"Beyond the Blue" - NIL Spotlight

[ldeleon5]

It's been a while since i posted...hope everyone is doing well! If I haven't interacted with you yet, my name is Lee De Leon, and I'm the Deputy Athletic Director at MTSU.

We started something new back in March, and we need your help spreading the word! Click HERE to see the latest “Beyond the Blue” (our monthly NIL student-athlete spotlight) episode with Baseball player Briggs Rutter. This video is less than 4 minutes and we'd love for you to share it with your network/other business leaders as we try to drum up more NIL activity for our MTSU student-athletes here in the Murfreesboro community. We greatly appreciate your help!

 

[AustinLewis]

It's been a while since i posted...hope everyone is doing well! If I haven't interacted with you yet, my name is Lee De Leon, and I'm the Deputy Athletic Director at MTSU.

We started something new back in March, and we need your help spreading the word! Click HERE to see the latest “Beyond the Blue” (our monthly NIL student-athlete spotlight) episode with Baseball player Briggs Rutter. This video is less than 4 minutes and we'd love for you to share it with your network/other business leaders as we try to drum up more NIL activity for our MTSU student-athletes here in the Murfreesboro community. We greatly appreciate your help!

Thanks for sharing this Lee.

Like it or not, NIL is the present. And the future. It's a fantastic way MT fans to support MT Athletics & work to keep players "in house."

Like it or hate NIL, MT will continue to lose players like Eli Lawrence & Jaylin Lane until the fans / local businesses step up & put together NIL packages to keep them.

NIL will also help recruiting.

In other words, NIL is a real, tangible, and NCAA legal way YOU (as fans) can help recruit & retain talent to MT that can help the MT pursue championships!

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Holy crap is all I have to say to this.

 

[AustinLewis]

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Good find.

From what I can understand, MT doesn’t have many student-athletes receiving NIL support. It’s a HUGE area of improvement for the Blue Raider community

 

[MT01]

Frankly, I find this all to be absurd. For me personally, I'm not giving a dime - not to NIL, not to build blue, not to BRAA until there are changes in the culture and leadership. Every move, every decision this school makes is the least path of resistance. Just look at the most recent one (i.e. baseball decision). There is no culture to want to excel, to be great, to win championships. It doesn't exist here. I stopped throwing good money after bad a long time ago.

As for NIL itself, most of these kids aren't even actually sponsoring anything. The NCAA has basically just made cheating legal and turning a blind eye to what's really happening here. It's an abomination that amateur college athletics have been turned into professional sports. The whole NIL thing has really turned me off to college athletics. If I wanted to watch football players being paid to play, I would tune into the NFL.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

I totally get it with NIL. I've said before I'm not at all against a player selling autographs or doing a commercial for a local business. Or even signing on for the school to sell their jerseys or for the EA Sports game.

But I'm 100% against there being a pot of $ that is just "here, have $100k for not transferring". I don't agree with that. WVU just had a Million Dollar May. Their collective met the goal. That is crazy to me.

But the truth is, it is the future of athletics. And if we don't play along, we will be further behind. But it is a vicious cycle. We fall behind by people not giving. But people won't give till there is leadership change (and I 100% don't fault you for that stance at all), but that puts us further behind.

Changes in how we operate have to be made now. We need a collective period. A major push. Good collectives have individuals and businesses. They are so focused on BuildBlue, which is great, but $ is needed elsewhere too. Don't not set out one pot for the sake of another. You see the push for BuildBlue all the time, but when was the last time anything was said about the Blue Raider Exchange? You think there isn't a farm supply store that wouldn't sponsor our National Champ Equestrian Team? Or a local sporting goods store that wouldn't sponsor our ranked men's tennis team? Sell the court names? Has a push been made for that? Outreach? Marketing?

We all see it. And if the dept isn't seeing it, something is wrong. If they are and aren't acting, something is wrong. If they are seeing it and are acting, they need to explain where the results are. I've said it before and I'll say it again. A community forum is needed. I guarantee all those Sapphire members know more. Just because others only give a few hundred a year doesn't mean we shouldn't know too.

 

[RaiderDoug]

Collective is the way to go. Again, players come and go. And I'm 44 years old, I'm not wearing a t-shirt with some 19 yr old kids face on it.

But if someone were to start a collective, i'd kick in some. They don't even have to give anything of any real note - send me a quarterly sticker, koozie, schedule magnet, etc. That's worth 10 bucks a month or so to me.

Those things are usually started by fans/alums/etc though, and i'm not sure we have someone passionate with enough time to do something like that.

 

[ldeleon5]

I totally get it with NIL. I've said before I'm not at all against a player selling autographs or doing a commercial for a local business. Or even signing on for the school to sell their jerseys or for the EA Sports game.

But I'm 100% against there being a pot of $ that is just "here, have $100k for not transferring". I don't agree with that. WVU just had a Million Dollar May. Their collective met the goal. That is crazy to me.

But the truth is, it is the future of athletics. And if we don't play along, we will be further behind. But it is a vicious cycle. We fall behind by people not giving. But people won't give till there is leadership change (and I 100% don't fault you for that stance at all), but that puts us further behind.

Changes in how we operate have to be made now. We need a collective period. A major push. Good collectives have individuals and businesses. They are so focused on BuildBlue, which is great, but $ is needed elsewhere too. Don't not set out one pot for the sake of another. You see the push for BuildBlue all the time, but when was the last time anything was said about the Blue Raider Exchange? You think there isn't a farm supply store that wouldn't sponsor our National Champ Equestrian Team? Or a local sporting goods store that wouldn't sponsor our ranked men's tennis team? Sell the court names? Has a push been made for that? Outreach? Marketing?

We all see it. And if the dept isn't seeing it, something is wrong. If they are and aren't acting, something is wrong. If they are seeing it and are acting, they need to explain where the results are. I've said it before and I'll say it again. A community forum is needed. I guarantee all those Sapphire members know more. Just because others only give a few hundred a year doesn't mean we shouldn't know too.

I'm happy to meet with you and share any information that you want want regarding NIL. Would love to discuss all that we're doing with you! I've shown before and will continue to show that we value everyone's input/feedback, not just our top donors.

 

[ldeleon5]

Collective is the way to go. Again, players come and go. And I'm 44 years old, I'm not wearing a t-shirt with some 19 yr old kids face on it.

But if someone were to start a collective, i'd kick in some. They don't even have to give anything of any real note - send me a quarterly sticker, koozie, schedule magnet, etc. That's worth 10 bucks a month or so to me.

Those things are usually started by fans/alums/etc though, and i'm not sure we have someone passionate with enough time to do something like that.

You're exactly right! If someone on here would like to start a collective (or know someone who is interested and willing to commit), then please let me know. My email is lee.deleon@MTSU.edu.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Trent Dilfer breaks ranks from selfish coaches with refreshing NIL take for UAB football | Toppmeyer

Is it a problem that well-resourced SEC programs can use NIL to raid talent from Group of Five schools? Trent Dilfer has some thoughts on that.

www.tennessean.com

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Trent Dilfer breaks ranks from selfish coaches with refreshing NIL take for UAB football | Toppmeyer

Is it a problem that well-resourced SEC programs can use NIL to raid talent from Group of Five schools? Trent Dilfer has some thoughts on that.

www.tennessean.com

I mean he's not wrong. When I was managing, if an employee left for a better opportunity, I didn't fault them. If they left for say the store down the street at roughly the same pay, I'd be pissed.

I don't fault players for wanting to leave to earn more. And his philosophy is great of if guys know they have an opportunity at UAB to showcase to move up, they will come to UAB. That honestly is how every G5 should look at it with regards to players and coaches. Make yourself a place known for getting noticed and recruiting players or coaches won't be an issue.

I mean a young and hungry assistant coach who wants to move up is offered a job here and at App State for the same pay. Who gives them the best opportunity to get noticed and move up? Same with players.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

College Football was supposed to be about playing for your eventual alma mater and developing lifelong friendships and teammates. Coaches are hired guns. They chose a profession that, for the most part, employs them by institutions they have no ties to other than a paycheck.
I’m not giving a dime to any fund that pays a player who puts his skills out in the free agent market after one or two years. Call me an old fart but give me the days of the $100 handshake, maybe a decent car and four years of free room, board, books, tuition, fees and medical/dental care.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

I watched a video today with Joel Klatt talking to Deion. Totally agree.

 

[DisgruntledAlum]

Is this legit? Owing the collective a percentage of future earnings... I don't think athletes should be paid by fans or schools but should be allowed to do commercials (Caleb Williams Wendy's) and other money generating events like that that they create or negotiate, maybe an NIL agent only allowed to work with college athletes. I don't have a perfect plan.

 

[ewglenn]

Is this legit? Owing the collective a percentage of future earnings... I don't think athletes should be paid by fans or schools but should be allowed to do commercials (Caleb Williams Wendy's) and other money generating events like that that they create or negotiate, maybe an NIL agent only allowed to work with college athletes. I don't have a perfect plan.

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Honestly this stuff has gotten out of hand so I hope it’s true. These kids want to make “business decisions” well time to grow up. He signed up for a stupid contract and that’s on him.

 

[mtfblue]

Honestly this stuff has gotten out of hand so I hope it’s true. These kids want to make “business decisions” well time to grow up. He signed up for a stupid contract and that’s on him.

it is true, from what I understood, was no NIL deal was supposed to be tied to any future NFL earnings or representation

 

[MTTim]

I think in its current form, NIL will fail on its own. Hopefully very soon.

 

[Sommy]

I think in its current form, NIL will fail on its own. Hopefully very soon.

I hope you are right, but I only see it going insane from this point forward. Big donors will chip in and buy whomever is interested. Just watch what happens at SMU, my prediction is they explode in terms of talent really quick. Now that they will be in the ACC, donors will come out of the woodwork. They have big donors willing to "Pony Express" up.

 

[DisgruntledAlum]

I hope you are right, but I only see it going insane from this point forward. Big donors will chip in and buy whomever is interested. Just watch what happens at SMU, my prediction is they explode in terms of talent really quick. Now that they will be in the ACC, donors will come out of the woodwork. They have big donors willing to "Pony Express" up.

Like the "Pony Express" in regard to the "Pony Excess" 30 for 30.

 

[MTFAN61]

Funny how the world rotates. What killed SMU for what they did some 35 years ago could get them back on top of the college sports world today. According to the current rendition of the ncaa what SMU got destroyed for then is pretty much ok today. Does that mean the ncaa owes SMU some type of reparations? If we're being honest SMU probably wasn't the only slush fund school out there in the 80's. They were just one of the only schools caught .

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Here's one for you. Proof that people leaving can make a difference.

When the whole realignment mess was going on for the B12, I was following several writers/fan sites for the moving schools. ASU was one and the disdain for their AD Anderson (as well as Pres Crow) was very similar to us.

I've said before if MT pays that $6m to move on from Stock they'd have a good chunk of it donated the next day. And if certain others retired, the rest would come in short order.