Washington State's Jake Dickert on NIL, transfer portal: 'It’s going to be open-target season'

Jake Dickert was candid Monday night. The Washington State coach was asked about where the Cougars stand in the NIL world. With less than a month until the transfer portal opens, NIL has taken center stage at plenty of programs.

Raising dollars can make all the difference in retaining talent. And don’t be naive – financial packages play a role in luring players to college football’s version of free agency. The time of year has come again when coaches plead with fanbases to dole out dollars to keep teams together.

Dickert currently runs a program that will be one of just two schools remaining in the Pac-12 next year. After starting off the year 4-0, they’ve lost five consecutive games. Keeping this team intact could be predicated on NIL. 

The second-year head coach isn’t confident. 

“In today’s world, you can no longer just say passion and spirit is going to get you by anymore. It’s just completely real that NIL matters,” he said on Monday night. “And the fact is, Washington State is way behind. Not even competitive in some aspects of the NIL. 

“Recruiting, these kids tell you what they are getting. So, Oregon State probably has us by 10x. Arizona has us by 20x. USC, Washington, Oregon – who even knows, it’s a whole other planet. That’s part of what we need and what’s really important. In three weeks, it’s going to be open-target season on our players. That’s what it’s going to be, and it’s already started. Know that’s what’s coming.”

NIL continues to be factor in retaining talent

While those portal windows don’t open until midnight on Dec. 4, conversations have already started in programs. What players already have a foot out the door? Who will need to be retained through an NIL deal? 

Washington State’s Cougar Collective used this summer’s wave of realignment as a rallying cry, trying to convince fans and boosters to donate before the season even started. Tim Brandle, a founding board member, told On3 at the time the collective had added 50 members in less than 20 days. 

That doesn’t mean the dollars are at a level to compete with the rest of the Power 5.

“We need to provide them with as many resources as we possibly have to keep this team together,” Dickert said. “Keep recruiting, to keep going. It’s the future of college football. And to ignore it or to think it’s going away, that’s a long time away on the horizon. It’s only going to grow in some capacity. And I’m very supportive of players getting their piece of the puzzle and profiting off their name, image and likeness.”

“… I think it’s got to be a vital part because that meeting in three weeks, I can’t even imagine what guys are getting and we’re open to those conversations and understanding that. We need to keep this team together and keep building for the future. That’s what this thing will always be about.”

What will the transfer portal look like?

Speaking with a number of collective operators spread throughout the country, it is clear there has become an unannounced tiered system. Programs are operating on vastly different budgets. The top-funded organizations aim to have a bankroll of $8 million for an 85-scholarship roster, multiple sources continue to tell to On3. 

The average Power 5 collectives are operating in the $3 million to $6 million ballpark. Each is forced to devise different strategies to attack recruiting. Some have decided just to stop spending significant dollars on high school prospects altogether, focusing on retaining players and deploying resources in the portal. 

“The transfer portal is always crazy,” one agent representing more than 15 FBS players told On3 on Tuesday. “I’m already getting calls from GMs and chiefs of staffs, saying, ‘Let’s start talking.’”

NIL collective leaders have also told On3 they’ve become more experienced in handling the portal. Some programs will build their rosters via free agency; Deion Sanders has already made that clear at Colorado.

But in other cases, funds will be deployed to retain talent. And as the overall NIL market has settled, so have some of the hard-to-believe numbers tossed around in the portal the last two years.

“I don’t think it’s going to be chaos,” an SEC collective leader said. “But that top 10%, depending on the quality of talent, will still be able to drive the market.”