Hugh Freeze reveals serious concerns with the 'transactional' nature of NIL, transfers

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze revealed serious concerns with the “transactional” nature of NIL and the transfer portal in college football.

Speaking at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Freeze gave a lengthy answer about how the sport changed with the two biggest topics off the field. It’s not as black and white as Freeze and others would like.

“That’s an incredible question that’s going to be praised by some and criticized by some,” Freeze said. “I’m very transparent. I’ve been blessed to provide for my wife and children, got two grandchildren on the way. Why? Because of the young men that have done well, go back to Arkansas State, Liberty, Ole Miss, Auburn. And so I think it’s incredibly good that they can benefit from some of the blessings that we’ve all received from our great game. I wish we would have had the foresight to plan better and have a better plan that is within some parameters where the blessings are there, but it’s not so transactional.”

Freeze maintained his stance on coaching the players and setting them up for life beyond college football and the game itself. Not necessarily the business side of it on the college level. 

“Because I got into coaching for transformative means and that’s what I witnessed from the coaches that coached me, from my father and the other great coaches that I played for,” Freeze said. “So it makes you think and wonder, man is my way still working? You know, to build culture and team and when really, in a lot of these transactional deals now, there’s really only one side that’s really locked in to the process. And that’s unnerving. And a little concerning. Is it going to change? I don’t know. I don’t know what the answers would be, but I sure wish it was … the same for every single state, every single school. I mean, you just kind of wish that it was more black and white and really cut and dry as to how everybody should operate in this new world.”

Hugh Freeze reveals concerns over NIL, transfer portal

Freeze even had an idea to incorporate NIL money on par with academic success.

“I don’t know who had the idea of, hey, let’s be proactive with this and let’s just put $50,000 a year to an account after the freshman is academically successful,” Freeze said. “And sophomore year 75 After that, and then maybe 100 after his junior year and when he graduates with his degree, that money is sitting there in an account for him to start his life with whether it’s NFL or not. You know, I think back to all those discussions and it just makes you think ‘Man, I wish we could have really seen all of this coming,’ and maybe put some parameters around it but they say it the horses left the barn now.”

There might not be a standard solution to fix the tampering or tighten up NIL regulations and rules. As Freeze pointed out, it’s going to require a lot of work.

“How do you change that,” Freeze said. “That’s way beyond my ability to think through it probably. I think it’s for coaches that have been in for a long time, and I haven’t been in the SEC as long as the others but it’s a different dynamic to the transactional way versus the old way of this process is going to help you be better as a man, as a player, in life. You’re gonna learn lessons and they’re hard lessons sometimes. They’re difficult and you got to stick with it and you got to fight through it. And you got to work your way up the depth chart, it’s gonna pay you dividends later on. We all, I think, worry a bit. It’s a greater challenge now.”