A meeting of the elders - NIL

[gtowndawg]

Gentleman, we need to call a meeting of the elders. If we do not get serious about the NIL, we are going to be left behind forever. I know this is not the first time to bring this up but if Saturday didn't show you we can't get the players we need, I don't know what will.

Our um, friends, up North are absolutely leaving us in the dust right now. Not just with their football success on the field but with NIL and overall branding. I know we are trying, and I appreciate those involved, but we are not even in the same universe right now.

For those that don't know, Walker Jones is over The Grove Collective (NIL) for Ole Miss. You probably remember him as a player in the 90's. Walker not only has the Ole Miss connection as a player but he was also an executive at Under Armour for years. He signed Steph Curry and others to UA deals. He has the experience to run an organization that is built around brand awareness and raising big money. That's why they are so successful right now. He also has access to a private jet where he can fly NIL donors (or donors he is working) to home and away games. I encourage you to go look at their Instagram page. You will see tons of activity, they auction game used memorabilia to raise money, they sell custom Ole Miss Air Force 1's to raise money. Heck, they raised a ton of money one random day a couple of weeks ago to go play pickleball with Lane Kiffin. All of that was just the last two 2 weeks. They are constantly working to raise NIL funds and awareness - everyday! On the other hand, we have had 5 Instagram post in 5 months on our NIL page.

I give to the NIL. Not much, quite honestly I joined about 16 months ago out of sheer curiosity. I just wanted my name on a list so I could get an inside track on what's going on. When I do here from our NIL, it's a notification that my credit card was charged for the month, that's about it.

Whether you like it or not is irrelevant, if we don't pay, we won't play. Period. Ole Miss understands this very well but I don't believe we have the fanbase that can stomach it. I don't see much of a path moving forward, we simply don't have the leadership or fans to make it happen.

Also, this is not an indictment of Charlie. I don't know him, he sounds like a smart guy, I'm sure he loves State. But for us to move forward we need a serious heavy hitter leading the NIL efforts.

[civildawg]

Why do people keep complaining about NIL? Go listen to Hadad and Faulks show today. They said the one recruit turned down astronomically more money from us and went to Oregon state. Our NIL is fine for being the poorest state in the union. Our brand and image is the thing holding us back

[TrapGame]

Why do people keep complaining about NIL? Go listen to Hadad and Faulks show today. They said the one recruit turned down astronomically more money from us and went to Oregon state. Our NIL is fine for being the poorest state in the union. Our brand and image is the thing holding us back

Didn't we offer some guy major money and he went to LSU for less b/c it was an offer from LSU?

[gtowndawg]

Why do people keep complaining about NIL? Go listen to Hadad and Faulks show today. They said the one recruit turned down astronomically more money from us and went to Oregon state. Our NIL is fine for being the poorest state in the union. Our brand and image is the thing holding us back

Honest question, do you think we are on the same trajectory with Ole Miss over the next 5 years, 10 years? Yes, I think we can be a solid top 35 team in the country. But that puts us in the bottom 3 of the SEC.

[civildawg]

Of course not but that's because they have a way better coach than us not because of money. They've always had more money than us since the beginning of time

[gtowndawg]

Of course not but that's because they have a way better coach than us not because of money. They've always had more money than us since the beginning of time

Brother, having "more money" is literally all that matters moving forward.

[civildawg]

So coaching matters zero? Your an idiot

[gtowndawg]

Also, I see this argument quite often - "we have NFL players that should be giving to the NIL!" Yes, I agree, they should and I hope they do (but who knows). But if we don't get serious we are not going to have any future NFL players signing deals to continue that trend. The burden for the NIL should be on the fans, NFL players are gravy (and hopefully lot's of it).

[StarkVegasSteve]

Also, I see this argument quite often - "we have NFL players that should be giving to the NIL!" Yes, I agree, they should and I hope they do (but who knows). But if we don't get serious we are not going to have any future NFL players signing deals to continue that trend. The burden for the NIL should be on the fans, NFL players are gravy (and hopefully lot's of it).

No. NIL in its current state, which is pay for play, should be the burden of the university. Unfortunately, that is not the case so the fans have to carry that burden or your team will SUCK. I get why people are frustrated, I do. But if we continually count on others to foot the bill then we are going to be left for dead in a matter of months, not years. We have to get serious and get rowing in the same direction on this. I get it sucks and it is not right for everything to be on the onus of the average fan, but that is the world we live in. You have to get busy livin or get busy dyin.

[gtowndawg]

No. NIL in its current state, which is pay for play, should be the burden of the university. Unfortunately, that is not the case so the fans have to carry that burden or your team will SUCK. I get why people are frustrated, I do. But if we continually count on others to foot the bill then we are going to be left for dead in a matter of months, not years. We have to get serious and get rowing in the same direction on this. I get it sucks and it is not right for everything to be on the onus of the average fan, but that is the world we live in. You have to get busy livin or get busy dyin.

Fair point. I wish it was on the university and we could all give to one common source. But as of now, that's not the case. I think that's some of the hard decisions that also need to be talked about. Splitting our money between NIL and the Bulldog Club will never get anything accomplished. It's a hard conversation to have but we don't have the resources to fully fund both.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Fair point. I wish it was on the university and we could all give to one common source. But as of now, that's not the case. I think that's some of the hard decisions that also need to be talked about. Splitting our money between NIL and the Bulldog Club will never get anything accomplished. It's a hard conversation to have but we don't have the resources to fully fund both.

Correct. Until this is all brought under the university umbrella you either have to give to the BDC or NIL. Right now, the choice needs to be NIL. If you don't have the resources to give to both, and a lot of people don't, then give the minimum seat donation to the BDC if you have tickets and give the rest to NIL. It sucks and I get that, but it's unfortunately the landscape college athletics are in. We can only hit up Richard Rula, Richard Adkerson, Heath Jenkins, Billy Howard, etc. for so much. This is where OM has us whipped right now. Everyone from Dickie Scruggs, David Nutt, and Jerry Hollingsworth on down to the young alumni that I know out here in Dallas are giving to The Grove Collective. They understand the importance of NIL. They are all in. We have to get to that point.

[parabrave]

No. NIL in its current state, which is pay for play, should be the burden of the university. Unfortunately, that is not the case so the fans have to carry that burden or your team will SUCK. I get why people are frustrated, I do. But if we continually count on others to foot the bill then we are going to be left for dead in a matter of months, not years. We have to get serious and get rowing in the same direction on this. I get it sucks and it is not right for everything to be on the onus of the average fan, but that is the world we live in. You have to get busy livin or get busy dyin.

The NIL was begun as the players/lawyers getting their hands on the TV money and other "royalties" from shirts sales and other likenesses ie EA Sports. It was never meant as play for pay/ But NCAA and schools will never part with any of the golden goose so they allowed the fans to burden the costs. The more outrageous this gets the more the fans will say fuc it. By the way the Texas schools and Bama have always been pay for play and they have underachieved until they got great coaches. So yes coaching does matter.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The NIL was begun as the players/lawyers getting their hands on the TV money and other "royalties" from shirts sales and other likenesses ie EA Sports. It was never meant as play for pay/ But NCAA and schools will never part with any of the golden goose so they allowed the fans to burden the costs. The more outrageous this gets the more the fans will say fuc it. By the way the Texas schools and Bama have always been pay for play and they have underachieved until they got great coaches. So yes coaching does matter.

None of what you said is wrong. It is pay for play. There's no doubt. But the Pandora's box was opened and there's no going back. This is the new reality of college sports until the schools start paying for it, and that could be years. I mean can we really afford to just wait for the US GOVERNMENT to solve the problem? No. We have to change the way we think about this stuff. Like I said, we can't sit on our hands and wait for someone else to solve the problem. We have to do something so un-Mississippi State. We have to take initiative and solve the problem. And it starts at a grassroots level by trusting the people that run it. Maybe that is Charlie holding an annual BI summit, maybe it is giving those $100-$500 yearly donators more opportunities to see where their investments go or at least feel like their involved. I don't know because I'm not in charge of it. I don't know what they talk about behind closed doors. I can get cliffnotes of it, but until you're in those meetings you truly don't know what's being said.

[DEDawg]

Why do people keep complaining about NIL? Go listen to Hadad and Faulks show today. They said the one recruit turned down astronomically more money from us and went to Oregon state. Our NIL is fine for being the poorest state in the union. Our brand and image is the thing holding us back

taking one cherry picked outlier doesn't mean anything

[Coach34]

taking one cherry picked outlier doesn't mean anything

It's not one cherry picked outlier. It's happening in all 3 sports

[SilentSteel16]

States NIL is going to kids that are soph/juniors to try and keep them here. We are far lacking on HS recruiting. NIL is more of a retention plan than a recruiting plan. Other schools are recruiting out in state guys much harder and actually offering NIL to our in state guys, Hell Mario (who is a national recruit) was offered less than 15k to sign when other schools out of state were triple that

[StarkVegasSteve]

States NIL is going to kids that are soph/juniors to try and keep them here. We are far lacking on HS recruiting. NIL is more of a retention plan than a recruiting plan. Other schools are recruiting out in state guys much harder and actually offering NIL to our in state guys, Hell Mario (who is a national recruit) was offered less than 15k to sign when other schools out of state were triple that

Lebby has worked to change that. We got MVB due to Lebby and NIL being competitive to what he was getting at Oregon. Under Leach and Arnett the plan was 1000% to just use NIL for retention. Lebby came in and immediately worked to change that. So I do know that will be better this offseason. Also on Nash, I mean why would we overpay if we can get him for what we got him for? Sounds like it would've been like bidding against ourselves.

[gtowndawg]

States NIL is going to kids that are soph/juniors to try and keep them here. We are far lacking on HS recruiting. NIL is more of a retention plan than a recruiting plan. Other schools are recruiting out in state guys much harder and actually offering NIL to our in state guys, Hell Mario (who is a national recruit) was offered less than 15k to sign when other schools out of state were triple that

Agreed. I do think we have to spend the majority to keep proven players (and I'm fine with that strategy). But it doens't leave much in the war chest to go out and compete heavy in the portal to help build the team on top of the talent we retain via NIL. So we are in a perpetual state of just being ok. We keep some good players but don't have much to go around them.

[DEDawg]

It's not one cherry picked outlier. It's happening in all 3 sports

it doesn't matter, that is a completely separate issue. Having more money in the NIL fund will equal more and better talent on campus. Starkville being located in Tampa Bay also would equal more and better talent on campus. They are separate issues that need to be bifurcated out. Saying you won't donate to NIL because it doesn't matter, kids won't come to Starkville is not the right way to tackle this issue.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

The people complaining about how others should give more money, are usually the ones that give the least. In my opinion (and it's fine if you don't share this opinion), everyone in American should be giving at least 10% of gross wages to charitable causes. There has never been a year in my life that I haven't reached that level, or far above. And NIL isn't even charitable or tax deductible. It's simply paying someone to play.