Will Levis sounds off on "pay-to-play" NIL: "It makes me sick"

When Will Levis arrived on Kentucky’s campus in the summer of 2021, the NCAA had just approved the rule allowing student-athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL). My, how much has changed in just two years. Now entering his rookie season with the Tennessee Titans, Levis no longer has to deal with NIL, which he says is a relief given how fast it, and consequently, the sport of college football, are evolving.

“I could sit here and talk about NIL all day,” Levis said during a recent appearance on Unpolished Gems with Jesse and Brian Kay. “I have very strong opinions about all of it and I think that what was a little different about — and I’ve been pretty candid about this recently — my experience than others, which helped me actually going into the pros and how marketing is handled here. All the deals, all the money that I made in college, which was certainly enough but not nearly as much as even some of the high school kids are making before they even play a snap.”

When the host jokingly asked if Levis ever got a $10 million signing bonus, he laughed.

“No, no. Take off a couple of zeroes. But I earned all the money that I made; I didn’t have any pay-to-play money. I learned about the ins and outs of marketing deals and what a proper value is for me and my brand and what I’m offering for these companies and vice versa. I did the handful of deals I thought were appropriate, the ones that I thought worked with me and my brand.”

Levis, who has a master’s degree in finance from UK’s Gatton School of Business and Economics, specifically mentioned his deal with Claiborne Farms and the stallion “War of Will” as an example of the types of endorsements he sought during his time at Kentucky. He also referenced how he and some of his teammates worked with an agency (Athlete Advantage) to find deals with local companies. Contrast that with just getting a check from a collective for going to a school, which is becoming the norm in the sport.

“There’s no way around it,” Levis said of pay-to-play NIL deals. “I think that guys and girls deserve to be paid 100%. There’s no way to make it fair, there’s no way to get equal representation across all sports but the whole pay-to-play thing is just ridiculous. It doesn’t sit right with me.

“Seeing someone transferring schools and making a decision on a dollar amount as opposed to what the opportunities are and what makes the most sense for them as a player and as a fit, it muddies the waters and it makes me sick, honestly. It’s weird to think about.”

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Levis happy with NIL experience at Kentucky

Levis admitted he’s happy he doesn’t have to worry about NIL anymore given the rate it’s changing the sport; in fact, he went as far as to say it makes him never want to be a college coach.

“It’s crazy. Schools are going to just be seen as stepping stones to get to other schools. Guys and girls are going to be making decisions for not the right reasons and recruiting never sat right with me personally. For one, I thought my experience, I saw some nasty sides of it even before NIL and it’s just got even dirtier since then. I can’t sit down a 15, 16-year-old and tell them to come to this school because he’s the greatest thing in the world and, oh, by the way, we’re going to give you a million dollars. Oh, someone else gave you a million-and-a-half? I guess we can do that too. It just didn’t sit right with me.”

Levis expressed skepticism that the powers that be will find a suitable solution for what NIL has become — “I think the toothpaste is out of the tube” — but did offer his hopes for what it should be.

“There has to be payment for adequate services. You can’t just be handing out money and paying someone to come there and play but I feel like as long as there’s the rule that you can pay these players, there’s no way around it. I feel like if there was a solution, somebody would have already thought of it.”

All that said, Levis is happy with his experience at Kentucky, both on and off the field.

“I feel like I did it is what NIL in its purest form was supposed to be and if that’s how it is across the board, then that’s awesome, that’s what makes sense but if there aren’t ways around this pay-to-play thing then there’s nothing we can do about it. The rich are only going to get richer, the strongest of the teams in the league are only going to get stronger because of these new rules and it’s going to be interesting to see how the landscape of college football changes from here on out.”

You can see the entire conversation with Levis below. His comments on NIL begin around the 21-minute mark.