‘It’s N-I-L: Now It’s Legal’

Greenrex · December 23, 2022

traylor.png.debc41eb28f85e40d6838b7cb58d7061.png On Monday night, UTSA coach Jeff Traylor raised eyebrows.

Traylor garnered tons of reaction, from other coaches who echoed his sentiment about tampering to critics who called for him to name names. On Wednesday, after putting the finishing touches on the best signing class in UTSA history, Traylor elaborated on his frustration, saying some of his players have come to him with name, image and likeness opportunities at other schools. NCAA rules state that players aren’t supposed to be contacted by other schools until they are officially in the transfer portal.

“The rules are, you can’t tamper,” Traylor said. “So what do the guys do that have been cheating forever? They go third party, and you can’t catch them.

“So then you go to your player who’s coming to you telling you what school is offering them what, and you ask the kid if he’ll turn them into the NCAA, and the kid’s like, ‘I can’t coach, then all the (other) players would be mad at me, because I’m costing the (other) players money.’”

Traylor is the latest coach to air grievances regarding tampering. Washington State coach Jake Dickert recently sounded off, as did Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and North Carolina coach Mack Brown. Fisher mentioned it at his A&M signing day news conference Wednesday: “There’s so much tampering going on, it’s utterly ridiculous.”

Asked what’s preventing Traylor from being more open with his accusations, Traylor said proof is hard to come by.

“Those guys have been doing this for years,” Traylor said. “It’s N-I-L: Now It’s Legal. They’ve got agents. There’s a workaround. You’re not gonna get a text, you’re not gonna get a screenshot. They’re really good at what they do, and it’s gonna take some serious enforcement to make guys quit it.”

He added that he spoke with NCAA officials before his Monday tweet, but “they don’t have the manpower,” he said, to enforce the rules.

“They need me to go on record, saying who,” Traylor said. “Then it’s gonna be my word versus his word. And I don’t want to get my players in that, because I’ve already talked to them. They really don’t wanna go down that road. But the people that are doing it, they saw my tweet.”

Traylor said he’s not against NIL and he’s in favor of players making money. But he’s upset that Group of 5 programs like his sign and develop players only to have to fend off Power 5 programs. He also noted that UTSA’s NIL efforts need to increase and that the school’s administration must continue investing in the program.

The Roadrunners’ 2023 class ranks 58th, which is No. 1 among programs that will be in the Group of 5 next season.

“I didn’t come here to be the best G5,” Traylor said. “I want us to get (to the top of the) Power 5. So, to me, we’re (57) spots behind where we need to be.

“We’ve got to get our NIL money up or we’re never gonna get there.”

The above is a portion of the article from The Athletic:

https://theathletic.com/4027116/2022/12/22/texas-recruiting-manning-fisher/?source=freedailyemail&campaign=601983

greenminer · December 23, 2022

Seems like a handful of y'all have athletic subscriptions.

is this something worth considering buying?

greenminer · December 23, 2022

Also, this

Quote

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Mike Jackson · December 23, 2022

I really believe sitting out a year if you haven't graduated is the way to go. Let them sit out year not diminish their eligibility. For FCS to FBS transfers or vice versa let them "poach" drama free. If you want dip into your NIL fund for player that might be passed on the depth chart before they take their first game snap go right ahead.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Mike Jackson