While speaking at the Texas High School Coaches Association convention, Nick Saban was asked about NIL and had this to say, "Our QB has already approached ungodly numbers, and he hasn't even played yet. If I told you what it is... it's almost seven figures." https://twitter.com/chris_hummer/status/1417505512292327427
How sweet it is to be the starting quarterback at the University of Alabama. Get this, Bryce Young has not started a single game in his career, has only attempted 22 passes, and has thrown for 1 touchdown. Now, he is nearly a millionaire before stepping on the field for his sophomore season.
When I first read this story, my first thought was how much money Arch Manning is going to make. I mean, he is the number one quarterback in the class of 2023 and has the last name of Manning. On top of that, you have two years to sit back and watch some of these deals being made, and in theory, the deals should keep getting more lucrative. Some other names that rattled around my head were Reggie Bush, Vince Young, Tim Tebow, and Cam Newton. These guys would have been making some serious money with the incredible years they had in college. My second thought is that I believe we will soon see players making more money than coaches; which would have sounded like a fever dream if you told me that was possible a year ago. The interesting aspect of this compared to college basketball is that these guys have to stay for three years. That is why a player like Arch Manning, who will more than likely start as a true freshman, has an ample amount of time to accrue some serious NIL dollars. He will be at a big-time program, compete for national championships, and make a run at the Heisman Trophy. He has a chance to be the first big NIL-era superstar.
I still am not fully digesting the totality of the new NIL rules. Just a month ago a player would have gotten violations for accepting a free lunch from alumni. Now we get our first real look at the amount of money these kids are making at the highest levels. It is an exciting time in college athletics and we should all be excited to watch the money continue to grow for these athletes.