LSU's Josh Williams picks up NIL partnership with Gordon McKernan

Gordon McKernan has signed his second LSU athlete in as many days following. The Baton Rouge-based injury law firm has inked running back Josh Williams to an NIL deal, On3 has confirmed.

The endorsement deal comes on the heels of LSU’s upset of Alabama on Saturday night. The attorney has growing into a well-known name in the NIL space; he announced an agreement with Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels on Tuesday night.

A former walk-on, Williams has developed into a serious piece of the LSU offense. Just a three-star prospect coming out of high school, his recruitment came down to a few FCS schools before walking on to the LSU scout team. He earned a scholarship after training camp back in 2020.

Yet, he’s continued to show this season why he earned a scholarship and serious playing time. He was the offensive captain for the Auburn game. Against Florida, he ripped off a 50-yard run. A 101-yard game against Ole Miss. And on Saturday night in the biggest game thus far of the Brian Kelly era, the running back had his best performance yet.

Williams finished with seven carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. But his block in overtime on Daniels’ 25-yard touchdown run? That was a major factor in the win. The running back dove at Brian Branch to make sure his quarterback finished the run in the end zone.

The senior is repped by EnterPRIZE Sports and has executed an NIL deal with Playa Bowls and Geaux Enterprises. But on Wednesday, he added possibly his most noteworthy partnership yet. He now joins a loaded roster of LSU players who have signed endorsement deals with McKernan.

Gordon McKernan’s growing NIL roster

Gordon McKernan has become one of the most active figures in NIL. The attorney and his firm have struck significant NIL deals with top student-athletes at all of the top college programs in Louisiana.

He is also a supporter of LSU, and many NIL insiders believe he’s helped the Tigers massively support roster maintenance in Baton Rouge. Williams now joins an NIL roster that includes Daniels, Kayshon Boutte, Harold Perkins, Maason Smith and John Emery Jr. 

McKernan previously told Sports Illustrated the price tag for elite players is often at least $100,000. He said he will pay $500,000 in NIL deals this year.

Josh Williams’ On3 NIL Valuation

The LSU running back has a $65,000 On3 NIL Valuation. Across the last 10 weeks, his evaluation has grown 12%.

Williams has also seen his Instagram following rise since the Alabama game, adding roughly 1,000 followers.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career.

The On3 NIL Valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.