College football expert reacts to Ryan Day's NIL plea at Ohio State

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day made headlines at the start of June in the NIL space. In front of a panel of donors and Columbus businesses, he said the Buckeyes needed $13 million to remain at the top of college football. When it came to NIL, few coaches had been so plain thus far when it came to an asking price.

On Monday’s episode of the Paul Finebaum Show, The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel said Day was getting everyone’s attention. If donors want to see the Buckeyes sustain their success in the NIL era, it would take a collective willing to spend the necessary money.

“I don’t know how (Day) came up with the $13 million figure exactly. It’s a big enough number to get people to take notice and they did. I think it was a bit of a call to arms among their fan base,” said Mandel. “There are some schools that they’re already well down the road in terms of a collective. A lot of schools are still philosophically opposed to it. I took that as a kind of call to arms saying, ‘Hey, we need to raise the kind of money that some of these other schools are or we’re not going to be able to maintain the level of talent we’re used to at Ohio State.'”

The issue for coaches like Day continues to lie in the fact that there are no official rules in the NIL world. It’s led through state by state legislation with some loose NCAA regulations thus far. Some schools have therefore taken advantage of that freedom and taken a lead in the NIL space. That all starts to take effect on the recruiting trail, both high school and transfer portal. If Day wants to keep bringing in top-notch talent, he wants the support of a collective behind him.

“(Day) phrased it as how much we need to keep the roster together or to keep kids from transferring. I think that was code for recruiting,” said Mandel. “If (Ohio State) misses out on even one kid, it’s going to be cause for alarm.”

Day recognizes that this is the era of college football he’s coaching in. Being aware of that will hopefully keep the Buckeyes ahead of the curve. Mandel said Day’s words set a model in place for his program moving forward. It will take that price point or more for the Buckeyes to remain in contention.

“To let them know that this is what it takes to compete for national championships now. You need to have a collective and need to raise considerable money. If anything, $13 million might be under shooting it if you’re going to compete at that level.”