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What Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman said about NCAA NIL updates

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•10/27/22•

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notre dame marcus freeman
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman consoles sophomore tackle Blake Fisher. (Chad Weaver/BGI)

College football coaches like Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman aren’t ever free from the overhanging cloud — be it a water-filled one on a dark, rainy day or an aesthetic one in partly-sunny paradise — that is name, image and likeness (NIL). Wednesday was a reminder of that.

In the thick of the season, with the Fighting Irish sitting at 4-3 ahead of a tricky trip to play No. 16 Syracuse (6-1) in the JMA Dome this Saturday at 12 p.m. ET (ABC), NIL popped up on the radar of head coaches everywhere.

Even if only for a fleeting moment.

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The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors sent out an approval notice of new guidance on NIL Wednesday. The intent was to offer answers to “a number of key questions that have arisen recently” pertaining to the “constantly evolving” NIL landscape.

“I haven’t had the chance to really look over it,” Freeman said Thursday. “Somebody had mentioned to me that the NCAA said coaches are now allowed to do things with collectives. And that was the gist of what I got. Then I went right back to focusing on Syracuse.”

Whoever told Freeman about the board of directors’ messaging on NIL essentially hit the nail on the head. The lede was not buried. Freeman and every other coach is allowed to be a part of fundraising for collectives, such as Friends of the University of Notre Dame Inc. (FUND). They just cannot donate directly to those themselves.

The NCAA also made clear schools can request donors provide funds to collectives and other NIL entities provided the schools do not request those funds be dispersed to a specific sport or student-athlete. Freeman cannot tell FUND and its donors to funnel money to Notre Dame All-American junior tight end Michael Mayer, for instance.

All of the other mandates coaches were always aware of are still in place. They cannot be involved in sourcing, negotiating or facilitating NIL deals for student-athletes. Prospective NIL deals cannot be used as recruiting tools. Pay-for-play benefits are still impermissible.

Freeman’s ability to get involved with FUND in a direct, non-monetary manner is quite a development for Notre Dame’s space in the NIL sphere, though. He might not have the time to get involved in-season, but be on the lookout for how Freeman uses the new guidelines in the upcoming offseason.

“If there is any way to help our student-athletes, I’m all for it,” Freeman said. “If part of it is working with collectives to help them raise money, I’m all for it.”

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