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- 🏅In the NIL Era, is Continuity King?
🏅In the NIL Era, is Continuity King?
Florida's Billy Napier thinks so
Hey there,
I’m just like you — I can’t wait for the CFP semifinal game tonight. But today, instead of talking specifics, we’re taking a big step back. We want to look at team-building as a whole in the NIL era — how it’s been done, and how one school is zagging while everyone else zigs. That team is, oddly enough, the Florida Gators.
We’re happy to offer this story for All-Access subscribers. If you’re not signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Become part of the team today, and start the new year off right. If your New Year’s resolution was to become a college football genius, this is how you do it.
— Cole, Justin and Collin
Things move fast in the NIL world—real fast. Since the policy was introduced in 2021, discussions have swirled about how quickly it's transforming college sports – and whether it's too much, too soon.
But that’s all up to the courts and the NCAA. The schools themselves? Well, they’re just trying to figure out what works.
Success looked one way for a long time. It looked like heavy high school recruitment, which led to talented freshmen classes each season. Those underclassmen would pay their dues for a few years, and hopefully by Junior or Senior year, they’d be full-fledged football machines – ready at last for their moment on the field. This constant stream of players provided continuity, consistency, and mature football players.
Naturally, there’s been hiccups in this system. Along would come a talented freshman – too talented to stay on the sidelines for too long – and he’d take the reins almost right away. There are always exceptions, but on the whole, we thought that this was how college football worked. Recruit, develop, play the upperclassmen.
Then came NIL, and suddenly, the playbook got tossed out the window. Now, with millions of dollars in the mix and the transfer portal booming, we have to ask: Is continuity still king in the NIL era?
