were paid to play 12 games (with a possible 13th if their team made a conference championship) but that playoff and bowl games are an extra that would require more money.
That same report said that Iamaleava was not honoring some of the responsibilities (i.e., attending events, signings, etc.) outlined in his NIL agreement.
That same report said that Iamaleava was not honoring some of the responsibilities (i.e., attending events, signings, etc.) outlined in his NIL agreement.
Max Power
Footballguy
It's disgusting to read this.
InDitkaWeTrust
Footballguy
Is it, though? If your boss hired you to work 5 days a week and wanted to add a 6th without pay for a long stretch, would you be happy?
Boston
Footballguy
Matters if it's in the contract or not.
Max Power
Footballguy
If my entire team was coming in and I was critical to the success, I would come in easily. We do it in the military all the time.
pinkstapler
Footballguy
He wasn't playing for Army, he was playing for Tennessee. Ironically nicknamed the Volunteers lol.
This is one of those "why don't rich people donate more money to charity, I know I would if I was rich" arguments.
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
I will never fault a college player for trying to get more
I don`t either.
Also don`t think they should make them go to school if they don`t want to. Let them have 4 years of playing football as paid players under the name of given school. Let them sign 1-2-3 or 4 year contracts as football players not students. If they want to attend class that should be an option too.
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
Similarly, some NFL players aren’t always thrilled to make the playoffs. Current pay structure:
- Wild Card Round: $45,500 for all teams in this round.
- Divisional Round: $54,500.
- Conference Championship: $77,000.
- Super Bowl Winner: $171,000.
- Super Bowl Loser: $96,000.
Richard Sherman told a story last year from his rookie year. He didn’t name the player but it was almost certainly Trufant. Anyway, he and Cam were excited about being in the playoff hunt with a couple games left. They’re acting all giddy about the turnaround when a veteran DB threw some cold water on it. “TF you talking about, rook? Why would I be excited about a big pay cut.” Huh “Listen - I make $400k a week. Why would I want to have another week of practice & go play on the road for not even 1/10th of that?”
(WC round was a little over $30K back then.)
Talk all you want about being competitive and a loser’s mentality but not everyone is wired like that. Some are going to be less franchise/school oriented to be more selfish & making sure they are properly compensated.
Not saying I agree with it at all but that’s reality. Some are going to be looking at it as “family first - is this worth jeopardizing my chance at generational wealth?”
I will never fault a college player for trying to get more
Always been my attitude about NFL players in contract disputes. They
I suppose that thinking can be extended to NIL. I don’t think about it much bc I only follow Michigan and my MAC school alma mater.
I’m not privy to all the details of this specific situation, I could not care less. But one thing that strikes me is the levels of miscommunication & deceit from Team Nico.
It’s my understanding he lets the adults make all the off-field decisions and just goes along with whatever Papa Nic says they should do. So during the Winter Portal, Dad and the agent are shopping teams. That gets back to UT and things reach an impasse because he doesn’t have any other good offers. But they still want to renegotiate the NIL deal anyway (I may have something wrong but that’s my reading.)
Things simmer down but unbeknownst to the player, father, or UT, the agent goes behind everyone’s back to keep trying to land a new NIL deal elsewhere. UT finds out (again) and decides no one is bigger than the program.
Feel bad for the QB as he doesn’t seem to have any independence or agency in these scenarios, and now it’s a difficult outcome for everyone.
(my apologies if I misstated anything)
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From a friend:
massraider
Footballguy
Definitely not exactly free labor. Not exactly.
This was the entirety of the NCAA's argument for decades, as they violated antitrust laws, and illegally restrained thousands of young men from earning money.
Money they could have used for their future.
I was reading the Athletic article surrounding his eventual holdout. His dad seems like a piece of work, and it seems like they were pretty mercenary about the whole thing since he was in high school--which is their right, of course. But schools need to understand what kind of kid/family they are getting too.
I don't know about the agent going rogue, I dunno how anyone can prove that, and Nico and dad can always use that as a cover, plausible deniability. Blame the agent, he won't mind
Reports suggest that he held out during NIL negotiations, missing practices and meetings, which led to Tennessee cutting ties with him. Some insiders have accused him of failing to fulfill obligations tied to his NIL deal, such as fan autograph sessions and meet-and-greets. Additionally, there are claims that his agent acted without the family's knowledge, seeking more money behind their backs.
It seems like he might have misjudged his leverage. Sure, all it takes is one team willing to throw $4 million his way, and sure, he technically has the right to renegotiate his NIL deal. But at a certain point, when there's this much controversy swirling around him, you have to wonder where there's smoke, is there fire? The optics aren't great, and it could end up costing him more than just money.
It seems like he might have misjudged his leverage. Sure, all it takes is one team willing to throw $4 million his way, and sure, he technically has the right to renegotiate his NIL deal. But at a certain point, when there's this much controversy swirling around him, you have to wonder where there's smoke, is there fire? The optics aren't great, and it could end up costing him more than just money.
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
I did see that UNC could be interested.
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
Similarly, some NFL players aren’t always thrilled to make the playoffs. Current pay structure:
- Wild Card Round: $45,500 for all teams in this round.
- Divisional Round: $54,500.
- Conference Championship: $77,000.
- Super Bowl Winner: $171,000.
- Super Bowl Loser: $96,000.
Richard Sherman told a story last year from his rookie year. He didn’t name the player but it was almost certainly Trufant. Anyway, he and Cam were excited about being in the playoff hunt with a couple games left. They’re acting all giddy about the turnaround when a veteran DB threw some cold water on it. “TF you talking about, rook? Why would I be excited about a big pay cut.” Huh “Listen - I make $400k a week. Why would I want to have another week of practice & go play on the road for not even 1/10th of that?”
(WC round was a little over $30K back then.)
Talk all you want about being competitive and a loser’s mentality but not everyone is wired like that. Some are going to be less franchise/school oriented to be more selfish & making sure they are properly compensated.
Not saying I agree with it at all but that’s reality. Some are going to be looking at it as “family first - is this worth jeopardizing my chance at generational wealth?”
I will never fault a college player for trying to get more
Always been my attitude about NFL players in contract disputes. Theygavehave an incredibly narrow window to maximize their earning power, and it could all end in a heartbeat. Meanwhile the billionaire owners face nothing close to the same level of jeopardy.
I suppose that thinking can be extended to NIL. I don’t think about it much bc I only follow Michigan and my MAC school alma mater.
I’m not privy to all the details of this specific situation, I could not care less. But one thing that strikes me is the levels of miscommunication & deceit from Team Nico.
It’s my understanding he lets the adults make all the off-field decisions and just goes along with whatever Papa Nic says they should do. So during the Winter Portal, Dad and the agent are shopping teams. That gets back to UT and things reach an impasse because he doesn’t have any other good offers. But they still want to renegotiate the NIL deal anyway (I may have something wrong but that’s my reading.)
Things simmer down but unbeknownst to the player, father, or UT, the agent goes behind everyone’s back to keep trying to land a new NIL deal elsewhere. UT finds out (again) and decides no one is bigger than the program.
Feel bad for the QB as he doesn’t seem to have any independence or agency in these scenarios, and now it’s a difficult outcome for everyone.
(my apologies if I misstated anything)
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Around the 12:00 mark Kirby Smart says that these collectives have zoom calls shopping players who are currently on teams before the portal opens to gauge interest. That's not good.
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
The agent acting behind the family's back doesn't hold water. If he's holding himself out of meetings and missing practices, he's well aware of what's going on with NIL negotiations.
Andy Dufresne
Footballguy
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
Schools attempt to poach players from other schools all the time. A player shops his services and holds out because the school does not want to negotiate. There are articles and podcasts, and everyone, including myself, has an opinion. Schools are attempting to get (poach) star players for more NIL money, and no one blinks an eye. I find that weird.
What would UT do if Nico was their starting QB and Arch wanted to play at UT? Would Arch get a "bag"? Would Nico be replaced? This is the price of doing business, for better or worse.
This is professional NCAA business now.
What would UT do if Nico was their starting QB and Arch wanted to play at UT? Would Arch get a "bag"? Would Nico be replaced? This is the price of doing business, for better or worse.
This is professional NCAA business now.
Of course, we'll see what actually happens. Still wouldn't be surprised to see a school throw much bigger money out.
Can you elaborate on what you find weird? That no one blinks an eye?
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
I do not see any conversations about schools approaching other players on other teams and trying to have them come to their school for more NIL money. There are no articles about it, no podcasts, or fan outrage. The story blew up, and it makes sense that people on national media would start talking about it because the story did blow up. However, let's start talking about how wrong it is for schools to approach star players at other schools and offer them more NIL money to come to their school. Multiple schools approached Jeremiah Smith to leave Ohio State for more NIL money. There was no outrage, even by Ohio State fans who mostly were savoring the most recent "Natty". I can speculate on a few other star players that just happened to end up at different schools for no apparent reason more than NIL dollars, but since I do not know for a fact, I won't mention them, but I could, and we all can, including at Ohio State.
Do not get me wrong; the kids should make as much money as possible with the current rules in place. Many articles blast Nico for holding out and asking for more money. I have read that he is not the only kid in a group who wanted more money to play in playoff games. Now, Nico has held out to negotiate a better deal, but UT said no, and they parted ways. This seems like no big deal to me. You also have coaches coming out against what Nico did, like Mario Cristobal saying they can get out if they want to play that game, meaning do not try to play the holdout game here at Miami. I would love to ask Mario whether Miami has ever offered a player at another school a better NIL deal to play for the Hurricanes.
I do not know Nico and do not care about his motives for wanting to get paid more money by a school to play football. It is an open market, but if people are going to blast the kid for that decision, these same people should blast the schools offering better NIL deals to players still at their current schools.
Why shouldn’t other schools offer more NIL to players at other schools? Isn’t the intent of NIL to ensure that these athletes can make market value earnings for their name, image, and likeness while in school? If another school can/will offer more, why is that out of bounds?
To add, if another school really was offering Nico $4M then he’d have been in the portal and long gone from Tennessee. And nobody would be “blasting him” for transferring to make an addition $2M per year.
Instead, it appears he badly misplayed his hand, possibly posturing that he could get more NIL elsewhere, and Tennessee told him they wanted no part of that game. People are blasting him because he clearly failed to assess the reality of his worth to UT, and now he not only looks a bit like a selfish a s s, but might very well get less NIL money in the process.
Instead, it appears he badly misplayed his hand, possibly posturing that he could get more NIL elsewhere, and Tennessee told him they wanted no part of that game. People are blasting him because he clearly failed to assess the reality of his worth to UT, and now he not only looks a bit like a selfish a s s, but might very well get less NIL money in the process.
InDitkaWeTrust
Footballguy
UNC can't afford it. They unloaded the truck to get Bill B and have huge basketball NIL obligations.
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