SEC Media Days are always good for a few tasty menu items.
- Smart and Muschamp teaming up to recruit Derion Kendrick from the transfer portal sounds like it has the makings of a good buddy movie.
- UNC has partnered with the Brandr Group to launch their own group licensing apparatus for Tar Heels athletes.
- “They’re getting reps, they’re learning the playbook and it’s really exciting,” nose guard Jordan Davis said. “You see them flash (in workouts). Tykee and Kendrick are really good players…I’m excited to see what they’re going to do during the season. I know they’re going to show out.”
- Prime Time loses his shit.
- For once, Dabo ain’t wrong.
- Bryce Young hasn’t started a game for Alabama yet, but Saban says he’s already close to being a millionaire, thanks to NIL. Junior’s reaction to the news is priceless.
- Kirby knows what Saban’s figured out already.
- Don’t get too excited about this, but George Pickens is making progress on the rehab front.
***************************************************************************
UPDATE: This goes out to those of you who have missed the point behind Saban’s comment about Bryce Young.
Get The Picture 
https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2021/07/nick-saban-bryce-young-approaching-1-million-in-nil-deals.html
Saban: “… It’s almost seven figures. And it’s like, the guy hasn’t even played yet. But that’s because of our brand.”
Excessive numbers? Check.
Numbers used for recruiting? Check.
Value of deals connected to school not performance? Check.
Who woulda guessed it?
LikeLike
Hope Bryce has a good accountant / tax attorney.
LikeLike
So how come the back up QBs don’t have the same deal?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Your argument is with Nick. Maybe he’s full of shit? He said the kid hasn’t played and the money is about bama’s brand.
LikeLike
Yeah, but you’re the parrot I questioned.
LikeLike
Even if (big if) ALL the “investing” goes to the presumed starter, the dynamics of kids (their family and advisors likewise) being blinded by everything but getting that Bryce Young cash is what has been concerning me throughout the nli debate. Recruiting qbs at bama and their competitors has changed utterly and not for the better when the head coach is announcing to the world what bama’s starting qb makes in “endorsements.” The good news? It’ll get worse and we’re not a month in yet.
LikeLiked by 2 people
As opposed to before NIL when Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama and Clemson we’re getting all the top quarterbacks anyway. If you are one of those top guys, I’m sure the NIL money is nice, but you are looking at which teams have QB’s that get drafted in first round and win Heismans.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sure they will. 17 year olds always make long term decisions.
LikeLike
So what? Parents make bad decisions on behalf of their kids too. Your position on this remains utterly baffling to me. It is as if you have been assuming that without the NIL money intentions were always always pure, nothing was ever misrepresented to a high school student to their long-term detriment, decisions were always made due to the love of the hood ol’ State U, and it always worked out correctly. There were people out trying to scam high school kids last year. At least now the high school kid can have a lawyer review a deal, rather than just have some fixer pocketing money that they were promised.
LikeLike
*good not *hood
LikeLike
That’s not my position at all but if you make one up you’ll no doubt have a problem with it.
The questions I’ve tried to address are these:
If we agree that college athletics has problems is nli a solution to those problems, in whole or in part, or does it risk making existing problems worse?
As a corollary, are there other possible solutions that would actually result in improving college athletics for everyone?
My answer is “yes” to both.
Doesn’t mean I thought college sports was perfect on June 30th. I just think it has even more problems than it did.
LikeLike
It will get a lot worse. There’s a lot of money in Texas. Maybe Jimbo will announce that his long snapper has already made two million for just standing in front of gas pump.
LikeLike
I’ve said this all along. At some point, with the egos and money at both Texas and Texas A&M a bidding war will ensue. It was a problem in the old SWC days but was not in spotlight back then. Now with it out in the open (and legal), hang on to your (10 gallon) hat
LikeLike
Of course the school brand plays into the NIL money. Trey Lance was projected as a first round pick from the beginning of the season last year. Do you think he gets the same NIL deal at NDSU that he would at ‘Bama, ND, tOSU, Clemson, or UGA?
LikeLike
With the reporter calling Prime by his first name, Deion shoulda’ called the reporter “coach”…Bringing little nicky into the conversation with a 4-3 record is weak and leaky at best…better check that jewelry GPS app….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do some think Little Nicky might be stretching the truth just a little bit for recruiting exposure?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are you saying that “coming to alabamia can make you a million dollar baby” and never play a down…
LikeLike
I’m shocked, shocked that anyone would suggest that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Even if Saban isn’t stretching the truth, that message was as subtle as a train wreck.
And think under the surface at the Kiffin Kancer’s comment: Matt Corral, generally thought the top returning starter in the SEC, is making how much less than Bama Boy Bryce? Is he gonna whine?
Now to be slightly fair to Saban, alumni base is a factor in this. Championships are clearly the biggest factor because that gets you the never set foot on campus fans, but alumni base is material if not substantial.
LikeLike
Well, technically he never said it was approaching a million. He said close to seven figures. Six is closer to seven than four is. As the update above says, of course he’s playing the recruiting angle.
LikeLike
Wonder if the seven figures includes the two AFTER the decimal point.
LikeLike
The flip side to Saban’s boast is, if Young is a bust all that sweeet NIL money might be considered a huge waste by ‘investors’.
Aww, who am I kidding? Kid will probably kill it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When’s the last time Bama had a QB who was a neutral or negative factor? Not terrible, just, say, Joe Cox level?
LikeLike
Blake Sims.
Coker wasn’t exactly great either.
LikeLike
This is just a wild theory of possible consequence, but the NIL money could have an effect where 4/5-star QB’s will not be as willing to go to a big team with an young established QB and wait their turn, a la Mack Jones. The reasoning is that a guy like Brice Young is going to be making all the bank at Bama and I am doubtful that much will be left over for #2. I a mean, a guy like me can dream right?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dude, I can see it…most people are driven by their own self interests, and these young men will learn that quickly…being the big fish in a small pond has many benefits…now, income might be the biggest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Its certainly a negotiation point.
Q: Coach Saban, can you offer me more $ than Missouri? Big fish small pond and what not….
A: Let me look into that for you. Says here our scout team holder on FGs made more than Missouri’s entire roster last year.
LikeLike
I don’t think that is likely, but even if that scenario did present itself like that, the young dude could decide what he thinks is his best option. All schools will reach a saturation point…only 85 scholarships per program…and even if Bama pays top dollar to all 85, (which I doubt) the thousand or so other athletes coming out of HS will have hundreds of options, some more lucrative than others to chose from. Bama isn’t the only school with deep pocketed supporters.
LikeLike
Never said they were.
The big football schools will shop and buy the best out of high school and then spend the offseason cutting guys and fishing for guys they missed on the first time around via the portal.
Sorry (fill in the blank) but your freshman/soph. All Americans won’t be there next fall.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Seeing the sausage being made ala roster management prior to NIL was pretty graphic for some programs (grey shirting) and then the portal…adding in big time financial inducements won’t make that any more palatable, but it’s our new reality whether we like it or not…but like Dude originally posted, I can see where some kids are afforded opportunities at other schools besides the Powerhouse programs…the Bamas and Clemsons and UGAs of the world will still recruit/induce at top tier levels…they won’t miss a beat.
LikeLike
Give Prime Time this – there’s never been this much written about Jackson State. I’ll put it at 50/50 that it was planned vs a wild in the moment over reaction.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bryce Young wouldn’t be making a damn dime off his NIL if he wasn’t the quarterback for the University of Alabama, which plays its football games in Bryant-Denny Stadium, in the Southeastern Conference of that illegal cartel known as the NCAA.
LikeLike
Of course its about recruiting. The issue is that the decision of where to play is no longer about a player’s future and a multifaceted decision that balances a number of various interests and issues.
Its all about money and money NOW.
Saban is talking to that point because he knows that IS the point.
LikeLike
Ah, so you’ve spoken with all the big recruits and they told you that’s how they think?
LikeLike
It is worth wondering whether Saban acted without deliberate self interest in mind for the first time in his life. Perhaps it was a verbal fart that just slipped out. Always a first time. You can look for confirmation on your theory if you like. I’ll rely on the historical record.
LikeLike
Saban has.
LikeLike
That doesn’t answer my question.
LikeLike
The historical record on recruiting shows that there has never been as much talent concentrated in the top of a very few Power 5 teams (Alabama, UGA, OSU, Clemson, LSU, Oklahoma) as there is now. And that happened pre-NIL. So you are suggesting it is going to get even worse? How could it get even worse?!?
LikeLike
Whether the haves remain haves is irrelevant to me. The question is why the haves are haves or become haves in the wake of nli. Most are haves because they’ve invested over a century in a football program that wins football games. Tomorrows haves will be because they have the richest, most creative, most shameless, football fanatic fan base. I see a qualitative difference between those two concepts of college football.
There will be carryovers and there will be programs that emerge and those that will wither on the vine. Where are those chips fall is to be seen but I’m not optimistic.
LikeLike
Tomorrow’s haves will be the same haves as today because those programs have the most passion and dollars already.
But to the bigger point, I think you are underestimating the savvy of the five star who, I believe, will continue to make the best long-term decision for career value maximization. There’s not some well-heeled UConn fan who’s going to secure the rights to the number one overall prospect through an NIL deal to attend UConn compared to what the prospect can make in the NFL by maximizing their potential at Alabama or Clemson. And even if they did, if it wasn’t working football-wise, that prospect would transfer anyway.
LikeLike
Nebraska taught me that nothing ever changes…
LikeLike
Deon might want to check his ENORMOUS ego just a little. Just watched the above clip of Saban messing with a reporter (the one posted on GTP “Had you going there for a second”). Unless my ears are playing tricks on me, the reporter called him NICK not coach Saban. Saban did not yell, scream, or walk out. He just messed with the guy a little about the question, not the way he as addressed.
LikeLike
Yep. https://twitter.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/1417855995729088523
LikeLike