Written by Austin Meek, Seth Emerson, Mitch Sherman
At almost any college football program, Cam Good would have been among the 85 players to receive a full scholarship.
Good was playing for the University of Michigan, which has the deepest depth of any team since the 85-student scholarship cap went into effect in the Football Bowl division in 1994. Before the 2023 season, Good was asked to surrender his scholarship to make room for another spot. player. Instead of transferring to a school that offered a scholarship, Good chose to remain at the University of Michigan and pay for his tuition through a name, image and likeness deal.
“I was totally open to it,” said Good, a defensive tackle who expects to hear his name called in the upcoming NFL Draft. “I'm not a selfish person at all. If anything, I'm selfless. Everything worked out for the better. I knew they would take care of me. I'm a good player and They love me and I have a great personality. I knew they would take care of me.”
Because he was a graduate student, Good's tuition was not as high as that of a younger player. He said he was offered the opportunity to participate in additional NIL events, which helped defray costs. He said Good didn't have the “craziest opportunity in the NIL,” but was part of a team that went 15-0 and won a national championship, something he hoped for when he transferred from UCF to Michigan two years ago. It was everything, he said.
“I'm just grateful to have had that experience,” Good said. “It opened the door for everyone.”
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Good is not alone. At many programs, players receive NIL as a means of exceeding their NCAA scholarship limit of 85 players per team. This is a way to make the roster deeper and retain veteran players.
But not everyone does that. Programs that bring in top-tier classes like Georgia, or programs that do well in the transfer portal like Ole Miss, focus on their top 50 or so players rather than sending NIL money to No. 86. It seems that he likes to guess. , the 87th and 88th players on the roster.
“We're focused on a second-tier roster, with some position groups extending our depth to the third tier,” said Ole Miss Grover, who signed several top players through the transfer portal. Walker Jones, director of the collective, said. During the winter cycle. “Dollars are just too hard to come by right now to spend that much.”
There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Craig Ball, a former Wyoming coach and current executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, said exceeding the 85-year age limit will be a focus of discussion at this year's AFCA convention. Some coaches don't want to have a large roster. Others would go up to 150 if possible.
“It all comes down to how the head coach wants to build the roster,” Ball said.
Matt Rhule debuts 5-7 and is in his second year at the University of Nebraska. (Dylan Widger/USA Today)
When Matt Rhule considered returning to college as a coach 18 months ago after spending more than two seasons in the NFL, he first evaluated the NIL situation. That didn't exist when he left Baylor in 2020.
At Texas Tech, where Rhule's close friend Joey McGuire coaches, Rhule discovered that the Matador Club group had signed more than 100 Red Raiders to NIL contracts worth $25,000 a year.
Ruhl saw an opportunity. That opportunity doubled when he accepted the Nebraska job on Thanksgiving Day 2022. The Huskers have long cultivated talent in the Midwest, and he has increased the number of spots available for scholarship candidates to more than 85.
A robust walk-on program helped define Nebraska's championship pedigree for decades. But the rising cost of education, a 20-plus year conference title drought in Lincoln, and the success of an FCS program in Dakota State have diminished the Huskers' ability to build depth with standout non-scholarship players. Oops.
“Anytime you upgrade the bottom of the roster, the football is going to be better, and the overall talent is going to be better,” Rhule said.
While a program like Georgia doesn't see the benefit of prioritizing Nos. 85-95 on its roster, Nebraska does. The Huskers' collective 1890 Initiative got them back in the game. With the NIL resources at Nebraska's disposal, many of the offseason worries about trimming the roster to 85 scholarship-eligible players have disappeared.
“If 85 is good enough for you, 85 is probably good enough,” Ruhl said. But I think 95 is probably a little better. ”
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Nebraska added multiple recruits to the Class of 2024 who accepted 1890 contracts to cover scholarship equivalents.
At Baylor, Temple and now Nebraska, Rhule has dealt with the presence of byes who outperformed scholarship players. In the Big Ten, by rule, scholarships cannot be revoked for athletic reasons while an athlete continues to earn a degree.
That could put the coach in a bind. Rhule said he heard from NFL front offices this spring that teams were interested in bringing former Nebraska defensive back Farren Sanford to training camp. Sanford, who was a standout on special teams at the University of Nebraska and started five games as a senior in 2023, spent his final two semesters with the Huskers on scholarship. But last fall's financial aid only materialized because of his unplanned departure.
“This is an NFL-level player,” Rhule said, adding that he was “not on scholarship” for most of his college career.
“So I think with NIL, we can even out some of those things,” he said. “When a great player comes along, or a portal player comes along, even if they don't have a scholarship, there are still other avenues for that player to pay their tuition. To help someone pay their tuition. I have never apologized for using the available funds.
“What we're talking about is education, and that's valuable.”
Rhule said the added flexibility on the roster takes pressure off “in a world where everything has become difficult.”
“From a personal standpoint, when I look at the players who aren't on scholarship and I see that they're getting an opportunity through the NIL, I'm glad they're here.”
Cam Good was part of an experienced Michigan team that won Big Ten and national titles. (Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The University of Michigan's 2023 season was a testament to the power of its deep roster. The Wolverines have invited 18 players to the NFL Scouting Combine and have a chance to break Georgia's record of 15 players selected in a single draft. Of the 143 players on the roster, 96 either signed with the University of Michigan on scholarships out of high school or transferred from programs where they received scholarships.
Michigan didn't have as many five-star recruits as Georgia, Alabama or Ohio State, but the Wolverines had draft picks at almost every position and enough depth to rotate without a big drop-off. Thanks in part to the “One More Year” NIL campaign sponsored by Champions Circle Collective, Michigan returns a large group of seniors, including several who took advantage of surplus eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. I let it happen. The University of Michigan also added nine players through the transfer portal, all of whom helped the Wolverines win a national championship.
“At Stanford, when you play against other Pac-12 teams, like Kansas State, you play against their starters and you think, 'Damn, these guys are good,'” Drake Nugent said. Ta. After transferring from Stanford, he started at center at Michigan. “Then they left, and I feel like it was always a big drop-off. Here, there's no drop-off. If there is, it's very minimal.”
The NIL collective decides what to spend, while the coaches decide what kind of roster they want to build. Some programs see value in using her NIL funds on players outside of the top 85. Some programs also choose to narrow their NIL focus.
“We don't (use the NIL to go above 85),” Jones said. “I've heard stories like this at some schools, but not at ours. Of course there's a trickle-down effect that helps grow the roster, but we don't have anything other than 85 players. is not paying a salary.”
A big reason for that is that there isn't as much money in the NIL system as people think. Partly due to donor fatigue, not all groups are swimming in money.
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Another person who works at an SEC school, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity, agreed that he had never heard of a conference with more than 85 schools. The focus, the money, is in the top half of the roster. The Georgias, Alabamas, and Ohio States of the world are recruiting so many blue-chip candidates that it's less likely someone will fly in and go there.
Georgia just finished No. 1 in its freshman class and has seven transfers, but is still under the 85-man limit. But the company is using the NIL to retain key byes, including safety No. 6, a potential starter this year and a lock for the 2022 National Championship Game. Including Dan Jackson.
“This is where I am right now and this is how I'm getting paid for my education,” Jackson said this spring, adding that she didn't pay anything out of pocket.
The University of Michigan took a more egalitarian approach than other schools, using the NIL to strengthen the middle and bottom of the roster rather than focusing on the top of the roster. Several players, including quarterback JJ McCarthy and running back Blake Collum, had high-profile sponsorship deals, but in the locker room, the University of Michigan earned seven figures more than its direct competitors. There was a recognition that there were few players who were able to do so.
“I'll tell you, we didn't put in as much effort as a lot of the top teams,” left tackle La'Darius Henderson said. “I think that was one of the things that added a little bit of fuel to our fire. We didn't have 10 people making $1 million. We were taken care of, but we were already I didn't feel successful.”
But SEC officials said it could have a bigger impact in nonrevenue sports like baseball, where scholarship caps are lower. For example, it would be much easier for schools with avid baseball fans to have fans pay NIL for scholarships and allow teams to exceed the limit.
Receiving a scholarship means that tuition, room and board, books, and attendance are free. This also means so-called Alston payments of up to $5,890 per year. These were introduced after a Supreme Court case in 2021, and it is believed that these payments will be directly linked to education.
The cost of not becoming an official scholarship athlete varies by school. In Georgia, fees range from the low $20,000s per year for in-state students to the low $40,000s per year for out-of-state students.
Regardless of the cost, the system “feels like a workaround,” Ruhl said. Per NCAA rules, he is not allowed to participate in negotiating NIL deals with prospects or members of his team.
“To be honest, I never want to be the one who talks about money with the players, because I want their relationship with me to be about football. But the way things are, We're recruiting people here to do business with third parties. And I'm benefiting from third parties.
“It's certainly the opposite. There's no transparency in that.”
Ball calls this a difficult situation, but believes college football is still in a healthy place in terms of visibility and interest. As the NIL and transfer rules continue to evolve, making roster construction a never-ending puzzle, it's just a matter of wondering where the sport goes next.
“As coaches, we don't look at this NIL effort in a negative light,” Ball said. “There will be more opportunities for student-athletes to receive compensation, and we welcome it.”
Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories examining the transfer portal, the NIL, and its impact on college sports. The spring football transfer portal window will be open from April 16th until his April 30th. See all Transfer Portal articles here.
(Top photo: Bob Kupbens / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
