What Colin Cowherd, Notre Dame players said about NIL in college football

It is nearly impossible to have a conversation about college football without somebody mentioning a three-letter acronym that has dominated the depiction of what it means to be an amateur athlete in this era.

NIL. Name, image, likeness.

The hosts of the Inside The Garage podcast, past and current Notre Dame football players Kyle Hamilton, Cam Hart, Conor Ratigan and KJ Wallace, joined FOX Sports talk show host Colin Cowherd for a special recording recently. They chatted about what it means to be represent the Fighting Irish, differences between former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly and his replacement Marcus Freeman, and other interesting, off-topic subject matter. Can Hamilton take two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry in a game of one on one, for instance.

Of course, NIL entered the fold. It didn’t take long. Cowherd got the ball rolling.

“I don’t have a problem with name, image and likeness, but I don’t like using it for high schoolers. There should be a rule; you have to pay the current players. You shouldn’t be able to just go buy a high schooler. That’s not the intention.”

He continued, “The SEC has more money. They’re just going to be able to buy kids. But if I was a quarterback, I would think of Lincoln Riley. That’s a good fit. He’s not the only one. Lane Kiffin. As a quarterback, that’s a good guy to go to. Sark at Texas. That’s his thing. Another school comes up and says here’s three million dollars. I look at it and think, there are going to be some kids who hurt their development.”

Hamilton agreed, “100%.”

“At a point, you have to say, ‘What is three million dollars now compared to if this coach who I believe in can develop me and move me up from a third round pick to a high first-round? That’s 15 million dollars right there.’ So it’s really an investment. And I’m sure they’ll still get some NIL money.”

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Cowherd raised the question of jealousy. If there’s a player on a team raking in seven figures on an NIL deal while majority of his teammates generate pennies at best, what does that do to team chemistry? Are players going to resent the guy who’s getting rich going through the same practices and academic grind as them?

To current Notre Dame cornerback Cam Hart, not necessarily.

“In our locker room, we don’t have anyone who’s making that crazy amount of money. We don’t have a Caleb Williams in our locker room,” Hart said. “But I don’t think that’s actually going on. For some reason, I feel everyone is happy for everyone. If you’re not getting yours, it makes you work harder. I feel like everyone is just happy we have the opportunity to get money. We have the opportunity to get what college football has wanted for so long.”

“I feel like we might have a biased outlook on that because of how close our locker room has always been,” Wallace countered.

Who knows if someone like Williams, for example, is catching the ire of his new Trojan teammates. The former Oklahoma quarterback followed Riley from OU to USC and now has an NIL deal with top-notch audio product brand Beats by Dr. Dre.

“A guy that just came in because of the money, I could see how people would be broken up about that,” Wallace said.

Williams knows he’s on a pedestal that stands higher than the rest. He’s not unaware of his unique circumstances. Within the last couple weeks he gifted the USC women’s basketball team Beats headphones. If he hasn’t already, he’s almost assuredly going to do the same for the football team.

That’s called spreading the wealth. And with it, positive morale.

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Camaraderie is important. It generally lends itself to a winning culture. For the longest time, the two most important things any college football player could capture at the schools of their choosing were wins and a path to the next level. There are always offshoots like character building and a foundation for life outside of sports. But now, monetary gain has been added to the mix to create a big three.

It was rumored Travis Hunter, the No. 1 player in the On3 Consensus Ratings in the class of 2022, went back on his commitment to Florida State and signed with Jackson State, an HBCU in Mississippi, because of a substantial amount of NIL money. Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders has repeatedly shot those rumors down.

Sanders has ties to so many entities outside of Jackson State, though. Barstool Sports. Aflac and Subway commercials. The list goes on. It’s one thing if Hunter truly believes he can reach his full potential at an FCS school like Jackson State, which isn’t exactly in the same sort of standing it was when Walter Payton played there from 1971-74. It’s another if he was lured there by the Sanders stardom syndrome.

Cowherd concluded the conversation on NIL with his Notre Dame guests on that note.

“What I worry about is if you’re the best corner in the country, I want you going to a school where you’re facing NFL receivers, where you’re being pushed,” Cowherd said. “Are you really challenging yourself? Are you sure every day at practice you’re going up against the guy you’re equal to? At Notre Dame, you’re facing NFL players. If you’re a linebacker and there is a guard pulling, that’s an NFL guard.”