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NIL - Can a true team be formed these days?

2,867 Views | 33 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by beerad12man
WaldoWings
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Do you think it is possible with the comings and goings of these NIL athletes to build a true team nowadays? I remember in high school (yes old man glory days, uncle rico, yada yada) we had really good coaches that taught us teamwork. We were small and not very athletic. Our coaches taught how to count on each other to do our assignments and not let each other down which created the i tangible drive that overcame what we didn't physically have. That made us successful. Is that even possible with NIL nowadays? I don't fault a young man coming from poverty for taking the money and running. How can I? That money can be life changing for some families. That said, can a coach truly build a team when key components can so easily be lured away? Teamwork does overcome so much, but you also have to have chickens to make chicken salad.
BMX Bandit
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Yes

Is Notre dame not a true team? Why not?

Ohio state? Why not?

Reno Hightower
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No

Fielding a team of 85 who play more for each other, their coach and the name on the front of their jersey and not the name on the back is now basically impossible.
TexasAggie_97
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AG
On average you are now renting players for 1-2 years at best. Gone are the days of saying a coach needs 4 years to build his program because you will have a roster turnover every year or two. At least with the players that contribute to wins.
Hook63
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Do you think schemes on both offense and defense will become more simplified?
Thunderstruck xx
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I think it will take a different style of coach to be successful. If a coach has to take time to build over several years, he's going to be terrible. This is what it seems Elko is. We need a coach and supporting staff that can execute NOW.
QB1
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AG
Define true team
geoag58
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This probably explains the success of the service academies. They may not have the star power but they are a cohesive team. A real team.
Fight against the dictatorship of the federal bureaucracy!
Sterling82
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Thunderstruck xx said:

I think it will take a different style of coach to be successful. If a coach has to take time to build over several years, he's going to be terrible. This is what it seems Elko is. We need a coach and supporting staff that can execute NOW.

This is my thought when people contend it will take 3 years to build the roster. We may have better results in 3 years but the roster this year was very good with the remnants of the #1 class and the portal additions. We just didn't get near enough out of it.
Kozmozag
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Sure seems like nil could change a basketball or baseball team much easier. Go buy the 2 best basketball players in the country and win a natty
BMX Bandit
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Kozmozag said:

Sure seems like nil could change a basketball or baseball team much easier. Go buy the 2 best basketball players in the country and win a natty


Rutgers trying that.


They are 8-6
NyAggie
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AG
Thunderstruck xx said:

I think it will take a different style of coach to be successful. If a coach has to take time to build over several years, he's going to be terrible. This is what it seems Elko is. We need a coach and supporting staff that can execute NOW.


WaldoWings
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Thanks for the responses. Was genuinely curious what y'all thought. Pros even have contracts that keep players on roster. UIL theoretically has rules against recruiting so the players are generally stuck where they are in high school. This seems like uncharted territory so it is interesting to ponder.
Harry Dunne
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It was always an illusion. Y'all are lamenting the loss of something that never really was.
zb008
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Harry Dunne said:

It was always an illusion. Y'all are lamenting the loss of something that never really was.


College football from 20 years ago was a much more exciting product than the one that exists now. I realize it will never come back, but I'm glad I got to experience it.
Pepe SiIvia
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Pro leagues operate with owners and players meeting to define terms of employment that are agreed upon with collective bargaining agreements.

The NCAA has no way to enforce anything like this because their power is being eroded by the courts since the initial SC ruling. CBAs at least allow players and owners to come together to at least carve out some kind of middle ground that is favorable to both sides. Players want to smoke weed mid season and not risk being suspended or fined? That's cool, but the stakeholders might want another regular season game in return.

Right now, the players have all the leverage until something is figured out. I think this is where the SEC and the B1G are going to come together to form a league that is lead by a commissioner. Saban would be ideal, but at some point I assume he actually wants to retire. Other than that, I don't know how you don't stop the sport from spiraling. There are quite a few schools with rich enough alumni to fund this version of college football as long as they are the ones who benefit from it. Funny thing is, we should be too. But it just doesn't ever work out that way.
WaldoWings
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Harry Dunne said:

It was always an illusion. Y'all are lamenting the loss of something that never really was.


You are probably right. I should have thrown in the transfer portal aspect and the ability to be eligible the next year. That coupled with NIL is the game changer. Payments to players has always been a thing but the ability to be open with that and jump around easily have changed things.
Ag1188
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BMX Bandit said:

Yes

Is Notre dame not a true team? Why not?

Ohio state? Why not?


Ohio State starts 9 of 11 guys on defense who are in their 4th or 5th year there. But, those guys kind of straddled the NIL/portal era.
BCR
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Players were always trap doored to make room for more recruits. Players transferred.
The days of playing for your school have been done for years.

People just hate the fact that the players actually have some leverage now.
DenverAggie
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Fans only care about winning. "Team, loyalty, compensation, and term" have never been more important than winning. Some people are still stuck in the SWC days when we only played 2 competitive games a year, and bag men paid top players illegally.

ps - It's time to update the War Hymn. I know, blasphemy, 2%, yeah, yeah.
Sq 17
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BMX Bandit said:

Yes

Is Notre dame not a true team? Why not?

Ohio state? Why not?




If you get the job done ( win ) team and camaraderie follow
Teslag
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The first program to realize you need a dedicated GM and a dedicated head coach in what is now professional football will be dominant.

The age of the singular all powerful head coach is over in college football.
Bag
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The real question is does it matter?
WaldoWings
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Bag said:

The real question is does it matter?


Shoot I don't know. Maybe not! But it sure is nice watching this basketball game with basically our entire team from last year still together.
Quad Dog
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I think you can develop a team of position players on the line or defense, but land a few stud NIL players at skill positions - QB,WR,CB, DE.
Build culture with the positions players and get the skill players with the right mindset.
Farmer_J
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Harry Dunne said:

It was always an illusion. Y'all are lamenting the loss of something that never really was.


Soooo much this.
Farmer_J
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Teslag said:

The first program to realize you need a dedicated GM and a dedicated head coach in what is now professional football will be dominant.

The age of the singular all powerful head coach is over in college football.


Interesting aspect
Harry Dunne
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zb008 said:

Harry Dunne said:

It was always an illusion. Y'all are lamenting the loss of something that never really was.


College football from 20 years ago was a much more exciting product than the one that exists now. I realize it will never come back, but I'm glad I got to experience it.
I disagree. Also, what you're saying is what every generation has said anytime there has been change.

Keep in mind I'm old, so I've seen the cycle play out many times. I would also like for it to stay the way it was, but I think all the moaning and gnashing of teeth is just part of the same cycle of change and lamenting the loss of "old army" that we have always seen.

Every generation says "but it's different this time" and yet, we keep soldiering on
12thMan9
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Farmer_J said:

Teslag said:

The first program to realize you need a dedicated GM and a dedicated head coach in what is now professional football will be dominant.

The age of the singular all powerful head coach is over in college football.


Interesting aspect

I think you meant "ignorant".
Ronnie '88
AggieSouth06
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Teslag said:

The first program to realize you need a dedicated GM and a dedicated head coach in what is now professional football will be dominant.

The age of the singular all powerful head coach is over in college football.

Didn't Stanford just do this with Andrew Luck?
Quad Dog
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Teslag said:

The first program to realize you need a dedicated GM and a dedicated head coach in what is now professional football will be dominant.

The age of the singular all powerful head coach is over in college football.

This is basically what the director of player personnel does
BMX Bandit
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It's more than that. Going to see more and more teams doing it:

beerad12man
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Thunderstruck xx said:

I think it will take a different style of coach to be successful. If a coach has to take time to build over several years, he's going to be terrible. This is what it seems Elko is. We need a coach and supporting staff that can execute NOW.
I think that's very much speculative and not really accurate regarding Elko.

Already, of our current 87 scholarships right now in 2025, 62 are either his transfers and/or signees. He's already flipped the roster with 71% of his guys, and by 2026 (year 3) it will be basically 90-95% his recruits. Reed, and maybe 3-5 more of Jimbo's guys by year three.
I
In fact, part of why Elko was hired was because of his off field plans. For example, he has a GM. He has assistant GMs, portal staff, etc. His infrastructure is worlds better than Jimbo's.

Now, will it translate to wins? I don't know. But Jimbo is the coach that needed years to develop a team and roster and was still coaching like it was 2014. Elko flipped it over 2/3rds by year 2, and nearly 100% by year 3.
beerad12man
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Sterling82 said:

Thunderstruck xx said:

I think it will take a different style of coach to be successful. If a coach has to take time to build over several years, he's going to be terrible. This is what it seems Elko is. We need a coach and supporting staff that can execute NOW.

This is my thought when people contend it will take 3 years to build the roster. We may have better results in 3 years but the roster this year was very good with the remnants of the #1 class and the portal additions. We just didn't get near enough out of it.
We had one SR NFL draft pick. The 2022 class had 14 players, about 9-10 who were healthy, of the 31 guys from it. It would be re-ranked closer to the 30th ranked class by year 3 than the #1 ranked class due to how few guys were still available by year 3.

Elko had to take 27 transfers, 19 of which played a ton of snaps for us, and 14 of which started multiple games, to fill it out.

The roster was no where near what you make it seem. It was absolutely an 8-5 type roster on paper, and I'd argue trending to a 6-6 type roster before the portal additions. There's a reason those guys went 12-13 the previous two years, and it wasn't all on Jimbo's coaching. It was his roster management, player evaluation/development/retention, too.
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