Georgia coach Kirby Smart's take on the impact of college football's NIL rule is interesting.
Smart, speaking to the media on Wednesday, answered an array of questions on National Signing Day. Georgia signed the No. 3 class in the country, according to 247Sports.
But the most intriguing question was about the impact of the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program.
It can be said the prospect of a lucrative NIL deal is driving athletes to universities. Jackson State coach Deion Sanders proved that when he lured Collins Hill and the nation's top target, Travis Hunter, to the HBCU school with a massive NIL deal, reportedly worth more than $1 million. Hunter had offers from every Power 5 program in the country.
Alabama's Bryce Young signed a NIL deal worth more than $1 million before he ever played a down for the Crimson Tide last cycle.
How much bigger will the NIL deals become in college football recruiting? Will it get out of control? There are no clear answers to those questions, but Smart did shed some light on what he's hearing and seeing from the nation's top players on the recruiting trail.
He said selling the program -- championships, facilities, academics, campus life and player development -- has taken a backseat to the potential NIL deals for a lot of players.
"It's extremely tangible," he said. "We can't set that up. A sell, at least for what I'm finding in recruiting, is it used to be you sold championships, you sold facilities, maybe development. It was a primary sell. Now, development has taken a step back, which it shouldn't, and facilities, academics, what we can do for you in terms of life after football -- those things have taken a back-burner to NIL for a lot of people."
He added programs are using the NIL deals currently on the roster to sway players to sign.
"What people are doing is they're validating their NIL by showing what their current roster makes and by showing what current players are able to do," he said. "The more marketable their players, the dollar signs fall in these young kids' and parents' minds. I think sometimes they're getting misled into the numbers that are already out there which becomes propaganda. Recruiting is always propaganda. It's how you use it."
Smart went on to say selling what they can do, in terms of player development, is much more enjoyable.
"The sell, when you're selling the development of a young man from Jordan Davis, and you're selling the look at what he became, that's much more enjoyable to sell than to sell what he made in NIL. Number one, you can't guarantee that," Smart said. "I am not of the opinion that kids should be making decisions based on that. You're probably recruiting the wrong guy if that is all they are making their decision based on.
"So, I think a lot of colleges are having to look inside out at who they recruit and why they recruit them. Ten percent of these kids we are all going to recruit. It's the next group that you better be careful who you are recruiting because they are going to make up the majority of your roster."
