Brian Kelly suggests federal legislative intervention is solution to NIL inequities

The uneven NIL playing field being dictated by the 50 legislatures of the United States is quickly becoming a common complaint from college football coaches. LSU head coach Brian Kelly is among those wanting something to change.

As things currently stand with NIL being governed by state law and NCAA rules, certain states have tried to create laws to advantage in-state schools. Kelly doesn’t think that sort of influence or control over the sport on a state-by-state basis what’s desirable and he sees one obvious solution: An act of Congress.

“I think what’s happened here is unintended consequences. Everybody saw NIL and felt like, if I don’t act in my own state, I could be left behind. And so we had legislation in different states that really put everybody in a position, within this footprint of the SEC, at a different advantage point. And that’s not what the SEC needs nor wants. And so how do you bring everybody back together? Well, you need Congress for that,” Kelly said to Paul Finebaum.

He added that he thinks coaches and athletics directors should be making specific appeals to their legislative reps to hammer home the argument. There are currently several NIL bills being introduced or debated in the U.S. House and Senate, including one introduced in the Senate that would create an “NIL clearinghouse.”

Whatever needs to occur, Kelly wants them to find a way to fix the issues that have been unleashed in the NIL era.

“And I think you gotta go individually to your own congressional legislative team and really talk about, if we want national competition and we want to be the preeminent conference, we’ve gotta put the genie back into the bottle,” Kelly said.

Finebaum joked that if Kelly was showing up for a meeting with the Louisiana legislative delegation, all the requisite elected officials would be there for the photo opportunity, at least.

This got a good chuckle out of Kelly. But the point was salient. Having a conference commissioner or even an athletic director make the case is perhaps less persuasive than hearing it from the people trying to navigate the rules on the ground.

“As long as there is crawfish and we could talk some LSU football, I know we’d be able to get some work done. But you know Paul, it’s a great point,” Kelly said. “Because they need to see or hear the perspective that we’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis. And I think if we can give them that perspective and maybe what we offer our players, as well. And what we do for them on a day-to-day basis. I think it would give them the right perspective.”