Fisher says NIL ‘guardrails’ needed
Citing mishmash of rules around the nation, Aggies coach calls for ‘an even playing field’
COLLEGE STATION — Forgive Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher if he’s mangling his life timeline a little these days — the swerves in college sports in the past year have left him a bit muddled. Along with most others in his occupation.
“The changes we’re going through daily, weekly, monthly, however you want to say it, hourly, it goes like crazy,” Fisher said with a chuckle.
About a year ago Fisher and his peers were guessing how college athletes earning money from their name, image and likeness (NIL) might play out. Nearly a year into it, they know. Sort of.
“There have to be some kind of rules or guardrails, there’s no doubt,” Fisher said. “Usually you go, ‘Ready, aim, shoot,’ and we went, ‘Ready, shoot, aim,’ because every state kind of did its own thing. … Something has to be done to have some uniformity and to have some consistency.”
The early, collective answer to that last part in particular? Good luck with that. With NIL deals running rampant and the transfer portal ramping up and different rules in place in different states, the genie likely is out of a giant bottle and on the loose for the long term.
“A lot of people think this is a temporary era that will be looked at and studied for years to come,” said Jim Cavale, CEO of a software company (INFLCR) connecting athletes with business prospects. “The reality is without uniformity … schools and coaches aren’t going to sit back and wait for uniformity. Wins and losses still matter, (but) this is now part of recruiting.
“And if you don’t like it, you can retire.”
Fisher, who last year reupped his contract to its original 10 years and happily accepted a pay raise to more than $9 million annually from $7.5 million, has no intention of retiring based on the complexities of NIL and the increasingly compound issues facing college sports. He just plans to deal with them.
For instance, Fisher was asked about major college programs and conferences perhaps one day soon acting independently of the NCAA and instead under the umbrella of the College Football Playoff, as per a recent suggestion by Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith.
“There are a lot of moving parts that have to be put in place before things like that happen,” Fisher said. “That’s what commissioners and athletic directors are for. We (as coaches) are here to recruit and do what we’ve got do. There’s going to be some kind of separation in time, but how quick that is is anybody’s guess.
“How quick did we know NIL was coming? How quick did we think the transfer portal was coming? And that happened (seemingly) overnight. … It’s amazing how quickly things have changed now, so it will be interesting, that’s for sure. Whatever it is, we’ll have to adapt.”
The Aggies signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation this year, in large part because of the incessant lobbying of Fisher and his staff and in smaller part because former A&M students have done a solid early job of unifying on the NIL front.
“We don’t want it to be a money grab,” said Kenny Lawson, CEO of C.C. Creations, a large apparel company in College Station.
Lawson added that A&M-related “collectives” — a collection of boosters outside the school who band together to raise money — are following the rules, and that he stays in touch with Brad Barnes of A&M athletics compliance.
A&M’s NIL cooperative was among the nation’s most organized early on, and it helps that the university has more than a half-million former students who earned their education in an oil-rich state.
“We’re not involved in that — we can’t be involved in that,” Fisher said when asked about A&M collectives. “From that facet of it, in my opinion it hasn’t been a factor (in coaching). … It’s not a big component as far as the way I see (players) act or play or participate, or anything like that.”
The Aggies finished 8-4 last season and 4-4 in the SEC, but they are expected to enter this season in the Associated Press top 10. They, along with old rival Texas and 10 other programs that compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, play in a state that does not allow high school athletes to benefit from NIL.
Most states do not, but that also appears to be changing. For example, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association last month voted to begin allowing high school athletes to profit from NIL.
“I’ve never had to deal with that, so I can’t answer that,” Fisher said when asked about high schoolers now making money off NIL in some states, and how it could impact college programs. “(But) there has to be uniformity, in my opinion, to make it fair for everybody across the board.”
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff visited Washington, D.C., last week to discuss NIL and its ramifications with members of Congress. Sankey said afterward in a statement it’s important for college athletics to “continue to pursue a national NIL structure” as part of this new, still largely unfamiliar world.
Fisher and plenty of other coaches believe that sounds like a good start.
“It has to be regulated, so there’s an even playing field across the country,” Fisher said. “… Between that and the portal and (other) things going on right now, it’s not good for college football.”