Mack Brown feels lack of NIL caused a 'slow bleed' for him at North Carolina

Few have been as outspoken about the challenges of competing in the new NIL landscape as former North Carolina coach Mack Brown. He’s been blunt that it was a major factor in his exit from the program.

The long-time head coach had pockets of success with the Tar Heels but ultimately couldn’t sustain it. In large part that was attributable to NIL.

“Before NIL we were doing really well,” Brown said recently on the See Ball Get Ball podcast with David Pollack. “We were recruiting at a high level. We were in the top 15, top 10. But with NIL we didn’t have money, and you could tell it was just a slow bleed. I mean you could tell it. You were having to change who you could recruit.”

In short, North Carolina had to start looking at a certain subset of players that it could land. It wasn’t always the most talented guy.

“You’re having to recruit guys that were 3.0 (GPA) or above with your admissions,” Brown said. “But they also needed to want to come to North Carolina academically, because you couldn’t give them money. And you needed to recruit families that had some money because it’s understandable that if you’re recruiting somebody and somebody offers them a lot more money than you had, then you’re not going to get them.

“It’d be unfair. Some of the moms said, ‘Coach, we’d like to come here.’ But I said, ‘I got it. I totally understand.'”

That’s just the reality of NIL. It’s an uneven playing field. And while new controls will be put in place under the House settlement, it’s still unclear how much the sport will be able to rein in some of the spending.

And that applies not just to new recruits, but to existing players. The ease with which the transfer portal has made moving around possible is another huge factor.

“You’ve got to keep your roster, and you’ve got guys like Omarion Hampton last year that could have gone anywhere,” Brown said. “Got offered so much more money than he had to stay there. But you’ve got to have a guy that wants to say.”

Brown thinks the issues with NIL are here to stay. He’s not the only coach that will feel the pressure and the squeeze.

“That’s kind of the predicament a lot of schools are in right now,” Brown said. “The House settlement will help. It’ll be really interesting to see what the NIL collective outside of the university’s revenue share will be now. They say if it’s over $600 you’re going to have to have it vetted by a group. That will be interesting to see.”