Gene Smith 'Feels Much Better' About Ohio State's NIL Concerns
COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 04: Ohio State University athletics director Gene Smith listens during a press conference at Ohio State University on December 4, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. At the press conference head coach Urban Meyer announced his retirement and offensive coordinator Ryan Day was announced as the next head coach. Meyer will continue to coach until after the Ohio State Buckeyes play in the Rose Bowl. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
There's no question that NIL has fundamentally changed college sports. It's especially true in college football, where many of the largest deals for student-athletes come from.
Every school in the nation has had to adjust to what NIL means on a case-by-case basis, but it's been a particularly challenging adjustment for Ohio State.
Football coach Ryan Day spoke candidly about the program's needs for a substantial NIL budget of $13 million to keep the team intact back in December, but he was much more optimistic about the school's standing in the space this year.
“It's a critical part of our recruiting. And we've had a lot of people who have embraced it. And because of that, we're starting to build some momentum here in recruiting,” Day said in April.
Athletic director Gene Smith shared a similar opinion when he recently addressed how Ohio State is currently handling NIL.
"I think we're much better now and feel much better about it because we went through that learning curve, that change management part," Smith said in an interview with Eleven Warriors.
"Now that we have clarity and those types of things on how we can operate, we feel really good about where we are."
Ohio State currently has three NIL collectives working on its behalf, setting up deals for current and future student-athletes.
