Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord signs NIL deal with Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet

Kyle McCord may soon be the starting quarterback at Ohio State.

No matter what happens with the Buckeyes quarterback competition, the junior will be rolling through Columbus with a new set of wheels. He is the latest Ohio State player to sign an NIL deal with Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet. He announced the partnership Tuesday morning on Instagram.

McCord will post a couple times on his social media and make an appearance before the fall. General manager Brian Gilmore recently told On3 the dealership places an emphasis on making sure the partnerships don’t suck up too much time. They’ve partnered with athletes for charity work in the past.

Repped by VaynerSports, McCord will be driving a 2023 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 53. His former high school teammate and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. signed with the dealership back in April.

A former five-star recruit coming out of Philadelphia’s St. Joseph’s, McCord backed up C.J. Stroud for his first two years with the Buckeyes. He competed with Devin Brown for the starting job this spring. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has yet to name a starter.

In two seasons of backup work, the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder has thrown for 606 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in 12 games. Kyle McCord was 13 of 18 for 319 yards and two touchdowns in his one career start against Akron in 2021.

“It’s super neat,” Gilmore said of working with Ohio State athletes. “We’ve actually gotten really close with their families over the years. It’s really been a great experience for all of us. We’ve been very selective — we talk to the families before we enter any partnership. The parents are very involved. By doing it that way, we haven’t had any problems. They like how we handle it.”

Kyle McCord’s On3 NIL Valuation, NIL deals

The Ohio State quarterback has publicly announced two endorsement deals. He has signed with the Ohio-State driven collectives Cohesion Foundation and The Foundation.

McCord has a $134,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks in the top 500 of college football. If he does win the starting job, his valuation will grow with more brands hoping to strike deals with him. He currently has 57,000 social media 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.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

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 12 months.