Franklin says the university needs to elevate its NIL game
STATE COLLEGE — The three-letter acronym has become James Franklin’s obsession, and he’s not alone in major college football.
NIL, or name, image and likeness, has become as important to the Penn State football coach as recruiting and coaching.
Franklin got more excited taking a few questions about NIL than he did talking about anything else Wednesday during an interview session with beat writers and broadcasters outside Lasch Building.
“This re-charges my batteries,” he said. “Things like this get me juiced up.”
Franklin fielded questions about Ohio State coach Ryan Day’s claim last week that the Buckeyes will need $13 million in NIL deals for players to make money to maintain their roster beyond next season.
He was asked how much the Lions need to be competitive if Ohio State — the gold standard in the Big Ten — needs $13 million.
“More than the numbers you heard,” Franklin replied.
His voice rose a few octaves when someone asked him why that was the case.
“If School X has a number and we’re supposed to be competing with School X, why would our number be different?” he asked incredulously. “Explain that to me. I don’t get it.”
Franklin has been on a crusade for the last two years, publicly and privately, to get Penn State administrators, donors and fans to understand the importance of raising money through NIL deals for players.
Few coaches like it, but these are the new rules of the game.
NIL opportunities are regarded as one of the chief reasons why transfers have increased in major college football in the last year. NIL also prompted the verbal skirmish between Alabama coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher last month.
Using NIL deals as recruiting tools are prohibited by the NCAA, but the organization’s enforcement powers are weak these days.
Day made his comments to about 100 businesspeople at an NIL event in Columbus, which athletic director Gene Smith and senior associate athletic director Carey Hoyt also attended.
Day said players at Ohio State or anywhere else can put their names in the transfer portal and field the best NIL offers from different schools.
“One phone call and they’re out the door,” Day said, according to cleveland.com. “We cannot let that happen at Ohio State. I’m not trying to sound the alarm; I’m just trying to be transparent about what we’re dealing with.”
Franklin believes that for Penn State to compete on a level playing field with Ohio State, Michigan and others, the Lions have to move sooner than later.
“There is no long haul,”
he said. “It needs to be now. It needs to be yesterday. College football has changed more in the last five years than it did in the previous 20. NIL is not long haul.
“We have to do everything we possibly can to put Penn State in the best position this season and in protecting our own roster for the future.”
For Franklin and other head coaches, that means re-recruiting their own rosters to keep players happy so they don’t leave like Pitt wide receiver Jordan Addison did for USC.
“I think the old days of a freshman coming in and having to pay his dues are over,” Franklin said. “You better monitor your roster. You better be aware of your roster. You better be talking to the parents. You better be talking to the high school coaches.”
And the players better have lucrative NIL deals.
“We have to put ourselves in a position where we can tell a story and show the incoming guys what we’re doing,” Franklin said, “and how we’re taking care of our program and our current roster.”