Sam Pittman on coaches handling NIL issues: 'You can't really comment on those things and the kid can'
A major challenge throughout the year for coaches has been handling NIL-related issues. That’s something that Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman explained on the weekly SEC teleconference is a challenge because coaches need to handle those issues differently in their comments than athletes.
This comes after the news that UNLV lost its starting quarterback Matthew Sluka to an NIL-related dispute, with opinions on what happened in that situation being discussed very publicly.
“I think we all are concerned about what happened, to be honest with you,” Sam Pittman said. “All that he said, she said. You know, the one thing about a football coach is you can’t really comment on those things and the kid can. The kid can. The agent can. Whoever can but you can’t. So, a lot of times, the real story is somewhere in between.”
The story of quarterback Matthew Sluka leaving UNLV has become one of those where each side has an opinion on what happened. From Sluka’s perspective, he’s leaving because the school didn’t live up to its NIL promises. His agent went on to report that the school offered him $100,000 but Sluka only received $3,000.
“That’s the thing about being a coach, you can’t really have an opinion on those things because you’ll get crucified in the media and all that,” Pittman said. “But I think, to answer your question, we’re all concerned about that.”
To Sam Pittman’s point, while Matthew Sluka has publicly commented on the issue, as of now, UNLV head coach Barry Odom has not.
Sam Pittman brought up that all coaches are concerned about these issues, even potentially losing key players in the middle of the season and he’s not wrong. Both LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly and Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart shared that there is very little way to stop this from happening.
“I can tell you that I don’t think it’ll be the last and the way we’re moving into this abyss of unknown, and I’m talking about fiscal responsibility, financial commitments, financial promises, people sometimes make promises, and I know I’ve come across it in our recruiting that they can’t keep and there’s no — sometimes there’s no rebuttal for the athlete,” Smart said.
“Sometimes there’s no rebuttal for the athletic department or the collective or whoever’s involved. And it’s sad that there’s not just a better, a way to police it better. Because it’s unfortunate and when — I’m not suggesting UNLV made promises they can’t keep. I’m not saying that. I don’t know that situation. I want to be clear on that.”
As it stands, coaches like Sam Pittman need to do their best to keep the focus on the field during the season. However, when the livelihood of athletes is involved, there are times when that is going to be difficult to do.