NIL has become the bogeyman of the NCAA. The legislation, passed in 2020, finally allowed collegiate athletes to be compensated in terms of brand deals and media appearances. That was a major step away from the era where the authorities that oversaw college sports adamantly defended the free labor of collegiate athletes.
However, not everyone is a fan of the program. Many coaches argue that NIL has forever changed recruiting. According to these detractors, players will go where the money is, putting smaller schools at a recruiting disadvantage. Granted, NIL has made some players at some schools very wealthy. Despite this, it's a weak argument to try and defend not paying players given how much revenue they generate for the school. Additionally, one college football coach is receiving a lot of mockery for his particularly exaggerated take on NIL.
Eli Drinkwitz Makes Weird NIL Statement
Eli Drinkwitz has been the head coach for the Missouri Tigers since 2020. The Tigers recruited Drinkwitz after his spectacular 12-1 2019 season leading Appalachian State. Since arriving at Missouri, he has gone 17-19, including 0-2 in bowl games. According to a tweet from Sports Illustrated reporter Ross Dellenger, Drinkwitz is not a fan of NIL. Drinkwitz reportedly said that college athletes make more through NIL than his pediatrician brother-in-law does. This is bad, Drinkwitz argued, because "he saves lives."
It's a fine if tired sentiment. People have been pointing out how athletes make more than doctors, firefighters, etc. for years. However, there's just one little detail that undermines Drinkwitz's position. When Drinkwitz was hired by Missouri in 2020, his salary was $4 million. In 2023, his salary is $6 million. Furthermore, by the end of his contract in 2027, his salary will be $7 million. It's a little hard to make the argument that NIL is bad when you yourself are making millions of dollars more than a medical professional. For what it's worth, the median US salary for a pediatrician in the United States is around $218,000. While the NIL debate will surely continue in college sports, it's safe to say that the millionaire coaches (especially the ones who make millions to produce losing records) should probably sit this one out.
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