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Decline in SEC talent

One point to add; when the $EC was paying under the table and few others were, recruits would be ok to live in say Tuscaloosa for 3 years. NIL has shifted the landscape in multiple ways, and one of them is that a recruit can now make the same/more money living in an urban setting like a Miami vs. Tuscalooser, Starkville, etc.
 
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AtlAtty said:
The SEC schools, for the most part, are not in ideal situations to take advantage of NIL.
The BIG 10 schools like Michigan, Illinois, USC, have not only a large alumni base, but they have a very wealthy alumni base. Not people who own car dealerships and local businesses, but people who are CEO’s of multi-national companies.

The same is true of Miami. The Mas brothers and the Soffer family were never going to give out cash in McDonalds bags. But they can financially support athletics above the table for as long as they care to without even feeling the financial difference.

The SEC is not going away, but expect that league to become a loud voice for NIL regulation/reform/limitations.
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Very relevant post.

I know some people will "object" to what I will say here about the SEC (and "the south", where I've lived since I was 4), but SEC schools and their boosters are "accustomed to" a culture of "low cost labor". The ability to dish out $100K for a player who might be worth $1M on the open market was facilitated by the secret and illicit nature of "under the table" payments.

Thus, if you could give a kid $100K, and his entire eligibility was at risk if he disclosed the payment, then the kid was stuck in golden handcuffs. He couldn't compare bids, he couldn't shop around, out of fear of being reported.

As you correctly point out, there are a lot of boosters who are happy to support athletics as long as it isn't as seamy and problematic as the "under the table" days. And the athletes have more transparency as to what the market rates are. As well as some amount of leverage to redline the more aggressive and oppressive clauses that schools/collectives try to insert into these deals.

We still have some way to go in making progress. NIL/rev-share deals continue to torture the English language with clauses that attempt to limit the rights of players and constrain them with financial penalties for leaving a school. I'm not sure how many failed lawsuits we will need to see before schools realize that collective bargaining and employer-employee relationships are the correct pathway to follow.

The next few years are going to be crazy.
 
skyman said:
Oh SMU coming.. Just the other day they sent out the smoke signal..



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There you go. I knew SMU wouldn't disappoint. They're our natural rivals. Small private college in a big city with strong local recruiting base and large state schools who absolutely hate them out of jealousy.

Recruiting under Lashlee has been better than before they joined the ACC. But they really need to up their game to a whole new level. Money talks.
 
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