NIL has obviously changed how every athletic department in the country operates and recruits, and it’s impossible to stay up to date with everything going on. NIL Wire has you covered, subscribe to our FREE email newsletter with just one click and never miss out on anything (no really, it’s just one click.)
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#10: NC State Football HC Dave Doeren is calling on fans to donate to NIL collectives and is specifically asking 5K fans to donate $1K apiece so the Wolfpack can "recruit, retain and develop." Doeren calls the coming week "maybe the worst week in college football" with the opening of the transfer portal. The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel: “Dave Doeren makes $5M, and he's begging fans to donate their entire paychecks to an NIL collective. The model is so, so broken.” (link)
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#9: Mississippi State interim football Head Coach Greg Knox led his team onto the field for the Egg Bowl last night riding a four-wheeler. Why? Knox: “This is about handling adversity, opposition. When you face things that’s tough in life, this is a life lesson. This is what we learned in the 11 days I’ve been here. This is a life lesson.” (link)
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#8: During the 2022 football season, five of the eight lowest-spectated schools in FBS were members of the MAC. The $100M media rights extension the league signed with ESPN in 2014 places November home games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights through 2026-27. On that front, Commissioner Steinbrecher: “It is a balance of having a unique time slot that has become almost iconic. It has helped build a national brand for the conference and its membership. You do have to work hard in terms of moving tickets, but as we have seen, when there are compelling matchups, compelling games, I think we have people who have been successful.” Akron AD Charles Guthrie: “Our next plan needs to focus on making our stadiums look TV-ready, looking at the camera side. There are a lot of things we can do that won’t cost a lot of money that will fix the perception of our games not having attendance.” More on individual school’s approaches to the attendance woes. (link)
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#7: College football fans top USA Today columnist Dan Wolken’s final Misery Index of the regular season. Wolken explains the upcoming College Football Playoff expansion is “going to be better in some ways, but it's also going to rob college football of something that can’t ever be replicated again. At the end of Michigan’s 30-24 win over Ohio State on Saturday, the enormity of the result was clear. Michigan was headed to the Big Ten championship game and likely the four-team CFP, while Ohio State’s entire year of work to prepare for this moment was ruined. One side leaves in elation, the other in devastation because there is usually no second chance. You have to live with the result for the next 364 days. That’s what has separated college football from the NFL for decades, and it’s been a beautiful thing − even if your team is the one that suffers for it. There is no option but to care deeply about every single result.” Also in the Index: Florida, Oregon State, Nebraska and Auburn. (link)
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#6: New Mexico AD Eddie Nuñez announces a change in Football leadership for the Lobos. (link) |
#5: Conference USA is expected to add Delaware as a new member for the 2025-26 season, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who reports a decision is expected to be formalized in the upcoming days. The Athletic’s Chris Vannini reports the same and notes the addition of the Blue Hens will give the conference 11 full members and increase the size of FBS to 135. (link, link)
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#4: Boise State provides a behind the scenes look of its Football HC search before a selection has been made. Can’t think of many other search processes that have featured the travel & meetings associated with such a high-profile search before the announcement of a new leader. In the video, Broncos AD Jeramiah Dickey outlines why the facilities in Boise stack up well against the rest of the Mountain West, says the last 48 hours have been “very productive.” Senior Assoc. AD for Athletics Personnel Services & Chief of Staff Heather Berry, Vice President for University Advancement and Assoc. AD/Strategic Communications & Business Development Mike Walsh are assisting Dickey. (link); Interestingly, Boise has also setup a dedicated webpage to keep fans updated about the search with more video content. Also looks like Collegiate Sports Associates is the search firm of record judging from the videos. (link)
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#3: Mississippi State makes it official with Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby as its next HC. (link); Members of the team were excited enough about the hire that they carried AD Zac Selmon off the tarmac Rudy-style after the two landed in Starkville. Here’s proof. (link)
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#2: The field for this year’s NCAA Volleyball Championship is set with Nebraska, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and Stanford each receiving No. 1 seeds. Four teams are making their first-ever tournament appearance: Coppin State, Grand Canyon, Omaha and Wofford. Penn State remains the only team that has earned a berth to all 43 championship tournaments while Nebraska and Stanford have appeared in all but one. Full bracket. (link)
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#1: Tennessee Deputy AD for Championship Resources Mónica Lebrón will leave the university, according to an internal email from Vols AD Danny White. Lebrón will remain in Knoxville through the end of the calendar year. (link)
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