Auburn AD John Cohen talks NIL accountability, structure, and $25 Million investment for student-athletes

Auburn Athletics Director John Cohen joined Andy Burcham on the WarEagle+ Podcast. Cohen gave his thoughts and answers on the future of NIL at Auburn.

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BURCHAM: I get daily emails with various stories around the country. Is it any more clear to you now about what is to become of NIL and the big payment that is coming to everywhere across the country?

COHEN: “I’m really liking what I’m hearing from our league. We just met in New Orleans, met with the Big Ten Athletic Directors out there. We met with our football coaches. There’s a lot of concern because of the timing of all this. Really bright people who are trying to build a plane while flying it. I like what I’m hearing, I like the structure. When all of this was just an idea, what we were losing was structure. There has to be a belief when you’re at Auburn that the same things, what you can offer, is the same that can be offered at Alabama and Georgia and everywhere else. I have a belief that this is obtainable. It’s going to take a lot of work, but I like where they are. I like the progression it is taking right now and I think it can be done.”

BURCHAM: When I hear coaches talk about this, the one thing they say other than needing NIL money, is that there need to be guardrails. What are my rules?

COHEN: “There are discussions that are happening, there are committees in place doing an incredible job creating accountability on what can and can’t be done. It’s not going to be perfect, but it is lightyears from what we have experienced the last three years. I’m very optimistic about what can happen. First things first, we have to have an agreement signed by a judge on a lawsuit for all of this to happen. We are all preparing for that moment to happen and hopefully it will. At the same time, I think there has been a ton of progress made. That is a huge compliment to William King and our Commissioner Greg Sankey, the Big Ten and the Power-4. This is outside of the realm of the NCAA. This is something that college athletics has needed for some time. It brings up much bigger questions: the future of the NCAA, the role that all of us play in that future. The meetings I have been a part of and the people serving courageously on these committees, I like where they’re going. I might not have said that six months ago.”

BURCHAM: What is the difference in the last six months in your opinion?

COHEN: “The structure in place, the accountability that is being put in place. Here are the rules, here are the policies, and here is how they will be enforced. I just have a real belief that it can work. We’re going to need the buy-in of every president at every University at the Power-4 level. We need every athletic director to buy into it and coaches to buy into it.”

BURCHAM: Talk about Auburn’s team that is dealing specifically with the coming days and that $25,000,000 for NIL and Scholarship money, if you would?

COHEN: “Starting with Kelly Shoemaker, who financially runs this University. Dr. Chris Roberts has been incredibly supportive. We’re all on the same team. We’re all looking at each other saying these are unprecedented times both financially and otherwise, but listen… My father was a Law Professor for 38 years. I believe when he retired in 1990 he had made a really nice salary that he earned over a long period of time. Convincing my father if he were around today that it is ok for a student-athlete to double, triple, quadruple, to 10x his salary–it’s tough. I’m not lost on the fact that we have a lot of Auburn professors, staff members, who have given their lives to this institution. They’re peering from around the corner saying, ‘Wow, is this different.’

“So, we all have to work together to make sure this works. Let’s be real here, there will be contractual obligations between student-athletes and Auburn University. It takes an army of people to make sure that works the right way.”

BURCHAM: You bring up a fascinating point.. What will that student-athlete then be responsible for?

COHEN: “You can look at it like our coaches, staff members in the athletic department or around the University. Anyone who is on a contract has certain responsibilities that you have to live up to. Every part of that contract has to be met and upheld. Unfortunately, student-athletes are going to be held, around the country, to a standard that I am not 100 percent sure that a lot of 18-22 year olds should have to live up to. But, you can’t accept financial opportunities without having responsibility come with it. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

Because I have a baseball background, I was around a lot of 18-22 year olds who signed professional contracts out of high school and they were forced to grow up a little more quickly. They had tax obligations, they had to set aside money, be smart with their financial picture. They have to take care of certain people. You have to grow up fast when those things happen.”

BURCHAM: Will that be a seasonal contract, a one-year contract..?

COHEN: “I think it will be all of the above. Again, if you look at our coaching contracts here and everywhere else, those contracts are all different. Some are one-year, five-year’s, etc. I think you’ll have everything under the sun. Every student-athlete is different. They all bring different skillsets, bring different backgrounds. You’re writing a new novel for every single young person, man and woman, who steps onto our campus.”