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'We don't know the rules' — Big 12 coaches still wrestling with new world order after player payment changes
“We don’t know the rules,” the Arizona State head coach says. “The settlement passed, but who knows what Deloitte is going to clear. Until there is clarity, you’re living in limbo.”
“You are seeing a lot of people lie and promise fake things,” he says.
The finger pointing has already begun.
Schools are making big enough contract offers to recruits that they cannot possibly remain under college football’s new compensation cap, some coaches believe. Others are guaranteeing third-party NIL deals as part of the total compensation package to athletes — something against new revenue-share rules.
A few are doling out cash from their collectives to high school players in an attempt to induce their commitment — also against new rules. And those schools rich enough to have front-loaded millions of dollars in the spring to compensate this year’s roster — while perfectly within the rules — now hold an advantage in building next year’s roster.
“I don’t understand what rules everybody is playing by,” Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield says.
“The whole point of this was for us all to be playing by the same rules, but we are not. We are not playing by the same rules, particularly this past spring when everybody is apparently front-loading where others are having to now spend their [revenue-share] cap.”
“We don’t know the rules,” the Arizona State head coach says. “The settlement passed, but who knows what Deloitte is going to clear. Until there is clarity, you’re living in limbo.”
A similar theme emerged from the eight head coaches here Tuesday, one likely shared by the eight others who get their turn Wednesday: The Wild West, they say, remains wild.
These rules identify a variety of possible ways schools may attempt to circumvent the cap, including the guaranteeing of third-party NIL compensation in offers to athletes, NIL contracts struck with those in high school and particulars around the NIL clearinghouse’s primary enforcement mechanisms for booster-backed contracts — that they are required to be within a “fair market-compensation range” created by Deloitte and must be for a “valid business purpose.”
Contacted this week, Kessler told Yahoo Sports that attorneys are working with major conference administrators to finalize the approval of what some term as “anti-circumvention” or “gamesmanship” rules.
How new NIL deals are processed
In the meantime, certain submitted NIL deals remain in limbo. That doesn’t go for all of them.
Of the more than 1,200 deals submitted to the clearinghouse so far, about one-third have been approved — many of them with little to no issue, those with knowledge tell Yahoo Sports. About 80 have been denied and are likely, if they haven’t already, to be resubmitted (deals can be resubmitted once).
Kessler says that no deals have advanced past the second denial stage and into the appeals phase, where athletes present their case before a neutral arbitrator. College executives and attorneys are finalizing a group of eight arbitrators — many of them former judges, Kessler says — to serve as an independent arbitration group.
As college administrators and attorneys embroil themselves in legal negotiations, football coaches and general managers are preparing for the first-ever Aug. 1 official NCAA “offer date,” when schools can formally offer revenue-share contracts to prospects (some have already, informally).
On the recruiting trail across the country, Big 12 coaches say they are witnessing schools finding new ways, in the revenue-share era, to circumvent the cap and skirt the rules — perhaps even in their own league.
“I’ve seen these agents coming out and saying, ‘It’s a guaranteed three-year deal for a high school kid.’ One in our league right now,” Satterfield said. “How?”
Said UCF head coach Scott Frost: “Only comment I have is about some of the offers going out to freshmen. Those people must not be planning on there being a cap because they wouldn’t be able to spend that.”
How do schools use front-loading?
In what’s been no secret, Texas Tech has used riches to fuel what’s become a recruiting juggernaut. The athletic program has spent more than $50 million on its athletes in both front-loaded money this past spring plus revenue-share dollars this coming academic year. That’s at least the front-loading of $30 million plus $20.5 million in rev-share.
Front-loading refers to the literal loading upfront of player contracts as school collectives paid out all or a majority of deals before the settlement’s implementation date of July 1. Deals paid out on July 1 and after are subject to the new enforcement system specifically created to prohibit booster and collective compensation.
Joey McGuire, the Texas Tech head coach, describes his recruiting approach as the byproduct of high-level university support, careful planning and an “aggression” that all schools should be taking to compete with the bluebloods of college football.
“What we do as a conference is so important, but we also got to do it off the field,” he told Yahoo Sports in an interview. “We’ve got to recruit at this level if we are going to continue to be in the same conversation as the SEC and Big Ten. We’ve got to understand as a conference that we’ve got to commit to that. We have committed to that at Texas Tech and eliminated any people saying, ‘Well, they can’t do it there.’”
Some school-affiliated booster collectives are currently compensating high school players — upward of $20,000 a month — to remain committed and eventually sign with their school, Smart and other coaches say.
Dillingham said he’s seen contracts that also permit schools to end or reduce a player’s salary over the course of the deal, something reported earlier this spring by Yahoo Sports via Illinois law professor Michael Leroy, who uncovered more than 90 different player contracts through open-records requests.
“These NIL contracts read like employee handbooks that reserve a right of employment at will for employers,” he said. “They don’t use ‘at will’ but the concept is, they can terminate the contract.”
In one ACC revenue-share contract obtained by Yahoo Sports, the school includes in the total compensation to the player a figure for “NIL” of $25,000 annually. Next to that figure is a line: “Subject to the Deloitte Clearinghouse.”
“You don’t know if your NIL collective deals will go through and the school can change your rev-share dollar amount at any time,” Dillingham said. “Well, then what are we actually doing?!”
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“We don’t know the rules,” the Arizona State head coach says. “The settlement passed, but who knows what Deloitte is going to clear. Until there is clarity, you’re living in limbo.”
“You are seeing a lot of people lie and promise fake things,” he says.
The finger pointing has already begun.
Schools are making big enough contract offers to recruits that they cannot possibly remain under college football’s new compensation cap, some coaches believe. Others are guaranteeing third-party NIL deals as part of the total compensation package to athletes — something against new revenue-share rules.
A few are doling out cash from their collectives to high school players in an attempt to induce their commitment — also against new rules. And those schools rich enough to have front-loaded millions of dollars in the spring to compensate this year’s roster — while perfectly within the rules — now hold an advantage in building next year’s roster.
“I don’t understand what rules everybody is playing by,” Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield says.
“The whole point of this was for us all to be playing by the same rules, but we are not. We are not playing by the same rules, particularly this past spring when everybody is apparently front-loading where others are having to now spend their [revenue-share] cap.”
“We don’t know the rules,” the Arizona State head coach says. “The settlement passed, but who knows what Deloitte is going to clear. Until there is clarity, you’re living in limbo.”
A similar theme emerged from the eight head coaches here Tuesday, one likely shared by the eight others who get their turn Wednesday: The Wild West, they say, remains wild.
These rules identify a variety of possible ways schools may attempt to circumvent the cap, including the guaranteeing of third-party NIL compensation in offers to athletes, NIL contracts struck with those in high school and particulars around the NIL clearinghouse’s primary enforcement mechanisms for booster-backed contracts — that they are required to be within a “fair market-compensation range” created by Deloitte and must be for a “valid business purpose.”
Contacted this week, Kessler told Yahoo Sports that attorneys are working with major conference administrators to finalize the approval of what some term as “anti-circumvention” or “gamesmanship” rules.
How new NIL deals are processed
In the meantime, certain submitted NIL deals remain in limbo. That doesn’t go for all of them.
Of the more than 1,200 deals submitted to the clearinghouse so far, about one-third have been approved — many of them with little to no issue, those with knowledge tell Yahoo Sports. About 80 have been denied and are likely, if they haven’t already, to be resubmitted (deals can be resubmitted once).
Kessler says that no deals have advanced past the second denial stage and into the appeals phase, where athletes present their case before a neutral arbitrator. College executives and attorneys are finalizing a group of eight arbitrators — many of them former judges, Kessler says — to serve as an independent arbitration group.
As college administrators and attorneys embroil themselves in legal negotiations, football coaches and general managers are preparing for the first-ever Aug. 1 official NCAA “offer date,” when schools can formally offer revenue-share contracts to prospects (some have already, informally).
On the recruiting trail across the country, Big 12 coaches say they are witnessing schools finding new ways, in the revenue-share era, to circumvent the cap and skirt the rules — perhaps even in their own league.
“I’ve seen these agents coming out and saying, ‘It’s a guaranteed three-year deal for a high school kid.’ One in our league right now,” Satterfield said. “How?”
Said UCF head coach Scott Frost: “Only comment I have is about some of the offers going out to freshmen. Those people must not be planning on there being a cap because they wouldn’t be able to spend that.”
How do schools use front-loading?
In what’s been no secret, Texas Tech has used riches to fuel what’s become a recruiting juggernaut. The athletic program has spent more than $50 million on its athletes in both front-loaded money this past spring plus revenue-share dollars this coming academic year. That’s at least the front-loading of $30 million plus $20.5 million in rev-share.
Front-loading refers to the literal loading upfront of player contracts as school collectives paid out all or a majority of deals before the settlement’s implementation date of July 1. Deals paid out on July 1 and after are subject to the new enforcement system specifically created to prohibit booster and collective compensation.
Joey McGuire, the Texas Tech head coach, describes his recruiting approach as the byproduct of high-level university support, careful planning and an “aggression” that all schools should be taking to compete with the bluebloods of college football.
“What we do as a conference is so important, but we also got to do it off the field,” he told Yahoo Sports in an interview. “We’ve got to recruit at this level if we are going to continue to be in the same conversation as the SEC and Big Ten. We’ve got to understand as a conference that we’ve got to commit to that. We have committed to that at Texas Tech and eliminated any people saying, ‘Well, they can’t do it there.’”
Some school-affiliated booster collectives are currently compensating high school players — upward of $20,000 a month — to remain committed and eventually sign with their school, Smart and other coaches say.
Dillingham said he’s seen contracts that also permit schools to end or reduce a player’s salary over the course of the deal, something reported earlier this spring by Yahoo Sports via Illinois law professor Michael Leroy, who uncovered more than 90 different player contracts through open-records requests.
“These NIL contracts read like employee handbooks that reserve a right of employment at will for employers,” he said. “They don’t use ‘at will’ but the concept is, they can terminate the contract.”
In one ACC revenue-share contract obtained by Yahoo Sports, the school includes in the total compensation to the player a figure for “NIL” of $25,000 annually. Next to that figure is a line: “Subject to the Deloitte Clearinghouse.”
“You don’t know if your NIL collective deals will go through and the school can change your rev-share dollar amount at any time,” Dillingham said. “Well, then what are we actually doing?!”
'We don't know the rules' — Big 12 coaches still wrestling with new world order after player payment changes — Yahoo Sports
Coaches are complaining about other schools making contract offers despite a new regulatory body and college football’s new compensation cap. It's still early July, and the finger pointing has already begun.
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