Really interesting article on NIL

[Spectrumalaska]

Interviewing 5* recruits at All Star game in Orlando.

Recruiting confidential: High school football stars dish on NIL deals, arrogant coaches and more

We talked to more than 20 of the top players in the nation at the Under Armour All-America Game to tackle a variety of recruiting topics.

theathletic.com

The Athletic is behind a paywall, but I was able to read it.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Read the whole thing....it's about what you'd expect.

 

[ihuskcorn]

Interviewing 5* recruits at All Star game in Orlando.

Recruiting confidential: High school football stars dish on NIL deals, arrogant coaches and more

We talked to more than 20 of the top players in the nation at the Under Armour All-America Game to tackle a variety of recruiting topics.

theathletic.com

The Athletic is behind a paywall, but I was able to read it.

These 5* players weren’t being offered near the amounts we’ve seen reported.

 

[Spectrumalaska]

These 5* players weren’t being offered near the amounts we’ve seen reported.

These are freshmen, and I do not think they nterviewed a QB. There was mention of back loaded deals as well.

As it was all anonymous, it is hard to prove.

The larger deals it seems were given to the proven players.

I wonder what Raiola's deal is worth as the top recruit.

 

[Hugo_Stiglitz7]

Interesting except:

Who was the weirdest or most arrogant coach you met during the process and why?
• Probably (Colorado’s) Deion (Sanders). It’s all love though. He goes about it in his own unique way. It’s not arrogance — just cockiness.
• (Rutgers’ Greg Schiano) was too robotic.
• Nobody was really arrogant. (Clemson coach Dabo) Swinney isn’t stuck in his ways but doesn’t really want to change much.
• I’d say coach Saban. My mom wasn’t happy with him. We were at a table eating and he acknowledged me, but not my parents. My mom said, “If you’re acknowledging my son, you should acknowledge me.”

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• I didn’t like (Nick) Saban. It was just the vibe.
• (Ex-Texas A&M coach) Jimbo Fisher. I watched him in practice. He yelled and cussed at guys too much.
• Fisher and Saban. Talking to Saban felt like talking to a robot. It didn’t feel real.
Which school do you think spent the most money on your visit and why?
• Penn State. I went on an unofficial visit, but it was like an official visit. They picked us up in a Mercedes-Benz truck, took us to the game and gave us a tour, food and the works.
• Michigan had these taco food trucks that were off the chain. I’ll never forget it.
• UCF took us everywhere. We went to a seafood restaurant, went to Topgolf. We did a lot of activities.
• UCLA. We went to dinner a couple times on visits. One time, it was Mother’s Day weekend. They did extra stuff for my mom. That was cool.
• Texas. We had a big recruiting weekend with a Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce out on the field. They took us to a good steak dinner right after.
• Cincinnati. I went to a private dinner after with the head coach.
• Georgia. They’d drive me everywhere and bring me food to my seat during games on my unofficial visits. I went there sometimes just for the free chicken.
• The food was pretty much the same everywhere. Everybody would feed you steak and lobster. Miami had the nicest accommodations, though. We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
• I would probably say USC, really because it’s just really expensive out in Los Angeles so it’s going to be a lot of money just to get a certain spot or a reservation somewhere.
We heard recruits could make money just for taking an unofficial visit to a school. How many times did you take an unofficial visit just to collect some cash?
• I never accepted any cash.
• I mean there’s probably somewhere between 45 to 50 kids I know who did it. Usually it was around $6,000 to $7,000. You do an interview with this podcast, come down, we’ll pay for your room, your trip, etc.

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• I don’t know anybody who did that.
• I don’t know what you’re talking about.
• I did it a couple times. It was less than $1,000 each time.
• I took like five or six unofficials. I didn’t get paid every time.
• I didn’t know you could do that. For real? I wish I would have — I would have been collecting. Oh my gah. I didn’t have that. I wish.
• Nah, not me. I didn’t. But I’m pretty sure it is going on. There’s some crazy stuff going on.
• I have heard that people are getting (paid), but I haven’t really heard of anybody or know anybody that has.
Could you sign with a school if the early signing period is moved up to the end of the summer? Or was there something you learned after summer visits that affected your decision?
• I was committed for 11 months before I signed, but I couldn’t have signed. Even though I was committed, there were still a lot of schools I needed to hear from and visit.
• I could have signed before my senior season.
• I needed to see what happened during my senior season.
• Quarterbacks probably could, but not anybody else.
• They need to keep it in December. There’s always a lot of decommits. Florida had a bunch because people aren’t sure if the head coach is going to be there long.
• I wouldn’t have signed early. You need to see it through to the end to see how much people are willing to offer you.
• I’m the type of guy who will just be like, “When I know, I know.” I don’t want to drag things out. I don’t need the attention. I’m just ready to play football. And then (if you signed earlier), you can get in the playbook early with your coaches. Can’t really do that if you sign later.
• I could’ve signed over the summer. I saw what I needed and knew what I was getting myself into. So, for me, I could’ve done it.
• I don’t think making a final decision in the summer is good. I committed early and felt good about it. But a lot of guys want to see how a team does before they commit or if a coach gets fired.

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• I think I was ready. I was ready to get it over with and make it all official.
If you could fix one thing about the recruiting process what would it be and why?
• Coaches should be able to talk to you whenever they offer you in high school. Starting earlier is smarter.
• Having to pay to go anywhere for an official or unofficial. If you’re not within a two- to three-hour driving distance, expenses should always be covered.
• Less calling. Coaches call way too much. Let us be kids and enjoy life.
• Can’t take visits if you’re committed. If you’re locked in and want to take a trip, you can’t do it. That’s one thing I agree with Dabo Swinney about. Don’t lead a school on.
• For me, more money. Definitely more money. For all of recruiting, I would say let the coaches just text players earlier. There’s just random dead periods. That’d be the thing I’d change.
• Bring back the photo shoots. People need to have fun on their visits. I got my chance to do it. I took photos everywhere. But I know other guys that didn’t get a chance to.

GO DEEPER
Why rules to rein in recruiting photo shoots are music to (most) coaches' ears​

• I think everything is pretty good. Maybe, you can’t take visits if you’re committed. You have to decommit if you want to go visit elsewhere. But that’s just me. I believe in loyalty.
• I would probably say going to more games. Not necessarily in my area. I went to a lot of games in my area, but I would probably say more games around the country. But I really wasn’t trying to — that’s a lot. I wish I would have, though.
• Being able to be recruited before your junior year. It’s a dumb rule you can’t. I mean as soon as you enter high school that’s when things get real anyway.
• I’ll say this: I wish they could do the rankings based off what you do in an actual game, rather than what you do in a 7-on-7 tournament. At the end of the day, we’re playing football. So I think the best football player should be ranked the highest.

(Photo: Grace Raynor / The Athletic)​

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[Hugo_Stiglitz7]

Who were the nicest coaches you met during the process — from schools you didn’t sign with?

• Sonny Dykes at TCU and Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. Dykes is a family-oriented coach. I have the utmost respect for coaches from Texas.

• I really liked (Georgia) coach (Kirby) Smart, (ex-defensive backs coach) Fran (Brown). (Miami defensive coordinator Lance) Guidry and (executive director Dennis Smith). Just good people. They talk to you about more than football.

• (Florida’s Billy) Napier is a really good dude. So is (Mike) Norvell at Florida State. Coach (Kirby) Smart is a business guy.

• (SMU’s) Rhett Lashlee. He was the most genuine head coach. You can tell it was the real him. Some coaches like to put a face on during the game and another off the field. He was him on and off the field. That’s actually how he acts and moves.

• (Miami’s) Mario Cristobal and (Penn State’s) James Franklin. It doesn’t have to be just about football with them.

I would say coach KB. (Keith Bhonapha). He was at Oregon State and now he’s at Michigan State. He went with the head coach. I think for him, it’s bigger than football. Obviously we’d talk a lot of ball, but he checked in during the holidays just on a day-to-day basis, so I thought that was cool.

• (Ohio State’s) Ryan Day. You feel like you can talk to him about anything.

• (Alabama’s) Nick Saban. He was different than I expected.

• I would have to say coach Matt Moore, the O-line coach from West Virginia. Just the coolest guy, man. He gave grandfather, uncle vibes all the time. He’s a down South guy, so he always had the hospitality. He’s a good person.

• I want to say between (Tennessee’s) coach Heup (Josh Heupel) and (Oregon’s) Dan Lanning. Coach Heup, down to earth guy. … He’s really nice. Off the field, he’s a nice guy. Good person and he actually cares about his players. He knows his players. His players can come to him, and I see that with my own eyes. And then Dan Lanning, not a lot of people know this, I’m not sure, but his wife had cancer. … I feel like just to open up about that — because he knew me for probably about four or five, six, seven months (and) he’s known his wife probably for forever — I don’t know how to say it, but he’s a soft heart.

Recruits loved trolling fan bases. I would not put too much stock in those X posts.

 

[RBigredMax]

Good read - interesting to get their perspective on the process.

 

[RedCap]

Interesting stuff but unless I missed it not a single Nebraska mention.