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[TheRealUW]

Either way, in the nil era, exposure likely elevated in importance.

I actually think NIL has had the opposite effect.

Most kids don't care about anything except how much you are going to pay them. I'd be willing to bet a good portion of the players from Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, etc. would be more than willing to transfer to UW if we offered them more money.

As much as I loathe the current structure of NIL, it has made the path to being a successful college athletics program much clearer. You don't have to sell recruits on location, facilities, development, academics, coaching, or anything else. All you have to do is pay them a lot of money.

I don't know if Elon Musk is a college football fan or not, but he could single handedly turn any Sunbelt team into a national championship contender in 2-3 years if he wanted to. Pay them and the athletes will come. Nothing else matters.

 

[WyomingAg]

I actually think NIL has had the opposite effect.

Most kids don't care about anything except how much you are going to pay them. I'd be willing to bet a good portion of the players from Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, etc. would be more than willing to transfer to UW if we offered them more money.

As much as I loathe the current structure of NIL, it has made the path to being a successful college athletics program much clearer. You don't have to sell recruits on location, facilities, development, academics, coaching, or anything else. All you have to do is pay them a lot of money.

I don't know if Elon Musk is a college football fan or not, but he could single handedly turn any Sunbelt team into a national championship contender in 2-3 years if he wanted to. Pay them and the athletes will come. Nothing else matters.

I think it's a combo of exposure and pay. Kids want to be paid and seen on tv to get more pay.

Before schools like Oregon with Phil Knight and Oklahoma State with T Boone Pickens sunk all their money into the facilities arms race.

Now those billionaire investors can buy players instead

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Kids coming to WYO and the remaining MWC will be looking to level up their nil situation which will be through exposure. We or conference mates aren't winning bidding wars for athletes.

 

[laxwyo]

I actually think NIL has had the opposite effect.

Most kids don't care about anything except how much you are going to pay them. I'd be willing to bet a good portion of the players from Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, etc. would be more than willing to transfer to UW if we offered them more money.

As much as I loathe the current structure of NIL, it has made the path to being a successful college athletics program much clearer. You don't have to sell recruits on location, facilities, development, academics, coaching, or anything else. All you have to do is pay them a lot of money.

I don't know if Elon Musk is a college football fan or not, but he could single handedly turn any Sunbelt team into a national championship contender in 2-3 years if he wanted to. Pay them and the athletes will come. Nothing else matters.

SMU has gotten a lot better once paying was allowed in the open

It can't be strictly about money though because our jobs are not just about money. My job is pretty sweet, I wouldn't take $30k more per year for a really high stress toxic environment. But this is a long term career. If i was a college kid with a pretty long shot to make NFL, it'd be 99.99% about money. I think I could probably go work for a terrible place for 4 years if the money was big enough.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

SMU has gotten a lot better once paying was allowed in the open

It can't be strictly about money though because our jobs are not just about money. My job is pretty sweet, I wouldn't take $30k more per year for a really high stress toxic environment. But this is a long term career. If i was a college kid with a pretty long shot to make NFL, it'd be 99.99% about money. I think I could probably go work for a terrible place for 4 years if the money was big enough.

That’s exactly how the vast majority of D1 athletes analyze where they go. It’s pretty simple - they go where they stand to make the most money.

Ideas of appearing on certain streaming platforms or adding certain teams to the conference for ‘Texas recruiting’ exposure to improve the level of athlete we attract is yesterday’s thinking in today’s world.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

That’s exactly how the vast majority of D1 athletes analyze where they go. It’s pretty simple - they go where they stand to make the most money.

Ideas of appearing on certain streaming platforms or adding certain teams to the conference for ‘Texas recruiting’ exposure to improve the level of athlete we attract is yesterday’s thinking in today’s world.

Not really. Schools like WYO will never repeat never be heavily involved in bidding wars or large nil deals. There are a lot of schools like us; the new MWC foe example.

Forward thinking is understanding that and what recruits want. Embrace the fact the best players will leave. Promote your ability to get underrated guys enough exposure and playing time so that they can move on to a big nil deal. Integrating streaming, player promotion, advertising, etc. Cater to the idea that helping kids get more nil money elsewhere is just part of it now. You either have good players that leave or players nobody wants.

Ignoring or beamoaning the fact that we're a farm team for the power league is old thinking.

 

[307bball]

Not really. Schools like WYO will never repeat never be heavily involved in bidding wars or large nil deals. There are a lot of schools like us; the new MWC foe example.

Forward thinking is understanding that and what recruits want. Embrace the fact the best players will leave. Promote your ability to get underrated guys enough exposure and playing time so that they can move on to a big nil deal. Integrating streaming, player promotion, advertising, etc. Cater to the idea that helping kids get more nil money elsewhere is just part of it now. You either have good players that leave or players nobody wants.

Ignoring or beamoaning the fact that we're a farm team for the power league is old thinking.

Even among the schools in our strata....there will be differences in how much athletes get paid. Those differences will matter. If Wyoming pays more....even if it's just 5% more, than the rest of our conference, we will be more successful.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Even among the schools in our strata....there will be differences in how much athletes get paid. Those differences will matter. If Wyoming pays more....even if it's just 5% more, than the rest of our conference, we will be more successful.

We'll be at the level of our conference peers. None of us are going to be significantly different.

Playing time, depth charts, coaches, offensive/defensive schemes, etc. will matter a lot more than a few thousand bucks which is the likely differences in our new conference.

We and they won't be at the level of the power leagues. However, if a kid didn't get offered a big nil payday, their next decision is where can I go to get the minutes and exposure to get the bid payday?

 

[307bball]

We'll be at the level of our conference peers. None of us are going to be significantly different.

Playing time, depth charts, coaches, offensive/defensive schemes, etc. will matter a lot more than a few thousand bucks which is the likely differences in our new conference.

We and they won't be at the level of the power leagues. However, if a kid didn't get offered a big nil payday, their next decision is where can I go to get the minutes and exposure to get the bid payday?

If there is more friction in the transfer system...I think I agree with you. If the cost for transferring goes down, players will move to where they perceive they will get the most value. Part of that will be in the form of direct money in the pocket and part will be the destination that is seen to maximize future earnings. It's going to be a combo and one could overwhelm the other. As long as the cost to transfer is low...small differences in perceived value will create concentrations of talent. Let's see if Burman (or the next AD) and his coaches can make that happen. I don't think we'll ever be a program that puts a ton of $$ into athletes pockets so we'll have to do all the things that you are talking about....just like every other team will be trying to do.

 

[TheRealUW]

Is there anything preventing a school like UW "partnering" with a SEC/Big 10 team for transfers?

In other words, what is stopping UW from approaching Texas and arranging for the players Texas isn't wanting to offer a scholarship as freshman attending UW with the intent that if they prove themselves on the field, Texas will offer a transfer to them.

Texas basically gets to stockpile talent at another school and pick and choose only the best ones to "call up" to their actual team. UW gets more talented players than they would ever get otherwise.

If UW really wanted to push things, they could even ask Texas for a "development fee" for each player that they develop into a good enough player to actually transfer into the Texas program.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Is there anything preventing a school like UW "partnering" with a SEC/Big 10 team for transfers?

In other words, what is stopping UW from approaching Texas and arranging for the players Texas isn't wanting to offer a scholarship as freshman attending UW with the intent that if they prove themselves on the field, Texas will offer a transfer to them.

Texas basically gets to stockpile talent at another school and pick and choose only the best ones to "call up" to their actual team. UW gets more talented players than they would ever get otherwise.

If UW really wanted to push things, they could even ask Texas for a "development fee" for each player that they develop into a good enough player to actually transfer into the Texas program.

Players aren't subject to contracts and trading like the current professional sports models so the theory really doesn't make sense in my mind. Some player comes to Wyoming and proves themselves, why would they then restrict themselves to Texas? Put their name out there on the open market and take the best offer.

I know when I've sold my houses in the past I didn't just decide to offer my house only to a certain group of buyers. I put it on the market and took the best offer regardless.

 

[doreno5]

Is there anything preventing a school like UW "partnering" with a SEC/Big 10 team for transfers?

In other words, what is stopping UW from approaching Texas and arranging for the players Texas isn't wanting to offer a scholarship as freshman attending UW with the intent that if they prove themselves on the field, Texas will offer a transfer to them.

Texas basically gets to stockpile talent at another school and pick and choose only the best ones to "call up" to their actual team. UW gets more talented players than they would ever get otherwise.

If UW really wanted to push things, they could even ask Texas for a "development fee" for each player that they develop into a good enough player to actually transfer into the Texas program.

That was already being done in some sports like basketball. Send a star high school player with bad grades to a JUCO to get the grades up with the understanding they would have scholarship when ready to transfer. UW was doing that with Casper College years ago.