Eli Drinkwitz pro-NIL but insists for guardrails, education to prevent mayhem

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz is pro-NIL, and said as much during the SEC spring meetings. But he wants extra guardrails in place, along with education about the space.

His biggest example was the impending 12-team College Football Playoff. His claim of the new format being worth “billions” was alarming considering what the players are missing out on.

Drinkwitz joined Sirius XM SEC Radio and explained his stance.

“I am pro-NIL,” Drinkwitz said. “And are you kidding me? We announced a 12-team playoff that’s worth a billion dollars and we don’t think our players should get some of that money? We’re crazy. The advertisement that they do. I mean, what you did for university to raise their profile? Absolutely.

“These guys deserve to be compensated. And I’ve been at the forefront of that. I mean, I’ve been pushing that we’re pushing the envelope to the max and Missouri on what you can do for an NIL.”

That’s when the Mizzou head coach dove into what can happen if there’s no lid on NIL policies.

“But I also understand there’s unintended consequences,” Drinkwitz said. “And I want people to understand that we’re not talking, the reason why I brought up the comparison to a doctor is because I want people to understand, we’re not talking about small salaries here. 

“We’re talking about serious money. And if we don’t have guardrails in place, if we don’t have education systems in place, we’re going to be another statistic like the NBA in the NFL, where when these guys are done, they’re bankrupt … And guess what? Now we’re giving these guys and I don’t know how everybody’s doing it, but we’re giving them 1099 money. Which means we’re not taking out taxes, they’re responsible for their own taxes.”

Drinkwitz mentioned it’s almost lack of opportunity.

“We’re not giving them opportunities for investments, we’re not giving them retirement accounts, we’re giving them a large sum of money and saying, ‘Hey, figure this out,'” he said. “If people gave me a large sum of money. I mean, I didn’t figure it out.”

Drinkwitz’s initial comments referred to how NIL is giving college athletes “life-changing money.” He went on to compare it to what his brother-in-law makes as a pediatrician and how that provides issues in itself.

Those words lit a fire under some people, especially some of the media that he appeared to fire back at. That’s because, per On3’s NIL Valuations, last season’s Missouri roster had a total NIL value of $774,000. Comparatively, Drinkwitz himself just signed a new contract last season. That deal will pay him between six and seven million dollars each year from 2023 to 2027.