New Alabama QB commit Keelon Russell shares thoughts on NIL

Four-star quarterback and top-100 recruit Keelon Russell has been locked in with SMU since September.

On Tuesday afternoon, the longtime Mustangs pledge flipped his commitment to Alabama. The move comes after he took his official visit to Tuscaloosa over the weekend. Florida and Ole Miss were slated to land visits, but those have since been called off.

The 6-foot-3, 182-pound quarterback completed over 74% of his pass attempts for 3,267 yards and 35 touchdowns to just three interceptions in 2023 at Duncanville (Texas). Russell’s commitment gives Alabama its first quarterback commitment of the Kalen DeBoer era.

The No. 8 quarterback in the 2025 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, Russell spoke with On3 at last week’s On3 Elite Series in Nashville about his views on NIL. He repeatedly said he could earn whatever money he wanted off the field from what he accomplished off the field.

“I’m an honest believer that money is a thing as we go through this process, but the money that is talked about getting when you’re on campus is the front-end money,” the quarterback said. “I’m a firm believer that you’re going to get millions of dollars on the backend. I believe you may start off at $400,000 one year and you may end up at $800,000. It doesn’t really concern me because you got processes – the thing for me is getting to the next level.

“The NFL is where I want to be. I know the NFL is going to give the right amount for me. It doesn’t matter where I’m at.”

Keelon Russell worried about Heisman, not NIL dollars

On3 offered an anonymous survey to 41 blue-chip recruits at the On3 Elite Series to gain a better understanding of the NIL marketplace, with 36 opting-in. We granted them anonymity so they could be honest in their answers, delivering insights on what top prospects are looking for in their recruitments when it comes to NIL. 

Of the 36 athletes surveyed, 33 listed the amount of money they wanted. The majority of desired financial packages ranged from $200,000 to $600,000 per year, with the median at $400,000. The lowest recorded NIL offer wanted was $33,000. More than 20 of the athletes asked to fill out the survey were rated as five-star recruits.

Notably, 22 recruits provided details for the amount of money they desired and their largest NIL package to date. In a surprising outcome, 12 said they were content with taking less money than their largest NIL offer, which is 54% percent of the pool who answered both questions. 

Keelon Russell shares that philosophy.

“I really don’t care,” he said when asked about NIL. “If someone is offering $200,000 less than previous schools, I really wouldn’t care because I’m going to become the best I can be, and I’m going to up the prices regardless. I’m a firm believer that I’m going to be a future Heisman winner. You got all these brand deals, dude, you can go into a school and flip $300,000 into $2 million.”

Dream NIL deal

Now committed to Alabama, Keelon Russell’s top job will be to help recruit the rest of the Crimson Tide’s 2025 class. While he can’t profit off NIL yet because he’s a high schooler in Texas, the quarterback has nearly 20,000 social media followers.

He’s already started to think about what his dream NIL brand would be. Russell said he’d like to model at some point, similar to what former USC quarterback Caleb Williams accomplished in NIL.

“Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga,” Russell said with a laugh. “Even if I just got to throw on a pair of socks.”