I feel like he makes some profound statements here...
"[NIL in recruiting] is extremely tangible. Like you mentioned [in your question], we can't set that up. It used to be that you sold championships, facilities, and development was certainly a primary sell. Now, development has taken a step back, which it shouldn't. Facilities, academics, and what we can do for your life after football have taken a back-burner to NIL for a lot of people.
What people are doing is they are validating [a recruit's] NIL by showing what their current roster makes and showing what their current players are able to do. The more marketable their players, the more the dollar signs fall into these young players and parents' minds. And I think, sometimes, they are getting misled in the numbers that are actually out there. It becomes propaganda, which, recruiting is always propaganda, right? It's how you use it. When you're selling the development of a young man from Jordan Davis and you're selling what he became, it's much more enjoyable to sell that story than to sell what he made in NIL. Because (1) you can't guarantee that, and (2) to each kid it may apply differently. Some guys are at developmental positions and they're going to have to work really hard.
I'm not of the opinion that kids should be making decisions based on [NILs]. And you're probably recruiting the wrong guy if that's all they're basing their decision on. So I think a lot of colleges are having to look inside/out at who they recruit and why they recruit them. Because 10% of these kids we are all going to recruit, they are the best of the best. It's the next group that you better be careful who you are recruiting because they're going to make up a majority of your roster."
...
"I think [our strategy for establishing a culture] is ever-changing. I can't say we changed from this year to last year, I just think it's subtle. And the way things are going, you're going to have to continue to do that. You have to look at your roster and say, 'We need great players, right?' But we need enough core players that believe in the values of the organization to outweigh any blinking lights. And sometimes a blinking light might be a talented player that doesn't completely all the way buy-in, but you've got enough core players that the [dissenting] voice doesn't get heard.
We had that last year. We had a really good group of core leaders, and they also happened to be good players. That's when you get to win a National Championship. But you got to be selective over going really far away from home, 'How big of a portal risk is this kid?', 'Is NIL so important to him that he's not going to be effective as a player?' Because it's easy to sit here and say, 'What can I make NIL? How can you help me?' Well, I can help you a whole lot more if you come out of college with a degree and you come out of college and get drafted. There are a lot more commas on those salaries than there are on NIL deals. You have to be able to explain that to kids and they have to understand it and buy into it. A lot of kids come from a society of, 'I want now now now, me me me, self-gratification' and we really need, 'Team team team, long-term buy-in, develop, and be the best player you can when you leave.'
The hard part is figuring out which one each kid is. Does he really buy into that, or is he just providing lip service? That's where the tough decisions are made as a head coach and position coach of which guys to take. Because you don't really know until they get here sometimes."
He also spoke very highly of all 19 (!!!) of our EE's character and work ethic thus far...
"[NIL in recruiting] is extremely tangible. Like you mentioned [in your question], we can't set that up. It used to be that you sold championships, facilities, and development was certainly a primary sell. Now, development has taken a step back, which it shouldn't. Facilities, academics, and what we can do for your life after football have taken a back-burner to NIL for a lot of people.
What people are doing is they are validating [a recruit's] NIL by showing what their current roster makes and showing what their current players are able to do. The more marketable their players, the more the dollar signs fall into these young players and parents' minds. And I think, sometimes, they are getting misled in the numbers that are actually out there. It becomes propaganda, which, recruiting is always propaganda, right? It's how you use it. When you're selling the development of a young man from Jordan Davis and you're selling what he became, it's much more enjoyable to sell that story than to sell what he made in NIL. Because (1) you can't guarantee that, and (2) to each kid it may apply differently. Some guys are at developmental positions and they're going to have to work really hard.
I'm not of the opinion that kids should be making decisions based on [NILs]. And you're probably recruiting the wrong guy if that's all they're basing their decision on. So I think a lot of colleges are having to look inside/out at who they recruit and why they recruit them. Because 10% of these kids we are all going to recruit, they are the best of the best. It's the next group that you better be careful who you are recruiting because they're going to make up a majority of your roster."
...
"I think [our strategy for establishing a culture] is ever-changing. I can't say we changed from this year to last year, I just think it's subtle. And the way things are going, you're going to have to continue to do that. You have to look at your roster and say, 'We need great players, right?' But we need enough core players that believe in the values of the organization to outweigh any blinking lights. And sometimes a blinking light might be a talented player that doesn't completely all the way buy-in, but you've got enough core players that the [dissenting] voice doesn't get heard.
We had that last year. We had a really good group of core leaders, and they also happened to be good players. That's when you get to win a National Championship. But you got to be selective over going really far away from home, 'How big of a portal risk is this kid?', 'Is NIL so important to him that he's not going to be effective as a player?' Because it's easy to sit here and say, 'What can I make NIL? How can you help me?' Well, I can help you a whole lot more if you come out of college with a degree and you come out of college and get drafted. There are a lot more commas on those salaries than there are on NIL deals. You have to be able to explain that to kids and they have to understand it and buy into it. A lot of kids come from a society of, 'I want now now now, me me me, self-gratification' and we really need, 'Team team team, long-term buy-in, develop, and be the best player you can when you leave.'
The hard part is figuring out which one each kid is. Does he really buy into that, or is he just providing lip service? That's where the tough decisions are made as a head coach and position coach of which guys to take. Because you don't really know until they get here sometimes."
He also spoke very highly of all 19 (!!!) of our EE's character and work ethic thus far...
