Lincoln Riley talks honest reality of NIL on National Signing Day

Cheating has been around college football for years. NIL did not bring it to the sport. But it did amplify financial differences from program to program.

Do boosters want to make the final decisions and act as general managers? Yes. But that’s been around long before the idea of a NIL collective was ever conceived.

Schools have lost out to recruits for inducements before. And schools are losing out to recruits now for the same reasons, only NIL deals have just brought more and more cash onto the market.

For Lincoln Riley and USC, there’s the reality that the Trojans lost out on some recruits this cycle because of NIL. He’s also not ignorant. Dozens of head coaches across the country are admitting the same thing.

“Of course we did. But everybody did,” Riley said on Wednesday. “The reality is just like every university is different every family is different. Everyone’s priorities are different. Who am I to say this is a correct priority and this is incorrect?”

That’s not to say Riley did not pull in a strong recruiting class. Five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson and five-star receivers Zachariah Branch and Makai Lemon all signed NLIs on Wednesday. The Trojans’ 2023 class ranks in the top 15 in the country, 40 spots higher than a year ago.

USC was in the running for another five-star on National Signing Day, trying to add Matayo Uiagalelei. The EDGE announced Wednesday he would be staying on the West Coast, however, he’ll be playing for Oregon.

Different school, different NIL program. USC is building its roster differently than the typical college football program these days, using the Transfer Portal to add proven talent.

The sport has turned into an arms race in the past 18 months. Collectives have surfaced at nearly every Division I school. And the word collective, which has no ulterior meaning, has become synonymous with Name, Image and Likeness. The race is to stockpile the most cash to distribute to current players so recruits know what they can make once they enroll at the college.  

In a survey conducted by On3 earlier this summer, 30% of 85 of the nation’s top 200 recruits surveyed said they would be willing to go to a school that’s not a perfect fit for a NIL deal.

There have been multiple eye-catching flips late in the cycle, too. NIL is the top priority in some highly-touted athlete’s recruitments. Trying to establish a true market value may never be set at each position, especially when a school’s collective and go-to booster plays a major role in how much can be shelled out.

There have been rumors aplenty about how much a highly-touted prospect took as part of his commitment to a school. Oftentimes, the numbers are inflated.

Some collectives can piece together the lucrative offers that seal a recruitment. Others cannot.

As Lincoln Riley pointed out Wednesday, whose job is it to call out the morals of someone’s priority over another?