Jim Schlossnagle shares how NIL is impacting college baseball

The 2023 college baseball season is underway, and one of the more fundamental changes the sport may see might not start to be realized for a little longer still. Can NIL make college baseball better?

Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle certainly seems to think so.

“To me, everybody can have different opinions on NIL and the stories of million dollar contracts and all that kind of stuff,” Schlossnagle said this week. “That stuff’s not in college baseball, at least not yet. But where NIL is a great thing is really exactly what you said, because it allows a guy to graduate. It allows Trevor Werner to come back and graduate.”

Schlossnagle explained that NIL is unlikely to affect the top end of the roster a whole lot; the guys that are drafted in the first couple of rounds of the MLB Draft are still likely to exit school.

“The Asa Lacys of the world that are first-rounder, we want those guys to get out and start their professional baseball career and be a high draft pick and take that good bonus and see what they can do and chase their dream,” he said.

“But it’s the ‘tweener player. It’s the guy that, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about signing for $200,00’ or ‘I’m not sure what I want to do with this or that.’ Those are the guys that they need to be in college, because baseball is not a career choice. Baseball is a dream that we hope works out.”

That’s not to say the current setup is perfect. NIL is an extra tool programs have in their back pocket now, but the decision-making for coaches can still be maddening sometimes.

Schlossnagle explained why.

NIL in college baseball can alleviate roster issues

Essentially the thing that is toughest for the coaches in college baseball right now to figure out is the timing.

It’s hard to juggle the when.

“That’s where NIL can help a player like that come back to school,” Schlossnagle said. “Because you have to remember the timing of all this stuff is so poor. The draft is in July. The draft is after the date that we have to renew or not renew a scholarship. It’s the dumbest thing in the history of athletics.

“I have to renew or not renew a scholarship before I even know if the guy’s going to be drafted or not, and then we don’t know if he’s going to sign or not till August 1, so that whole time period is such a mess.”

But having the allure of NIL can make those decisions less stressful for programs with a robust NIL group.

“That’s where NIL can help,” Schlossnagle said. “‘Hey man, we can use this scholarship on somebody else. If you decide to come back to school then here’s some other avenues by which we can help you afford to come back.'”