Ross Dellenger on who wants NIL regulation: Athletic directors, coaches and some collectives

On3 imageby:Chandler Vessels05/24/22

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We’ve heard a lot from college athletic directors, coaches and conference commissioners regarding NIL regulation of late. But according to Sports Illustrated writer Ross Dellenger, there is another unexpected group of supporters.

NIL collectives have been at the center of the discussion around regulation, with many believing they serve as a way to disguise “pay-for-play” schemes in the recruitment of high school and transfer portal athletes. Although that is certainly true in the case of a few schools, not every collective wants to operate that way, Dellenger explained. For the ones who don’t, federal legislation can’t come soon enough.

“There are a lot of collectives who aren’t doing the recruiting thing or have just started to kind of do the recruiting thing but they don’t want to do it,” Dellenger said in a recent appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show. “They’re only doing it because rival collectives are doing it. It’s kind of forcing them to get into the game and they don’t want anything to do with handling a 17-year-old’s contract and getting into a bidding war. That’s been interesting to kind spend the last week talking to collectives about NCAA guidance. A lot of them were thrilled when it came out because they really want enforcement. They want to scare those who are dabbling in the recruiting world.”

Several college coaches, including Florida State‘s Mike Norvell, have detailed attempts at tampering against their current players. Perhaps the most prominent accusation came from Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi, who accused USC and coach Lincoln Riley of tampering to land 2021 Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison. These accusations led to the NCAA to release new guidelines for its NIL policy, clarifying the current rules and prohibiting boosters from recruiting.

Despite this seemingly good news, many college football leaders believe the problem won’t go away entirely until there is federal NIL legislation. As we know now, that even includes some of the collectives who played a part in creating the problem in the first place.

“What I find interesting is the ones who have bigger collectives have been in the news a lot lately,” Dellenger continued. “The kind of desperate teams, the programs that want to get back. You’re not seeing a whole lot of public comments from them about wanting legislation, but the vast majority of ADs and coaches I talk to do want it. They want control over it because they fear that college football could become dominated by a group of 3-4 teams.”