Michigan State promotes Darien Harris to oversee crucial NIL role; what it means and what's next

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State University’s athletic department announced on Thursday that former linebacker Darien Harris will take on a new assignment, geared toward strengthening Michigan State’s name, image and likeness program.

Harris, who played linebacker at Michigan State from 2012-15, has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director/Name, Image and Likeness & Special Advisor to the Athletic Director, according to a press release issued on Thursday.

Harris will be joined by Alexandra Breske in helping oversee NIL for Michigan State. Breske – who has worked within Michigan State’s EverGreen program, which assists players in branding opportunities – will focus on compliance within Michigan State’s NIL endeavors.

Michigan State announced that Harris will serve as the primary NIL contact for internal and external stakeholders, including student-athletes, coaches, staff, donors, corporate partners, collectives and local businesses in accordance with applicable university, state, federal and NCAA guidelines.

“As the NIL landscape, including legislation and NCAA guidance, continues to evolve, it became imperative to create a position which will allow us to adjust quickly and continue being on the forefront of the issue nationally,” said MSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Alan Haller. 

“I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity to advocate and service all of our student-athletes while continuing to keep Michigan State one of the leaders in the NIL landscape,” Harris said in a Michigan State press release. “Our focus as a department will be on giving our student-athletes the best resources and education on NIL and progress our award-winning EverGreen program forward with new initiatives and opportunities for the entire department, donors, alumni and fans.”

Beyond his NIL responsibilities, Harris will serve as Special Advisor to the Athletic Director.

“Darien is well respected within the University and our Spartan community,” added Haller. “I value his insight and am looking forward to working closely with him on a number of projects to help move our department forward.

“Darien Harris has a passion for assisting our students and helping them make the most out of their collegiate experience. 

“He’s been a part of our department’s NIL committee from the outset and was exceptional in assisting the football team as they navigated the implementation of NIL over the first two seasons. I’m excited to watch him grow in this role, allowing us to strategically develop a department-wide approach.”

Harris previously served as Spartan football’s Director of Player Relations and Program Advancement, a post he held since 2022. Prior to that, he spent two years as Spartan football’s Director of Player Engagement.

COMP’S TAKE: 

In June, EverGreen was selected as the Best Institutional Program at the 2023 NIL Summit in Atlanta. According to Michigan State’s press release, the award recognizes an institution that has shown exceptional commitment to supporting its student-athletes in maximizing their name, image and likeness opportunities through a combination of education, resources and industry-leading innovation. 

Now the question is whether Michigan State’s apparent organizational success can translate to stronger opportunities for players, and help make being a part of the university and playing for the Spartans more attractive for recruits. 

Being strong in NIL has a major impact on recruiting success in today’s college sports landscape, and it’s a major factor in retaining top players in an age of the transfer portal and illegal tampering. 

Communicating with Spartan fans as to how they can make donations to collectives geared toward supporting Michigan State sports must improve and become more streamlined. Doing it within NCAA guidelines is a puzzle for athletic departments nationwide, and that’s an area that Breske will oversee.

These are critical roles for athletic departments and college football programs in general. 

This Is Sparta has emerged as one of the leading external donor support groups for Michigan State sports. Collectives have become commonplace in college sports to raise funds which are utilized by athletic departments to pay players within NIL regulations.

This Is Sparta is a fund within Charitable Gift America. CGA also has established cooperatives for more than 20 universities, including Central Michigan, Oakland University, LSU and Virginia Tech. 

Tom Dieters, who is Board President of Charitable Gift America, a 501(c)3 organization established in 2011, helped establish This is Sparta as a Michigan State sports cooperative in 2020. 

Getting the Michigan State athletic department to officially advocate collectives or cooperatives such as This Is Sparta, to help Spartan fans know where they can direct their support, will be essential in longterm success. But first, the groundwork needs to be set to make sure it is done within legal and NCAA specifications.

“Michigan State has already proven to be the nation’s leader in NIL with the EverGreen program,” Dieters said. “Taking the next step to create a seamless relationship externally will allow all Spartan supporters to participate in our efforts to make NIL sustainable to Michigan State. Darien is just the right person to make this work.

“He has proven many times over to put the interests of Michigan State above all else, so I expect him to provide the leadership to keep Michigan State at the forefront of the NIL space.”

Harris won’t be able to do it alone, but Haller has entrusted him with spearheading the effort. Mel Tucker’s football program will be leaning on Harris and his team to help make Michigan State compete and thrive in this crucial area.