Gator Guard's Hugh Hathcock: 'Tomorrow will be a great day'

Big days could be ahead for Florida football.

Longtime athletic department donor and founder of the NIL collective Gator Guard, Hugh Hathcock, announced on Twitter on Thursday night bright days are ahead. Most recently, he made a $12.6 million pledge to Gator Boosters, the single largest financial gift in the organization’s history.

Gator Guard has quickly become one of the preeminent collectives in the Florida NIL market next to the Gator Collective. Hathcock’s organization has a goal of raising $20 million annually for NIL intiatives.

“Tomorrow will be a great day for Gator fans,” he wrote.

He sold his business, ELeadCRM, in 2019 to CDK Global for $550 million. And now he is working on a new company, Velocity Automotive Solutions, which he launched in 2020.

The Gator Guard launched this past April, with $3 million pledged to the cause at the time of the announcement. The number of donations shot up immediately, however, reaching $5 million in contributions within an honor.

Hathcock’s efforts were well documented. And it is clear the guard has a purpose to serve: Bringing Florida back to college football relevancy.

“For all that Billy Napier does well, we have to give him the rest of what he needs so that we can be competitive with other schools when it comes to NIL deals,” Hathcock said at the time of the announcement. “We need to be competitive now. This year. And the Gator Guard will help us do that.” Guard Guard has also partnered with fellow Florida collective, Gator Collective, to “ensure Gator athletes have the best opportunities.”

What is an NIL collective?

For as much as college football is about pageantry and tailgates, the sport has turned into an arms race in the past 16 months. NIL collectives have surfaced at nearly every Division I school. And the word collective, which has no ulterior meaning, has become synonymous with Name, Image and Likeness. The race is to stockpile the most cash to distribute to current players so recruits know what they can make once they enroll at the college.

While most collectives are an organized effort to raise cash to distribute as NIL deals to current players, the NCAA’s unwillingness to attempt to enforce its NIL policy has left the door open. Many collectives have chosen use NIL funds as a way to lure recruits and transfer portal targets to schools.

Industry sources expect every Power 5 school to be affiliated with at least one NIL-related collective by the end of the year. Those programs that fail to be affiliated with a robust collective risk being left in the dust in the ultra-competitive world of football and basketball recruiting.