Good Rivals true or false article on NIL / LSU -

quote:

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Brian Kelly's NIL comments will negatively impact LSU's recruiting.

VERY RARE TO SEE AGREEMENT ON THESE T/F ARTICLES

Powell: FICTION: If you hone in on one of Brian Kelly’s quotes it’s easy to misinterpret what he was trying to say. The quote that’s got the college football world buzzing right now was when he told WAFB’s Jacques Doucet, “We’re not in the market of buying players,” If you hone in and focus solely on that one comment from the entire 1:48 clip, yeah it can come across as a negative toward the NIL landscape, but it’s easily lost in translation without the other pieces of the conversation. He also said, “That’s what some guys are looking for, they want to be bought. Look, I understand NIL is part of this and we have an incredible collective, we have very very generous opportunities around the greater Baton Rouge area for NIL opportunities, so they are here but we’re not going to go out and buy players. That’s not what this is about, this was never about that. We will develop you and we will get you ready for the next step.”

How I interpret Kelly’s comments are that yes LSU is not just going to pay a guy for the sake of winning the NIL war with other programs and securing a commitment. They want players that want to come in and compete and develop both on and off the field, not just financially. It’s more about the individual mindset of the players in question. He went on to add, “if you’re just looking to get paid, you’re looking in the wrong place. If you like all the things that we do here, developing our players, bringing you into a championship program, playing in front of the best fan base in America, playing for championships and having an opportunity for NIL, you should be a Tiger, but if you just want to get paid, this is not the place for you.”

At the end of the day, no matter how you interpret his comments, LSU will remain competitive in the NIL landscape. From top to bottom across the board for all sports, it is probably one of the more competitive programs in the country when it comes to NIL opportunities. There are female athletes in gymnastics and women’s basketball that have signed lucrative seven-figure NIL deals before graduating, the opportunity is there. That’s not going to change. So ultimately, I don’t think his comments will have much impact at all.

Levenson: FICTION: Powell does a great job hitting this topic with a few talking points of one of the most polarizing quotes of the offseason from a coach in college football. I agree with Powell's outlook that Kelly was not dissing NIL completely, but instead dissing the notion that LSU will just be handing out blank checks to anyone and everyone.

If there is a player who LSU wants to add to its roster, and it feels the monetary request is within its means, it will surely be in the thick of working to add that player. If there is a player, even a supremely talented one, who is asking to break the bank, LSU will not be one that obliges blindly.

It's important to also sit back and realize this is LSU. It is going to be at the top of the recruiting food chain as it always has been. The brand, notoriety and location alone will keep the Tigers in the mix to land top 10 classes even if they miss on some big fish they feel are not worth what they are asking for. You have to go back to the class of 2012 to find a year that Tigers were not among the top 15 recruiting classes. Just as Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Texas and a handful of others will be consistently at the top, LSU will be among them. Kelly's comment will have little to no affect on recruits themselves long term.

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