Craig Young, father of Bryce Young: Football is No. 1, product has to perform to build brand in NIL era

Craig Young, father of Alabama‘s Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young, shared how they built their NIL brand behind a foundation of winning football. Young’s father spoke with Shannon Terry and Jim Cavale on a recent episode of On3’s LeverUP NIL Show about their strategy for adjusting to the NIL era and focusing on football first.

Craig Young details Bryce Young’s path to college football success

During an in-depth conversation with Craig Young, the Alabama star’s father was asked how the Young family strategized for success before joining the Crimson Tide. Young explained that in order to reach success with their brand, the focus had to be on being good at football above anything off the field.

“Before you can have a brand you have to have a product that performs, or that excels, to the point that a brand would partner with [you],” Young said. “So a lot of times, people are more focused on the brand than the substance that will lead people to want to partner with the brand. So what I mean by that was for us, it was never about ‘Let’s create a brand.’ What it was about was ‘Let’s be really good at football. Let’s be really good at our craft.’

“And then as parents, it was about ‘Let’s really be the best parents that we can be, let’s really try to instill the best values we can.’ And we’re not perfect, we’re not perfect people or perfect parents. But our object was, our main goal was to try to be the best parents we can be and raise the best child he can be. And surround him with values — and for us it was Christian values. But also surround him with the best coaching.”

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Young then added to his explanation by highlighting how much easier it becomes to succeed at the higher levels of competition if you build that strong foundation. By focusing on the product of football, Bryce Young and his family were able to set themselves up for strong NIL and branding opportunities in the future.

“And then from there, if the athlete takes care of himself and you excel to a point that you are performing at a high level and you get some attention — then it’s a natural transition. You don’t have to create anything, it’s already there. The foundation’s already there,” Young said.

“And that’s kinda what happened with us. But also, what made our situation a little bit easier was for us — and this isn’t everybody’s situation, I understand that — but for us, we were blessed to be able to play on teams that are already established brands themselves. Youth football, we played at a high-level travel youth program called the IE Ducks. High school, we played at Mater Dei. Alabama, you know, it’s Alabama,” he continued.

“So those points, if you perform well, all eyes will come up on you anyway. It helps to push your brand forward. But we didn’t really have this big branding design. It’s about, be a great person and perform, and then I think those things kind of fall into place.”

Bryce Young burst onto the national scene last season during his Heisman Trophy-winning sophomore campaign, posting incredible numbers alongside his ability to win football games when it mattered. Young finished the year with 4,872 passing yards, 47 touchdowns and just seven interceptions in 2021 — as well as leading the Crimson Tide to an SEC title and a national championship game appearance.

Young’s brand has ballooned from his efforts, making him the highest-rated college athlete in the On3 NIL 100. As of the start of the 2022 season, Young’s On3 NIL Valuation is a massive $3.2 million.

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this article.