Kirby Smart, Josh Heupel and the rest of the SEC East coaches discuss latest thoughts on NIL

ATLANTA — SEC coaches rarely agree on anything, but at SEC Media Days this week, commissioner Greg Sankey declared that there was “unanimous and unequivocal” support among the coaches to remove any booster activity surrounding name, image and likeness. 

After a year operating in a new NIL landscape, all 14 head coach coaches in Atlanta voiced their latest opinions on the most popular offseason subject. 

On3 collected a bevy of thoughts from every SEC head coach, so after looking at comments from Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher and the rest of the coaches in the SEC West yesterday, today I’ll detail the thoughts from the coaches in the SEC East.

Billy Napier, Florida

The only first-year head coach in the SEC East, Napier made it clear that NIL at Florida “should and will be a strength.”

“When you talk about living in a state with 21 million people, you talk about 470,000 living alumni. We’re right in the heart of the state with all of these media outlets surrounding us. I just think there’s really an opportunity there and we have a number of players on our team who have benefited from NIL,” Napier said.

The Gators have multiple collectives, and Napier said since he arrived in Gainesville, “The athletic department, our staff, in-house, we’ve been very aggressive in terms of creating our plan and putting that into position so I think our players are going to benefit from that.”

Napier also discussed the complicated nature surrounding NIL, hoping to “connect the dots” and “collaborate” with current players on his roster, the UAA, Gators boosters, etc. 

“That’s one of the reasons we created the GatorMade program, to be that bridge,” Napier said.

Kirby Smart, Georgia 

The Bulldogs’ head coach disclosed that “95 players” at Georgia, including walk-ons like safety Dan Jackson, have various NIL deals. 

“That’s a great thing,” Smart said. “That’s incredible, the depth of that. There’s so much good there.”

Smart didn’t name the player, but said that someone at Georgia is using their NIL money to support his father, who is on dialysis. 

He praised the work of Matt Hibbs, who runs Georgia’s Classic City Collective, for building a “sustainable” NIL program — something Smart doesn’t believe is happening everywhere else. 

“I don’t think what’s going on in college football right now at some places is sustainable” he said. 

“Meaning, can you do that year in and year out and repeat that? Can you honor the commitment that some people are trying to make to kids to get them to go to their school? It’s not good for college football, what’s out there.

“It’s the guardrails. It’s the parameters that we need to protect our game. Not only protect our game, guys, it’s protect young men, okay?

“We may have had the highest-paid defensive lineman last year in NIL in Jordan Davis. We had the highest-paid tight end in Brock Bowers. Kelee Ringo I would argue is probably one of the highest-paid corners there is in NIL. So NIL can be a good thing and they can learn to manage money at a young age.

“But to use it as inducement to get a young man to go to your school is not good for anybody or the game. I don’t have the answer for how to guardrail that, but NIL has been good to Georgia and it’s been good to our players and it will continue to be.”

Mark Stoops, Kentucky

The veteran Wildcats’ head coach has raised various concerns about NIL throughout the offseason, and during his SEC Media Days appearance, Stoops again echoed Kirby Smart’s issue of “sustainability.”

“It’s a complex issue. There’s a lot of smart people that are trying to work it out,” Stoops said. 

“I think there’s a lot of good to it with the players that are here with me, that helped build the brand of Kentucky football, and benefiting from name, image and likeness. I think we all support that, want to be part of it.

“I think there’s also concern. I haven’t listened to anybody’s comments, but I’ve been in meetings, and I think everybody is concerned as a head coach in the SEC with pay-for-play, so to speak, collectives, paying players out of high school. I think we’re all a little bit concerned about the sustainability of that, the future of that. I think that’s where the concern comes in. What is pay-for-play and what is legal?”

Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri

The Missouri third-year head coach spent a portion of his opening statement addressing the changing landscape of college football. Like his peers, Drinkwitz his pro-NIL, but he challenged “the leaders of college athletics to decide” what the direction of the sport looks like in the future. 

“We’re entering, and rightfully, into a new era of college athletics with student-athlete rights, the ability to transfer through the transfer portal, generating of earnings through NIL, all things that were much needed and need to continue to be embraced,” Drinkwitz said. 

“But it’s also time for college athletics to set a course and a vision for the future. Let’s make sure that the core principles and guiding principles that we have reflect the values that we want it to be moving forward.

“Let’s not hide behind what the Supreme Court struck down last year, which was amateurism. It’s not amateurism anymore. But what is it moving forward? That’s the question.”

Shane Beamer, South Carolina

The Gamecocks’ second-year head coach was asked if South Carolina, a program that has just four double-digit win seasons in school history, is “set up to be a halve or have or have-not” in today’s game.

“South Carolina is set up as well as anybody in the country, to be honest with you, from a name, image and likeness standpoint,” Beamer said. 

“We’re in the capital city of South Carolina. We’re the only show in town. We don’t compete with other pro sports in our state at the high, high level.

South Carolina, the fan base, it’s evident how powerful it is. You look at what our players have done, a lot of these guys that are here today, Dakereon Joyner, Zacch Pickens, Jovaughn, have been able to capitalize on their name, image and likeness and utilize it the right way, the way the law was intended when it was implemented for sure, that those guys have been able to. You look at other student-athletes at our university, like Aliyah Boston on our basketball team, what she has been able to do from a name, image and likeness standpoint.

“I tell recruits this all the time, it’s not recruiting speak, when you talk about being well-positioned for name, image and likeness opportunities, I have a hard time finding somebody that’s in a better situation than we are.”

Beamer also praised with the way some of South Carolina’s players have used some NIL money to help others, highlighting positive stories he believes are under-discussed with so much talk around what’s wrong with NIL. 

“There’s a lot of negative talk about name, image and likeness. And certainly there’s things that need to change and be better about it. But there’s a lot of guys in our team, three of the guys that are here that are the three guys that are here today that are using name image and likeness for the way that the law was intended,” Beamer said. 

“When we got guys on our team that back in December, took money that they had been able to bring in from name image and likeness and took underprivileged youth in Colombia on a shopping spree and Christmas. So they could have Christmas gifts like you don’t hear about those stories as much as you hear some of the other stuff so because it needs to be better is it the other things that need to be changed? Absolutely. I’m not saying that. No one loves the way it is right now. But there’s also a lot of stories of the good things coming out of it as well.” 

Josh Heupel, Tennessee

As he’s mentioned previously, the former Heisman Trophy runner-up at Oklahoma noted how he wished NIL was around when he was a player. The Tennessee head coach called the opportunities around name, image and likeness “an empowering tool.”

“There’s great opportunity in it,” Heupel said. 

“It’s an opportunity to educate and empower our student-athletes, which is what college football and the collegiate experience is all about.

“I think it’s dramatically changed the way that young people come into your program, how thoughtful they are about every situation that they’re involved in, how they’re portrayed in what’s out there on social media, the decisions they’re making every night of the week.

“I think in those ways it’s such an empowering tool for our student-athletes. I just go back to myself as a player. Certainly the most powerful thing that I had was my teammates and the logo that I was playing for.

“At the same time, though, I think I was creating some value there, too. I would have liked to have had an opportunity to have been afforded to take part in NIL. Would have liked to have worn my starting left tackle jersey or worn his shirt.

“I look at my own kids, Jace and Hannah, that get a chance to run around the house or run with their friends and wear a Cedric Tillman and Hendon Hooker shirt or jersey. I think there’s empowering opportunities through NIL.”

Heupel also specifically praised quarterback Hendon Hooker, who “is all things good about NIL.” Hooker co-wrote and sold a short children’s book this offseason. 

“His impact in our community, the youth inside of our community, I think that’s exactly what NIL should be,” Heupel said. “So proud of what he’s done.”

Clark Lea, Vanderbilt 

Lea discussed the “lasting value” he hopes to create with Vanderbilt, embracing NIL, but ideally, using name, image and likeness as a launching point so that his players can build “long-term success.”

“For a year now our players have had the opportunity to earn money off name, image and likeness, which we celebrate as a program and we celebrate as advancement within our sport,” Lea said during his opening statement. 

“We want to lead in this area at Vanderbilt. We want to offer a robust program and plan to help our players in the NIL space. When done the right way, we are certain that NIL opportunities can enhance the quality of life for our student-athletes while maintaining the integrity of a transformational experience.

“However, we believe firmly that if the earning potential of our players, our team members, is greatest in their lifetime between the ages of 18 and 22, then we and our collective system have failed them completely.

We work every day to protect the aspects of character building that are essential to long-term success. My responsibility as head coach is to enhance the experience of our team in all areas while always keeping in mind the conversation that will occur in 20 years in which a man reflects on the true value, the lasting value, of the investment he made while a part of our program at Vanderbilt.

“This serves as my rudder. This helps me shape my yes and my no.”

Later, Lea was asked if Nashville, one of the fastest growing cities in America, could become an asset for Vandy in the NIL space. 

“Obviously we’re right in the hub of a lot of activity, specifically with where our campus sits,” Lea responded. 

“We’ve definitely seen benefit in that. I think as we continue to strengthen our team and strengthen our brand as Vanderbilt football in the city, we’ll continue to reap the rewards of being in such a fruitful ground.

“Certainly we value our relationship with Nashville, and we think that, in that NIL landscape, our location strengthens us.”