NIL - Recruiting

[CameronCrazy 1,062]

Does anyone else get the feeling that our NIL money might be drained? Or maybe donors are pulling back their donations or their commitments to donate? Maybe they want to see more from Hugh before they open up the checkbook…

It seems that something changed and we started losing all of our momentum around Signing Day. We lost out on KJ Bolden & LJ McCray. We lost out on AJ Harris & Jamon Dumas-Johnson, even though they visited Auburn immediately after hitting the portal (AJ Harris was a 🔒). We haven’t gone after a QB in the portal. We haven’t gone hard after the Alabama portal kids, and now we’ve lost out on Ryan Williams, largely because of NIL. 

Most people are defending this by saying this is Hugh’s philosophy. He doesn’t want to rely on the portal, he believes in Peyton Thorne, he doesn’t want to overpay for a kid, etc. 

But maybe his funds have been cut and he’s having to judicious on where he spends his money… Just a thought.

[TigerVII 108]

17 minutes ago, CameronCrazy said:

Maybe they want to see more from Hugh before they open up the checkbook . 

 

[TigerVII 108]

I believe there is merit in your speculation.  I don't believe the NIL money has dried up.  I believe  Coach Freeze has focused it primarily toward high school recruits.  However, you are absolutely correct that boosters want to see more. 

Coach Freeze and his staff have worked their tails off to recruit  and upgrade the talent on the roster.  There has been little to no coaching in 2023.  We almost upset UGA and UAT at home only to blow both games in the 4th quarter.  We looked like a Sun Belt team at home against New Mexico State, outcoached in all phases of the game. Ditto for the bowl game against  Maryland.  We had uninspired performances in a winnable home game against Ole Miss, and we absolutely didn't show against LSU on the road.

I would like to see some coaching (in addition to the above-average recruiting) in 2024.  If we don't see it, we're still stuck in mediocrity.

[AUwent 3,749]

#1--There's on-field things to question and improvements to be made, but IDK how you can look at our class and get that negative of an impression.

#2--If the money men needed instant success in year 1 (with how gutted our roster was) to provide, it never was going to work period. 

#3--We just paid for two massive buyouts and a facility.

Edited January 27 by AUwent

[TigerVII 108]

Nice to see some optimism from you, AUwent.  You should try it more often. 😀

Don't forget #4--Jerry Kill and Vandy will be visiting Jordan-Hare this fall.  If we repeat the dreadful performance we displayed against NMSU two months ago, we can kiss our top 10 recruiting class goodbye for 2025.

We will have more talent this year,  but we will also have less experienced players in several positions.  Coaching will make the difference between 5 wins and 7-8 wins in 2024.

[AUwent 3,749]

16 minutes ago, TigerVII said:

Nice to see some optimism from you, AUwent.  You should try it more often. 😀

Don't forget #4--Jerry Kill and Vandy will be visiting Jordan-Hare this fall.  If we repeat the dreadful performance we displayed against NMSU two months ago, we can kiss our top 10 recruiting class goodbye for 2025.

We will have more talent this year,  but we will also have less experienced players in several positions.  Coaching will make the difference between 5 wins and 7-8 wins in 2024.

Well, I completely agree that improvement is needed, but that's kind of a no-brainer with any coaching staff unless you have a Gus 2013-style first year. Steve Sarkisian went 5-7 and lost to 2-10 Kansas his first year. Brent Venables went 6-7 his first year.

To your last point, this might be a good thread for you.

I will say, Freeze deserves four years, and if we have to part with him at the end of that, the buyout period for both Gus and Potato will be over and only two years on his will be left.

Edited January 27 by AUwent

[Mikey 16,600]

The NIL money will eventually decline for most if not all colleges. What's going on now is not sustainable. How fast this will happen nobody knows but happen it will.

[Gowebb11 9,322]

9 hours ago, Mikey said:

The NIL money will eventually decline for most if not all colleges. What's going on now is not sustainable. How fast this will happen nobody knows but happen it will.

I believe CFB can survive NIL or the transfer portal. I’m not sure it can survive both at the same time. Significant challenges ahead in my opinion. 

[Mims44 1,869]

11 hours ago, Mikey said:

The NIL money will eventually decline for most if not all colleges. What's going on now is not sustainable. How fast this will happen nobody knows but happen it will.

Would like to see it cleaned up. It currently is nothing like what was originally envisioned.

Also dislike the way NCAA/college at large has taken the issue of them pocketing billions off the players and paying them next to nothing.

And turned it into, "that's ok, cause YOU the fans can pay the players.... just don't mind us as we continue racking up all the profits."

[aucom96 1,618]

On 1/26/2024 at 9:38 PM, AUwent said:

I will say, Freeze deserves four years

The game has changed. There are no longer guarantees of keeping any roster together longer than one regular season, so talk of "getting his players" is less a four year proposition than it once was. 

Hugh has done a good job recruiting high school. He has done a poor job in the portal. If he wants to make it four years, that will have to change, because every team is going to get their talent poached year to year. It's the new reality of college football and if he decides to leave the coaching to his assistants again this coming season, year three's seat is going to be scorching hot. 

[CR 2,442]

There are tens of millions of dollars going to schools in TV money.  Asking working fans to chip in to pay salaries is insane. When the boosters tire of footing the bill, a way will be figured out to split some of that money with the players who fans pay to watch.

[toddc 13,194]

2 hours ago, aucom96 said:

The game has changed. There are no longer guarantees of keeping any roster together longer than one regular season, so talk of "getting his players" is less a four year proposition than it once was. 

Hugh has done a good job recruiting high school. He has done a poor job in the portal. If he wants to make it four years, that will have to change, because every team is going to get their talent poached year to year. It's the new reality of college football and if he decides to leave the coaching to his assistants again this coming season, year three's seat is going to be scorching hot. 

I don’t think so. CHF has done really well in the portal to fill needs. I’m not sure why this narrative is so prevalent in here.

Manny Navarro of The Athletic recently revealed his winnersand losers from the SEC when it comes to their activity in the transfer portal. At the front of the “winners” list is Auburn. Navarro says the Tigers’ transfer additions have outweighed their departures.

Edited January 28 by toddc

[aucom96 1,618]

18 minutes ago, toddc said:

I don’t think so. CHF has done really well in the portal to fill needs. I’m not sure why this narrative is so prevalent in here.

Manny Navarro of The Athletic recently revealed his winnersand losers from the SEC when it comes to their activity in the transfer portal. At the front of the “winners” list is Auburn. Navarro says the Tigers’ transfer additions have outweighed their departures.

QB is a need. Thorne is not SEC level and that will continue to equal losses. D-line is thin, linebackers thin, we got a couple of offensive linemen who can possibly start, but stress on possibly and we’re still thin there. WR is going to be very thin on experience. 
 

I just don’t see it. To me, he looks like he’s gambling heavily on freshman at too many key positions…and he’ll have to renegotiate pay with most of them going into year three. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,669]

On 1/27/2024 at 7:30 AM, Gowebb11 said:

I believe CFB can survive NIL or the transfer portal. I’m not sure it can survive both at the same time. Significant challenges ahead in my opinion. 

I don’t see why people find that NIL is an existential problem to CFB. But the recruiting schedule does need to be standardized for the sake of the coaches and players sakes. Coaches are being burned out like hell. 

[creed 1,635]

On 1/27/2024 at 10:34 AM, Mims44 said:

Would like to see it cleaned up. It currently is nothing like what was originally envisioned.

Also dislike the way NCAA/college at large has taken the issue of them pocketing billions off the players and paying them next to nothing.

And turned it into, "that's ok, cause YOU the fans can pay the players.... just don't mind us as we continue racking up all the profits."

Can you elaborate on this statement? What equates to next to nothing?

[Gowebb11 9,322]

8 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I don’t see why people find that NIL is an existential problem to CFB. But the recruiting schedule does need to be standardized for the sake of the coaches and players sakes. Coaches are being burned out like hell. 

NIL is not a problem to me. I’m happy to see the players get to share in the bounty they produce. But I believe a poorly defined and pretty much unregulated NIL is problematic going forward. 

[Mims44 1,869]

2 hours ago, creed said:

Can you elaborate on this statement? What equates to next to nothing?

Not standardized so some schools pay more and others less.

Typical stipends are between 3500 and 5000 a year.

Or were like 5 years ago, I am going off like 5 year old knowledge... for all I know they stopped doing that when NIL became a thing  

[creed 1,635]

28 minutes ago, Mims44 said:

Not standardized so some schools pay more and others less.

Typical stipends are between 3500 and 5000 a year.

Or were like 5 years ago, I am going off like 5 year old knowledge... for all I know they stopped doing that when NIL became a thing  

Yes probably varies by school. My old AU roommate’s daughter played D1 basketball at OSU and received @ $850/month + room, utilities, meals, payed tuition, books. She graduated in 3 years, then went to Oral Robert’s for her Masters and played basketball there too. 

[creed 1,635]

A few questions. 
#1 - Do you agree with players receiving funds from NIL?

#2 - If answer to #1 is yes, are you contributing?

#3 - If answer to #2 is yes, how do feel about those who don’t contribute?

#4 - If the answer to #2 is no, who is responsible for funding NIL?

#5 - If one does not personally contribute to NIL, unless contributing to TUF or other means to AU, how valid is their opinion in the matter?

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,669]

3 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

NIL is not a problem to me. I’m happy to see the players get to share in the bounty they produce. But I believe a poorly defined and pretty much unregulated NIL is problematic going forward. 

That’s what I mean though, I don’t see how that’s a problem. We haven’t had any noticeable difference in the main powers before and after the NIL era. There’s this theoretical argument that I should hurt the middle to lower class, but we’ve had about as much parity in terms of those types competing with the big dogs in-conference as we had previously. 

I’m only bringing this up to you specifically, just because I want to get an idea for where the problem is for this crowd that you’re a part. I legitimately want to see/hear the other side 

[Mikey 16,600]

23 minutes ago, creed said:

A few questions. 
#1 - Do you agree with players receiving funds from NIL?

They already get a valuable scholarship, other benefits and a stipend. If people want to give them more, ok but it should be somewhat regulated.

#2 - If answer to #1 is yes, are you contributing?

Not contributing

#3 - If answer to #2 is yes, how do feel about those who don’t contribute?

N/A

#4 - If the answer to #2 is no, who is responsible for funding NIL?

People who want to buy players to play for their school.

#5 - If one does not personally contribute to NIL, unless contributing to TUF or other means to AU, how valid is their opinion in the matter?

Contributions and opinions are separate issues. The two are in no way related. If it matters, my contributions to Auburn University are all on the academic side these days.

 

I think the first dollars of NIL money should go to baseball, softball and other sports whose athletes aren't getting full scholarships. Once those athletes are made whole any left over dollars can go to wherever.

 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,669]

Just to mention, a pretty large group of people’s perspective on money going out to athletes is based around how much that league earns and how big those players are. It’s a reason some people use to validate their stance that the WNBA players shouldn’t earn more. 
 

I would think the same logic should apply to football and basketball, even if this isn’t a stance I personally have. If you made it to where NIL dollars went to “lesser” sports first, then people would just donate less money (especially in SEC schools where most unpaid or Olympic sports matter less) AND you’d still have it to where the schools who paid more under the table would get the best players. It’d be a worse version of this same system 

[AUApostle 7,651]

2 hours ago, Mims44 said:

Not standardized so some schools pay more and others less.

Typical stipends are between 3500 and 5000 a year.

Or were like 5 years ago, I am going off like 5 year old knowledge... for all I know they stopped doing that when NIL became a thing  

+ housing and tuition.  The cost of college isn't cheap, it's up there with healthcare as having far outpaced the rate of inflation.  I get that it still doesn't equal the market value for some of the players, but it's far from next to nothing.

[Hank2020 3,199]

2 hours ago, creed said:

A few questions. 
#1 - Do you agree with players receiving funds from NIL?

#2 - If answer to #1 is yes, are you contributing?

#3 - If answer to #2 is yes, how do feel about those who don’t contribute?

#4 - If the answer to #2 is no, who is responsible for funding NIL?

#5 - If one does not personally contribute to NIL, unless contributing to TUF or other means to AU, how valid is their opinion in the matter?

Seems to me that universities should help fund NIL (but to stay compliant it should be blind trust ), coaches should also help ( they and universities are main beneficiaries of CFB).

[AUApostle 7,651]

36 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

Seems to me that universities should help fund NIL (but to stay compliant it should be blind trust ), coaches should also help ( they and universities are main beneficiaries of CFB).

Why can't player "salaries" get funded from tickets, merchandise, and TV like pro sports?  What's broken about the college model that alumni and boosters have to make up the difference?  I'm assuming NFL teams don't operate in the red year after year and they pay huge salaries to players.

College football programs (staff, maintenance, tech, and facilities) get additional help from boosters, student fees, and some state money that NFL teams don't entirely get.  Why go after Middle-class Mike for NIL subscriptions?

Edited January 29 by AUApostle