Kyle Hamilton’s father, Derrek, weighs in on NIL: ‘Kyle was the test case for Notre Dame’

The name, image and likeness whirlwind continues to hover over college football like a dark cloud, a constant topic of conversation but often one filled with doom and gloom. Buried within the seemingly never-ending panic is a “success” story or two, with success being defined as the way NIL was intended to be conducted. Former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton falls into that category.

Last week, his father, Derrek, joined a Blue & Gold Twitter Space and discussed the NIL realm, including how his now-NFL son approached it while he was at Notre Dame.

“Kyle was the test case for Notre Dame for name, image and likeness,” the elder Hamilton said. “He’s a very cerebral kid, and he doesn’t jump at every dollar that’s there for him.

“We had an idea on how to attack this because I was involved in professional sports, and we did it strategically as a family.”

Derrek Hamilton was a college basketball star at Southern Miss. He was drafted in the third round of the 1988 NBA Draft by the then-New Jersey Nets with the No. 52 selection overall. Hamilton’s older brother, Tyler, played basketball at Penn and earned an M.B.A from William & Mary. He helped manage his brother’s NIL relationships last season, including creating his logo.

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On the topic of logos, Notre Dame’s is a huge, recognizable one. That’s nice, per Mr. Hamilton, but it doesn’t mean anything if you can’t perform on the field.

“Notre Dame is a brand, but what players have to understand is you have to make plays first,” he said. “You don’t get NIL without making plays. I think the way that they’re trying to do it at Notre Dame with community service and things of that nature, making these guys go out and do something positive, and then you earn points like on a plane or (with) hotels. You build up equity, and I think that’s the proper way to do it. Instead of just giving these guys hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Hamilton was part of one of the initial NIL endeavors at Notre Dame: the Inside the Garage podcast hosted by Hamilton, wide receiver Conor Ratigan and defensive backs Cam Hart and KJ Wallace. Wallace, an Atlanta native, has since transfered to Georgia Tech, but Ratigan and Hart remain with the program.

The podcast exploded, and the players have had several notable guests including former Irish greats like Jerome Bettis and Justin Tuck plus Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. Inside the Garage was even picked up by The Volume, a sports podcast network co-produced by Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports.

Despite the success, the elder Hamilton made clear the endeavor was not about the money, sticking to his idea that his son was a great example of players having success in the NIL space by earning equity and doing something productive. He’s also the perfect example of a Notre Dame player.

“Originally, they wanted Kyle,” his dad said. “But as Kyle is, he wanted his boys with him. He wouldn’t do it without his guys, which I respect…It just says a lot about who he is as a person. He didn’t want to take the money by himself. If (he) was going to do it, (he) was going to do it with his friends.

“I’ll say it 1,000 times: Notre Dame kids are different, and they’re like-minded kids. That’s the reason (Kyle) went there.”

The safety had various other deals, including one with Chipotle.

Hamilton was drafted with an On3 NIL Valuation of $115,000, which did not crack the top 100 in the On3 College Football NIL Rankings. That’s relevant because while he wasn’t the flashiest athlete who engaged with many NIL suitors, he ended up as a Baltimore Ravens first-round NFL Draft pick with a rookie contract of approximately $16 million and a signing bonus estimated around $9 million.

To his dad’s point, Hamilton let his play do the talking. That clearly paid off.