On To Victory’s NIL success will help Auburn land quality head coach

With the silly season officially underway, athletic directors are jockeying to lure candidates to be the next leaders of their football programs. Yet, some athletic directors will have advantages over others, and that’s especially true at Auburn. Auburn is in a unique position to attract a top coach largely because of the success of its top booster-led collective, On To Victory.

Sources confirmed to On3’s Auburn Live in September that On To Victory, Auburn’s primary NIL collective, raised more than $10 million in the first month of its 30 in 3 campaign. That number has reportedly ballooned to around $13 million.

Plus, don’t forget that On To Victory has already executed hundreds of NIL deals with student-athletes on campus. That, combined with the fact that On To Victory is run by executive director Brett Whiteside – who has extensive experience in recruiting from his time as Mizzou’s Chief Recruiting Officer and previous stops as Auburn’s Director of Recruiting Operations and Director of Football Operations – puts Auburn in prime position to lure one of its top candidates.

On3 visited with Whiteside after Auburn announced it fired Bryan Harsin to get his thoughts on how NIL and On To Victory will play key roles in the future of Tiger football.

Strong NIL collective ‘vital part of college athletics’

Q: How will having a successful collective help Auburn land its next football coach?

“I think a strong NIL collective is now a vital part of college athletics. We’re confident On To Victory will have the resources to support Auburn student-athletes at an unprecedented level. It’s a great job. Auburn is one of the few schools in the nation that has all the tools needed to win a championship in all of our sports, including football. Auburn is a great place to live. It’s a great college town. It’s growing exponentially. So many people are moving back. I think our athletes love living here. I know our coaches do. Auburn has a lot to offer.”

“Student-athletes are graduating at a high level. They’re getting great jobs out of here. There are a lot of opportunities for guys to go pro in all of our sports. And our facility is going to be the greatest football performance building in the country. It’s exciting that the football team is going to get a chance to use that. The next head coach is going to be able to come in and work out of that facility and recruit players to come have that be their home facility.”

“So, there’s a lot of really good things going on with Auburn athletics. Obviously, we’ve got a new AD. Very excited about John (Cohen) coming in, and I know that with his experience in the SEC, he’s going to be able to lead Auburn Athletics so well. They do a great job right now providing first-class support services and academics, nutrition, equipment and sports medicine.

“Now the new coach comes in, and he’s recruiting. He talks about all these things – academics, strength and conditioning – all the different ways that we’re going develop you. And we have a strong NIL collective. So, I’m excited that’s a tool that our next set of coaches is going to be able to utilize in recruiting.”

NIL could help Auburn reshape its roster

Q: Do you think having that strong NIL collective is just as important as some of the other things that traditionally are important for coaches when deciding to take a job?

“I think if you asked a coach what he would like, the immediate answer is that, ‘I’d like everything.’ But the honest thing, if you had to pick and choose is if we’re not going to be effective in NIL and if we do not have opportunities to support our student-athletes in NIL, then the buildings that we’re in and those types of things are not going to be as important. It’s going to take a NIL collective to bring in the high-caliber athletes and to retain any athletes you want to retain.

“Something that a lot of people are not digesting is that the next head football coach that comes to Auburn will have the ability to retain the current players. Plus, for the first time in college football history attract in excess of 25 new players, whether that’s high school or Transfer Portal. You know, the 25 rule is gone. And so, you’re able to come in and really change your roster, and it’s going to be important in that.”

On To Victory has a $30 million fundraising goal

Q: You generated a lot of headlines early on with the success from a fundraising standpoint. Where are you now?

“We’re keeping that (number) a little more in-house. The Auburn family has been extremely supportive. And you have seen that we hit $10 million after one month in our major fundraising campaign. One of the things that our board members did very wisely when they first started the collective is that ‘We’re going to have to do a major fundraising campaign if we want to have success right now.’

“As we work on sustainability. That’s the phrase that everybody likes to talk about. ‘How are we going to be able to do this long term? How is this going to be sustainable?’ Well, we have a little time to figure that out. And we know what the rules are right now. There’s not a lot of appetite for ‘Hey, we’re gonna be really good at NIL in five years. We’re gonna get this thing figured out,’ No. The reality is how are we going to be effective right now? And just as a university sets up a fundraising campaign, we launched a major fundraising campaign, and it has been very successful. We have lofty goals of raising $30 million across a three-year period. We’re well on our way. And I’m confident that we’ll hit our goals.

“But it is going to take the support of all the Auburn family. Everybody wants to be a part of success. Everybody wants to make a difference and wants to make a positive impact. And we’re asking all of the Auburn family to join in and support us. I want our next head football coach to have the reassurance to know that Auburn supports its student-athletes through On To Victory.”

Q: With that fundraising success, will Auburn be more attractive to coaching candidates?

“It should be. It should be. Auburn is a great job. We can win here. I want everyone to realize that NIL and winning are soon going to become synonymous. We’re going to support at an unprecedented level.

“When coaches are looking at taking another job. ‘Are they the right fit? Do they have the right resources so I can win at a high level?’ And one of those resources is NIL. As long as Auburn fans continue to support as they have been, we’re going to be able to be very competitive.”

On To Victory will support whoever gets the job

Q: Does On To Victory have a preferred coaching candidate?

“My favorite candidate is the one President (Chris) Roberts and John Cohen choose. I really think a lot of President Roberts. He’s an Auburn man that has come in and done a great job in his tenure here so far. We believe in him. We’re excited to get on board with John Cohen when he gets here. We support all of our coaches. We supported coach Harsin when he was here. We’ll support the next head coach. I think that’s the way that it should be. That’s how Auburn people should feel going forward. I think you jump on the bus. You support whoever is there to lead our program.

“The purpose of a collective is not to receive power or influence. It’s about supporting the student-athletes. That’s our mission. We’ll support our student-athletes with whoever is the coach.”

OTV is focused on following rules

Q: How hard is it to navigate the NIL world with the guidance issued by the NCAA?

“One of the few pieces of guidance the NCAA has provided is that No. 1 collectives are boosters and can’t be involved in recruiting conversations. Can’t set it up as a pay-for-play with the coaches being able to promise a deal and all those kinds of things. One of the pillars that On To Victory was founded on, by our board, is that we’re going to do things within compliance and with integrity and transparency. So, I think that that gives Auburn Athletics a sense of comfort knowing that we’re going to do things the right way and above board. We have our own sets of tools. We have Jason Campbell on our staff, a former Auburn great. He’s able to really assist with the valuation process of student-athletes. We can do that on our own side. That doesn’t have to come directly from the coaches…”

“We have seven Auburn people (on our board) that love Auburn. They want to do things the right way. And now when I’m going to meet with donors, they want to know that No. 1 that we’re good stewards of their money, that we’re supporting the student-athletes the way they want it and want them supported it. So, we have that responsibility to our donors to do things the right way.”