College Football
Old Familiar Sting?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Tech has a great athletic tradition. When I was growing up they were one of the few programs where the football team went to bowl games and the men’s basketball team made the NCAA tournament consistently.
From 1997 to 2014 there was just one losing season, and even then it was because the 2010 team lost the Independence Bowl. Over the last few years that has completely changed.
The last winning season for the Yellow Jackets was in 2018. That was also Paul Johnson’s final season in Atlanta.
The Geoff Collins era began after that. Collins was flashy and seemed to be more concerned with establishing a social media presence than focusing on coaching. He was fired after the team started the 2022 season 1 – 3. His overall record at Tech was 10 – 28.
Assistant head coach/offensive line coach Brent Key was named the interim head coach. He led them to a 4 – 4 record and the interim tag was taken off on November 29 as Key was named Georgia Tech’s 21st head football coach.
This seems like a perfect fit to lead the program in the right direction. Key played guard at Tech from 1997 – 2000, starting all four years. The team showed significant improvement when he took over and they hope that momentum will carry over into the 2023 season.
Quarterback Jeff Simms transferred to Nebraska. He was the starter for the last three seasons. Haynes King has transferred in from Texas A&M and he is battling Zach Pyron for the starting job. King has a 3 – 4 record as a starter for the Aggies.
Wide receiver Dominick Blaylok has also transferred in from UGA. He’s a former four-star recruit that has battled injuries. He tore his ACL as a freshman in 2019 and later re-injured it in 2020. Last season he caught 15 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown.
This season the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions have been eliminated. With the two-division setup gone, the top two teams will now play for the ACC Championship.
The offense should be better this season. In 2022, the Yellow Jackets had the worst passing offense in the ACC, were dead last in third down conversions, downfield passing, and tackles for loss allowed. The team scored more than 16 points just five times – those were the five wins, by the way.
The offensive line has to step up. They have four starters returning so that experience should help.
Transfer linebackers Braelen Oliver (Minnesota) and Andre White, Jr. (Texas A&M) are hard hitters that played roles for their former teams. They have a chance to be stars this season. Defensive lineman Etinosa Reuben transferred from Clemson and he will bring a physical presence to the D line.
Junior LaMiles Brooks is one of the best safeties in the ACC. Last season he had 52 tackles, three interceptions and he earned third-team all-ACC recognition in his first season as a starter.
Let’s take a look at the schedule and see how this season should play out.
Wins: SC State, Bowling Green, Boston College, at Virginia
Losses: Louisville, at Ole Miss, at Wake Forest, at Miami, North Carolina, at Clemson, Syracuse, Georgia
I picked the games that should be wins for the Yellow Jackets. I think they have a chance against Louisville, Wake Forest and North Carolina. If they can win two of those games they will play in a bowl game.
Benefit Of The Doubt
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It was hardly the kind of news that moved the recruiting world: Late last week, Nnamdi Ogboko, a nose tackle from Garner, N.C., committed to Georgia.
Ogboko is a three-star prospect and the 94th-ranked nose tackle. His overall national rank is 934th.
Hmm. A three-star nose tackle from North Carolina committing to Georgia? Is there any precedent for that?
Ogboko’s commitment reinforced how much Kirby Smart and his staff have earned the benefit of the doubt.
The Georgia recruiting colossus was built, not just on five-star prospects (and there have been plenty), but on the likes of Jordan Davis (same background as Ogboko), Ladd McConkey (three-star prospect ranked in the 1,000s of his class) and Stetson Bennett (his story is well known).
These solid-but-not-star role playing recruits are an area of need, and so far defensive line coach Tray Scott is coming through. (There’s a reason he’s a position coach earning $1 million.)
In early June, Jordan Thomas and Justin Greene gave the program two four-star commits, and since then, Quintavius Johnson and Ogboko have been added. (Johnson could end up playing more on the edge than the traditional defensive line.)
The hallmark of the Smart era has been a blend of winning big recruiting battles, trusting the coaches’ evaluations and developing.
As the 2024 class takes shape — and things are far along — Georgia again seems to be combining the usual array of blue-chip players with lesser-heralded players like Ogboko.
There may be two national championship trophies in the building pulling in top talent, but the formula is staying consistent. Some thoughts on where things stand at this point:
There are 21 commitments — one reason the class is ranked No. 1 in the 247Sports Composite. (It measures quality as well as quantity.)
So far, the only power conference teams with more commitments were Stanford (24) and Michigan and Minnesota (23 each).
Among those hanging back is Alabama, with only eight commitments — one reason it’s only ranked 28th. But both those numbers will improve before December.
Ohio State, another program that regularly competes for the top ranking, has 16 commitments and is ranked second.
Dylan Raiola, the top overall recruit in the country, is now technically an in-state commit for Georgia, after deciding to play his senior year at Buford High, about 50 miles from Athens.
Meanwhile, Ryan Puglisi is giving all outward signs he’s holding on to his commitment. The four-star player from Avon, Conn., committed to Georgia in October, and Smart and Bobo seem eager to keep him in the fold despite Raiola’s addition.
Only two offensive linemen are committed to UGA: three-star players Marcus Harrison (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Malachi Toliver (Cartersville, Ga.). That means there’s room to add.
Returning to the size of the class, Georgia is in a good position. Why? Signing limits don’t exist anymore. Other schools can’t recruit against it and say, “Look, Georgia is already at the 25-man limit.”
Schools only need to be under the 85-scholarship limit, and Georgia can tell recruits — as can any school — that it expects attrition after the season, either via the portal or the NFL Draft. Things are changing in the NCAA.
There’s still time for subtractions and additions to Georgia’s list. Kirby has established himself as an ALPHA recruiter.
If You Build It…
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Nobody cares about other sports. It’s all about football.
As long as football is going well, the money is rolling in, the fans are happy, and the athletic department has money to count it will be that way. Because (financially) nobody cares about other sports.
Georgia, like every SEC program, has a lot of money coming in every year, and the football program’s success means donations are high. But that’s football money, so there’s only so much of it that’s going to be redirected to other sports.
The public perception of an AD still revolves largely around coaching hires. Josh Brooks inherited his most high-profile one: Kirby Smart, who will be at Georgia for a long time.
The football program basically runs itself, with Smart overseeing a staff of about 150 coaches, trainers, student assistants and other staffers.
Athletic Director Brooks still oversees the program, but he knows he can devote more time to the other 20 sports under his purview.
Here’s a look at other UGA programs getting shafted when it comes to spending:
Stegeman Coliseum had to be closed this spring because of a roofing error, it was suggested by staff and directors for the school to build a new arena.
The final decision was fixing the roof and continuing renovations to the arena. Stegeman Coliseum houses men and women’s basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball.
Similarly, UGA decided on renovations for Foley Field, rather than building a new stadium for the baseball team.
Contrarily, the track program is getting a new facility, or at least the process has begun to build it near the softball and soccer complexes, off Milledge Avenue.
That decision is not about favoring track. Brooks said, “it’s about what makes the most sense”, pointing to the track program having a small space in its current area, which eventually will become a practice field for football.
Georgia has long seemed to need a master plan for facilities instead of jumping from project to project and wasting money. Witness the millions spent in 2010 on a small-scale indoor facility for football, knocked down five years later to build a bigger one.
An official master plan has not been released. Brooks said he has been hesitant to release the plan to remain flexible to change.
With NIL becoming the new wave, donations for facilities may be dwindling. In Georgia’s case, they have their major football projects checked off, just in time.
Georgia wanted to be successful in football and they are now the two-time National Champs. But, that price came with every other program on campus practicing and playing in substandard facilities.
Put it On The Calendar
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One of the most anticipated days in recent memory in SEC football history happened this month with the 2024 SEC football schedule release.
Oklahoma and Texas officially join the SEC on July 1, 2024. Now we know who everyone will play in the 2024 campaign. The 8-game conference slate has some great matchups for 2024. Let us look at the UGA 2024 football schedule:
Non-Conference Matchups:
Clemson: Georgia will open the 2024 season with Clemson in Atlanta for a neutral site game. These two schools are about ninety miles apart and Clemson recruits the state of Georgia hard. This will be a great contest with two elite programs meeting in Atlanta. It is quite possible that UGA will come into this contest with a new QB making his first collegiate start.
Georgia Tech: Clean Old-Fashioned Hate. I do not need to say anything else about this rivalry.
2- Cupcakes whose names are not important. They will receive their check and move on.
SEC Road Games:
Texas: Welcome to the SEC Texas. You get rewarded by playing the Georgia Bulldogs.
This will be a highly anticipated match-up. We do not know where this one will fall on the schedule, but I think it will be an early season game in mid-September.
Arch Manning, who chose Texas over UGA in the recruiting process could be the starter for Texas in 2024.
For UGA fans, a road trip to Austin, Texas is a bucket list trip. This writer really wants to make that road trip.
The 2024 UGA team could be rolling into Austin with a new QB and 3-4 new OL making a road start at DKR. Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. I am looking forward to this contest.
Alabama: The Dawgs travel to Tuscaloosa for a national spotlight game. A regular season contest of the elite programs in the conference currently and a contest that has been the National title game twice in the past five years. Must watch TV.
Kentucky: Kentucky has not beaten UGA since 2009. Winning in Lexington has never been an issue for the Georgia Bulldogs. I will give Kentucky this, they play a physical brand of football. This could end up being a 23-14 type of game.
Ole Miss: Georgia’s last trip to Oxford was in 2016 where they were hammered by the Rebels 45-14. UGA and Ole Miss were annual opponents until SEC changed its scheduling model back after the 2002 season.
From 1966 through 2002 UGA and Ole Miss played every season. UGA leads the series 32-12-1. A trip to The Grove is a must in the SEC. Good to see Ole Miss back on the schedule.
Neutral Site:
Florida in Jacksonville: Under contract in Jacksonville through 2025 this is Georgia’s biggest SEC rival. I would pull for Iran over Florida in a sporting event.
SEC Home Games:
Auburn: I thought this rivalry would be a casualty of the 8-game SEC slate. Thank you, SEC, for keeping the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry intact.
Tennessee: Thank you SEC for keeping the Vols on the schedule. This has become a nasty rivalry since 1992 when the SEC was split into divisions.
Mississippi State: UGA drilled State in Starkville last fall and will drill State in Athens in 2024. Some things never change in the SEC.
Thoughts:
This is one of the toughest schedules in the country in 2024. I do not like losing the South Carolina game. Georgia is Carolina’s biggest SEC rival. I guess with expansion you knew some of these types of games were in jeopardy.
Georgia picks up Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas and loses South Carolina, Missouri, and Vanderbilt in 2024. Seems about right does it not UGA fans?
Come Play In The Sunshine
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
First off, kudos to Gus Malzahn and his staff for raising their recruiting as they embark on their first season in the Big 12.
Earlier this month, Malzahn held the third Bounce House event since his arrival and by far his most successful in terms of getting elite recruits on campus.
Of the 22 official visitors, 12 were blue-chip recruits. UCF had three attend last year at the same event. They have signed a grand total of 18 blue-chippers all-time, according to the 247Sports database.
UCF’s staff not only brought in luxury cars to dress up the facilities, Malzahn also outfitted himself in an astronaut suit to show these guys he’s serious about wanting them to be a part of the program’s future. That’s commitment.
All that said, the hardest part in recruiting for a rising program like UCF is getting the buy-in come December.
Last year, the Knights lost three-star offensive tackle Jamal Meriweather to Georgia at the last minute after a 14 months verbal commitment. Then, three-star tight end Jayvontay Conner dropped them the moment Ole Miss extended an offer.
It’s inevitable if SEC schools and other elite programs go head-to-head with UCF for guys — they’re going to lose a few until they prove they can win at the Power 5 level.
In the meantime, I feel good about a handful of last weekend’s prospects eventually committing. Three-star edge rusher DJ Allen left raving about his trip to Orlando.
Purdue and Louisville are the biggest competition with Allen.
Meanwhile, I predict the Knights will end up with four-star running back Stacy Gage, who is originally from the Tampa area. He said he wants to commit before the season begins, but it’s a recruitment that will probably come down to the wire.
Three-star defensive back Christian Peterson from Atlanta told Recruiting News Guru that UCF is his top school coming off the trip, but he has an official visit to Cincinnati, Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.
The two biggest recruits UCF probably has the best shot of landing are four-star safety Brandon Jacob and four-star offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis, two standouts who live nearby and could be convinced to take the Knights to the next level.
Pierre-Louis, the younger brother of former Gators offensive tackle Richard Gouraige, is close with three-star defensive line commitment Sincere Edwards.
UCF needs to upgrade its offensive line talent. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Malzahn lands some quality recruits at that spot from the Georgia area, such as four-star Waltclaire Flynn Jr. or three-stars Jordan Floyd and Kahlil House.
The Knights now have seven commits for the 2024 class and are poised to crack the top 40 of 247Sports’ composite team rankings.
All verbal commitments are non-binding until December when the early signing period opens.
I expect UCF to have its best recruiting class in school history with a finish in the top 40.
The Great Eight
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The SEC’s conference scheduling movement received some insight Thursday on the 2024 season. Here’s what you need to know.
The SEC is not adding a ninth game, at least not yet: It will go with a stopgap solution of an eight-game schedule in 2024, when Oklahoma and Texas join the league, with a decision yet to come on a long-term format.
Keeping eight games in 2024 is more a reflection of not having the votes to go to nine, sources in the conference said, and athletic programs are holding out with hope that an ESPN deal will increase the payout to the SEC in exchange for going to nine.
In the meantime, the 2024 schedule is a stopgap. The exact matchups will be revealed on June 14 in an SEC Network special. It will preserve traditional rivalries, Sankey said.
He didn’t confirm whether that means Texas and Texas A&M will meet in 2024, along with Auburn-Georgia and Alabama -Tennessee, but strongly hinted at it.
The SEC is keeping a requirement that every team must play at least one non-conference game from another Power 5 conference (or Notre Dame) for the 2024 season, but the requirement could end up being dropped if the SEC goes to a nine-game schedule in 2025.
Divisions will be eliminated, as expected, with the top two teams in the 16-team standings will make the SEC championship.
The decision on a long-term format remains between the 3-6 format (three permanent opponents and rotate the other six) or 1-7 format (one permanent opponent and rotate the other seven). And a decision on that could be made soon.
The conference has been debating the schedule for more than a year, and the nine-game format was considered the heavy favorite. But enough resistance emerged over the past few months, and there weren’t enough votes for either the nine-game format or eight-game format on a long-term basis this week at SEC meetings. So the conference went with this solution.
Lack of media money from ESPN still appears to be the main consideration for SEC programs.
Georgia president Jere Morehead has consistently pointed to that, first saying last September: “We have to see, if we go to a nine-game schedule, is that going to provide an opportunity to renegotiate the contracts with ESPN and the like? What we negotiated now was an eight-game schedule.”
All this, according to the two-time defending national championship coach, is ridiculous. “The most overrated conversation there ever was,” Georgia’s Kirby Smart said.
ESPN and the SEC agreed to a 10-year contract in December 2020, prior to Oklahoma and Texas joining the conference. The contract included a pro rate clause where ESPN would pay a basic amount more if it added any new teams.
The SEC was hoping, perhaps assuming, that because it added Oklahoma and Texas, along with a ninth game, it would be more. ESPN/Disney is dealing with layoffs and other uncertainty. They have not made that commitment yet.
The New SEC Schedule Model
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The SEC Spring meetings are taking place in Destin, Florida.
The big topic on the agenda was adopting a scheduling model for the conference.
Oklahoma and Texas formally join the SEC in July of 2024, but were allowed to be a part of the meetings in Destin.
It appears that the SEC will adopt an 8-game conference scheduling format for 2024 where each team will play one permanent opponent annually and play a 7-game rotation with the remaining teams. This format after 2024 has yet to be determined according to commissioner Greg Sankey.
Football matchups for the 2024 season will be released on June 14 on the SEC Network, without exact dates.
Other topics were discussed as well, like tampering, NIL future, etc. but let us not kid ourselves, the thing fans are interested in is the proposed scheduling model.
Some schools wanted a 9-game model, but it appears that the 8-game advocates won out during this round of discussions. Based on the projected model here are my predictions on permanent opponents:
Alabama: Auburn. The Iron Bowl will not be touched. The Third Saturday of October annually with Tennessee is a casualty of this model. Thanks Nick!
Arkansas: Missouri. I’m guessing the Razorbacks were for the 9-game format with 3 permanents so they could renew the Texas rivalry, but that did not come to pass.
Auburn: Alabama. Iron Bowl is the best rivalry game in College Football. Under this format the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry game with Georgia is a casualty of this model. What a damn shame!
Florida: Georgia. The Cocktail Party will continue annually, but where after 2025?
Georgia: Florida. The Dawgs wanted the 9-game model.
Kentucky: South Carolina. Must watch TV, right? NOT!
LSU: Texas A&M. The Florida and Alabama games annually are victims of this model.
Mississippi State: Ole Miss. The Egg Bowl lives on
Missouri: Arkansas. This manufactured rivalry game has no appeal.
Ole Miss: MSU. The Egg Bowl is intense, but the long-standing LSU game is gone.
Oklahoma: Texas. Red River Shootout in Dallas comes to the SEC.
South Carolina: Kentucky. The Gamecocks lose their biggest SEC rival in UGA.
Tennessee: Vanderbilt. Vols are jumping for joy with this automatic W but lose Alabama annually.
Texas: Oklahoma. Welcome to the SEC Horns!
Texas A&M: LSU. I’m thinking the Aggies wanted Texas and the 9-game model.
Vanderbilt: Tennessee: In-state rival.
Gone are the two divisions and teams with the two best conference records play for the SEC Tile in 2024.
All the other major conferences play a 9-game schedule. The SEC is going to take a lot of criticism in the press with the scheduling model, but as the commissioner said 65-7 in the latest national championship game tells you where the balance of power is in college football.
Let the debates begin on who the permanent opponent will be. Texas or Oklahoma coming to Athens would be a treat for Dawg fans. A road trip to Austin would be next level also.
Florida Heat
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Billy Napier is entering his second season as the head ball coach in Gainesville and he’s already on the hot seat. Is that fair or do Florida fans have unrealistic expectations?
Napier went 6 – 7 in his first season. Anthony Richardson was his quarterback and he was the fourth player selected in the 2023 NFL Draft. This raises a question about the Gators.
Typically, when a team has a very talented quarterback they have more success. They started the 2022 season with an upset of #7 Utah but it was all downhill after that.
By comparison, last season was Brian Kelly’s first season at LSU. He led the Tigers to a 10 – 4 record. One of those wins came against UF. This success has led to a very solid recruiting class.
Hugh Freeze was hired by Auburn at the end of November and he got talented players to transfer to Auburn.
So far, Napier has not snagged a talented recruiting class. Fans have to wonder, why are coaches at other SEC schools having immediate recruiting results?
Napier knows Florida has a lot to prove and needs the fan base to understand patience is key under a new regime.
The fact that Georgia won two consecutive national championships has to add to the pressure. It does not look like Florida will be able to compete with them anytime soon. Tennessee won eleven games last season, so they are also stiff competition.
Georgia has the No. 1 recruiting class of 2024 and Tennessee’s class is ranked No.8. The Gators are currently sitting at 11th, which is not bad. That is lower than the top two teams in the SEC East though.
Napier did speak about future success.
“We’re going to be successful here, it’s just a matter of how fast it’s going to happen, that’s what I would tell you. I would be hopeful it would happen faster than fast, quickly, but reality is it may take us a little bit of time to get it done. We’re going to have to get … the ball’s got to bounce the right way here or there. Think about last year, we lost five games by essentially by one score. If we could play a little bit better at the end of the half, beginning of of the third quarter, play a little better on defense in terms of giving up explosive plays. There’s a number of variables that we weren’t good at all. Third down defense, red zone offense, lot of areas on our team where we know we sucked. It is what is. We did a lot of things great. We created a lot of explosive plays.”
If they get off to a slow start this season he’ll be in trouble. They do open the season at #14 Utah.
A New Home?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It was announced this week that the Georgia/Florida football game will remain in Jacksonville through the 2025 football season.
The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has been held in Jacksonville since 1933. The 1994 and 1995 contests were held in Gainesville and Athens due to Jacksonville being granted the Jaguars by the NFL in expansion. The old Gator Bowl was turned into what we now know as TIAA Bank Field.
Both universities released statements below regarding the agreement:
“We are pleased with the decision to exercise the option that will keep the game in Jacksonville for 2024 and 2025,” said UGA J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks, via a release from Georgia.
“We look forward to discussions that I’m sure will continue over the next couple years exploring all the options for 2026 and beyond. We continue to be appreciative of the working relationship we have with the University of Florida and the City of Jacksonville.”
“The City of Jacksonville has been a historic host for one of the greatest rivalry games in all of college football,” Florida Athletics Director Scott Stricklin said. “We are excited to have the game in Jacksonville for another two seasons.”
Where the game will be played beyond 2025 is still unknown. The City of Jacksonville recently announced that TIAA Bank Field will undergo major renovations in 2026 and 2027, which means the Jaguars will play their home games in another venue for those two seasons.
Do not panic Jaguars fans. You are not relocating to London.
Based on that the future beyond 2025 is up in the air. Florida is the designated home team in odd numbered years and will be the home team this season.
With this announcement we know officially that Georgia and Florida will be permanent opponents when the SEC expands in 2024 with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas.
It has pretty much been documented that that would be the case, but the new agreement cements that.
I’m a proponent of always keeping the UGA/UF game in Jacksonville. It is part of SEC tradition. There is a growing movement within the UGA fan base to move the game to a ‘home and home’.
I personally think it is driven by Atlanta metro area Dawg fans that don’t feel as strongly about the game staying in Jacksonville.
You see UGA fans in the Atlanta area can travel to Athens in usually under an hour on gameday, then go back home and sleep in their own beds at night after the contest.
You hear many in the Atlanta area say if not home and home then rotate between Jacksonville and Atlanta and let some of the revenue the game generates benefit the state of Georgia.
Well, the current location in Jacksonville benefits the Golden Isles of Georgia to the tune of $6-$8 million dollars annually for a 3-day weekend in late October. Atlanta already has the SEC Championship game.
South Georgia Dawg fans basically make a weekend of it in Athens for every home UGA game due to travel distance.
And many fans south of Macon are season ticket holders. Think about that for a second.
Economically the game in Jacksonville is a financial windfall for both schools. Playing the series home-and-home would net Florida and Georgia just $1.5 million annually according to The Gainesville Sun, a $3 million shortfall compared to playing in Jacksonville.
Each school would make about $3 million playing games at their respective stadiums, but that revenue would have to extend over a two-year period. Each school receives about $2.9 million dollars each annually by playing in Jacksonville.
Keep the game in Jacksonville. Kirby Smart is the king of college football currently. Recruiting rules can change if the king pushes that narrative so UGA can host recruits in Jacksonville.
There is no experience like the Cocktail Party in Jacksonville on the last weekend in October.
Due to stadium renovations, you could see the Gators in Athens in 2026.
The Collective
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’m fairly confident one of the four Power 5 programs in the state of Florida will make the Playoff in the next five years. What gives me that confidence?
Recent history of College Football Playoff rankings before bowl season. Florida State was 13th this past season. In 2020, Florida was seventh and Miami was 18th. In 2019, the Gators were ninth. In 2018, UCF was eighth and Florida was 10th.
In 2017, Miami was 10th. None of Florida’s schools has made a College Football Playoff since Florida State in 2014.
Had there been a 12-team playoff, there likely would’ve been representation on this side of the map. Looking at the now and near future, Florida State will make it first because the Seminoles are furthest along in their rebuild and are reaping results.
As for NIL collectives, it’s impossible to rank them. We don’t really have that financial data available to us. As of now, we must take these collectives at their word, followed by the actions of transfers and recruits.
Based on my experience talking to both college and high school players about the process, I think money plays only a slight factor if what is offered by the schools is relatively equal in value. So, they’ll make their choices based on playing time, history, NFL relationships, as well as day-to-day relationships with their position coaches and coordinators. NIL gets you in the game or knocks you out if it’s nonexistent.
How would I describe the actions of the NIL collectives? Are they helping win over recruits, simply doing their job, or are they failing to meet expectations?
All three characterized the collectives they covered as doing their jobs. Except for one player at UCF, none thought the programs lost players the coaching staff wanted to keep because they were necessarily outbid by other collectives.
In Miami’s case, I can certainly think of at least a couple of examples in which the program’s healthy NIL collective helped push UM toward the top of recruitment.
Does that make Miami the strongest NIL in the state? Maybe — based on its track record.
On the other hand, NIL is constantly evolving. Bankrollers come and go, and the truth is the in-state collectives are just really getting their act together since state laws changed in February.
Apart from what John Ruiz’s LifeWallet has done for UM, Miami’s Canes Connection Collective has announced dozens of signings throughout the spring. These are big wins off the field.
Florida’s Victorious Collective is putting the Jaden Rashada mess in the rearview mirror and providing the Gators real leadership and balance.
Florida State’s Battle’s End has been operating since December, and the Seminoles have kept top players Jared Verse and Jordan Travis happy.
UCF’s The Kingdom has raised several million and expects to be middle of the pack in the Big 12.
Again, it feels as though the collectives at the Power 4 in the Sunshine State are doing their jobs.
But until Florida, Miami, Florida State and UCF produce consistency that fans have grown accustomed to, programs will be frustrated.
NIL’s will help The Sunshine State’s schools keep top talent in the state. Keep the talent in the state and Playoffs will follow.
