College Football Thread

[AKHoosier]

1 hour ago, AZ Hoosier said:

Was coming to post this... clearly this whole NIL thing is out of control... I agree... he entered the portal, but no one should touch him... of course, new suitors will line up anyway...

Just a mess. Where else in sports are you going to find million dollar deals agreed to essentially by handshake? 

Supposedly Tennessee is trying to poach Illinois' starting QB now in time for next season. 

[TrueHoosier62]

The lust for money destroys. It just does. 

[AKHoosier]

1 hour ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

He’s not even that good. He threw for 19 touchdowns last year. 10 of them came in their four non conference games. Another 4 came against Vandy. 5 passing touchdowns total in their 7 other conference games + 1 playoff game. 0 passing touchdowns in their 3 losses. He was a middle of the pack SEC quarterback last year. Not worth the headache. Good for Tennessee.  

True but in fairness those are pretty solid numbers for a young QB in the SEC.

Just ridiculous how greed is changing the game. Nico had already made over $2M+, started receiving NIL money when he was in high school, and had a deal reportedly worth up to $10M if he stayed at UT.

He's obviously talented with a bright future in football. If he stayed at UT, put up big numbers in Heupel's system for 2 more years, he would no doubt be a first round draft pick if not top 10, and not to mention already have life changing money before he even lands on a NFL roster.

[Lebowski]

Nico knew exactly what he was doing. He's probably going to play for arguably the greatest coach in the history of the game. There are no rules to stop the shady poop Belicheck does and he will continue to do it and then some. Hide and watch folks.

If he ends up at UNC, hats off to Lombardi and Belicheck for pulling this off. These guys are going to run circles around the entire college football landscape.

[Demo]

https://atozsports.com/nashville/volunteers/nico-iamaleava-tennessee-volunteers-football-unprecedented-exit-nil-holdout-family-drama-josh-heupel-dan-lanning/
 

Don’t know how much of this is accurate, and the writer clearly needed a better editor, but if it’s even mostly true who’s gonna touch this kid?

[go iu bb]

7 minutes ago, Demo said:

https://atozsports.com/nashville/volunteers/nico-iamaleava-tennessee-volunteers-football-unprecedented-exit-nil-holdout-family-drama-josh-heupel-dan-lanning/
 

Don’t know how much of this is accurate, and the writer clearly needed a better editor, but if it’s even mostly true who’s gonna touch this kid?

The short-sightedness might end up costing them a lot. I'm sure some school will take a chance on him but they may end up getting him at a reduced cost. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if it also has an effect on his draft position.

[Lebowski]

1 hour ago, Demo said:

https://atozsports.com/nashville/volunteers/nico-iamaleava-tennessee-volunteers-football-unprecedented-exit-nil-holdout-family-drama-josh-heupel-dan-lanning/
 

Don’t know how much of this is accurate, and the writer clearly needed a better editor, but if it’s even mostly true who’s gonna touch this kid?

Once the dust settles, Nico will be calling plays for a P4 school and most likely getting a substantial amount of compensation. His numbers were good and he already has CFP experience. I've already mentioned that UNC is in play. It makes sense the Downey, California, native's representatives were reaching out to other schools especially USC and UCLA. He got curb stomped against OSU and they wanted to improve what got them curb stomped. I do feel bad for the kid if he truly didn't know what was going on behind his back, but I find it extremely hard to believe that he didn't, especially if his dad was involved. 

This won't be the only time this happens with schools and players leaving/terminated from contract. IUFB might even get a taste of this in the future. Until there are a certain set of rules to help prevent this it will start to become the norm. Nico was just the pioneer. P4 schools will always touch talent and this is just part of the unfortunate lack of governing of the NIL situation.

[Demo]

Just now, Demo said:

Hunter won a Heisman, so sure. But Sanders? 

[go iu bb]

6 hours ago, Lebowski said:

Once the dust settles, Nico will be calling plays for a P4 school and most likely getting a substantial amount of compensation. His numbers were good and he already has CFP experience. I've already mentioned that UNC is in play. It makes sense the Downey, California, native's representatives were reaching out to other schools especially USC and UCLA. He got curb stomped against OSU and they wanted to improve what got them curb stomped. I do feel bad for the kid if he truly didn't know what was going on behind his back, but I find it extremely hard to believe that he didn't, especially if his dad was involved. 

This won't be the only time this happens with schools and players leaving/terminated from contract. IUFB might even get a taste of this in the future. Until there are a certain set of rules to help prevent this it will start to become the norm. Nico was just the pioneer. P4 schools will always touch talent and this is just part of the unfortunate lack of governing of the NIL situation.

It's looking like UCLA but probably for less than he was going to get at UT, possibly substantially less . Oops.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Former IU associate head coach Mike DeBord passes away

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2025/04/15/former-michigan-football-assistant-coach-mike-debord-dead-at-69/83104880007/

[Hovadipo]

10 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Former IU associate head coach Mike DeBord passes away

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2025/04/15/former-michigan-football-assistant-coach-mike-debord-dead-at-69/83104880007/

Really, really good guy. Hate to hear that. 

[Lebowski]

6 hours ago, go iu bb said:

It's looking like UCLA but probably for less than he was going to get at UT, possibly substantially less . Oops.

 

Let's hope he doesn't go there. Coach Sunseri will make him a better QB. 

Regarding NIL, a LA market compared to Knoxville is substantially different. Especially him being from the area. A local car dealership deal alone might make up the difference of any losses. And if he produces like the last three QBs Sunseri coached, he'll be a very hot commodity in that market. And it absolutely makes sense programs aren't meeting his demands. But that doesn't mean he's not being pursued.  He'll end up at a P4 school when this is all said and done.

[Lebowski]

Looks like IUFB will be facing Nico late October in the 812. UCLA just got better. They won 5 games last year with a pretty tough schedule. This year's schedule is bit lighter. PSU, at IUFB and at OSU are probably their toughest opponents. Nebraska Washington and at USC will also be a challenge for them as well.  If he beats out Garbers, which there's no reason why he couldn't, he'll be a more polished and improved QB, and that's pretty dangerous. It's a pretty deep QB room so who knows if he even gets on the gridiron this season. 

[LamarCheeks]

Lee Corso announced his retirement from ESPN. 

He will do one more Gameday, then ride off into the sunset. 

https://x.com/OneAndOnlyJLaw/status/1912880169318052097

[Demo]

3 minutes ago, LamarCheeks said:

Lee Corso announced his retirement from ESPN. 

He will do one more Gameday, then ride off into the sunset. 

https://x.com/OneAndOnlyJLaw/status/1912880169318052097

It’s probably past time. But he’s Lee Freaking Corso. He gets to do what he wants.

[jefftheref]

On 4/15/2025 at 8:49 PM, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Former IU associate head coach Mike DeBord passes away

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2025/04/15/former-michigan-football-assistant-coach-mike-debord-dead-at-69/83104880007/

My high school team mate and good friend was Mike's brother in law. I was talking to him last Monday and he told me that Mike was in his final days. Mike had a massive stroke right after retiring and has been in assisted living since then. His wife passed away last year from cancer. Condolences to the DeBord family and friends. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

[DChoosier]

Nico might want to look into different agents/advisors.

His advisement team  “successfully” negotiated him away from a $2,400,000 deal, with zero state income tax, down to $1,500,000 with most of that being subject to state income tax ranging from 10.3-12.3%.  

I’d say a commission percentage reduction is in order.

[Lebowski]

1 hour ago, DChoosier said:

Nico might want to look into different agents/advisors.

His advisement team  “successfully” negotiated him away from a $2,400,000 deal, with zero state income tax, down to $1,500,000 with most of that being subject to state income tax ranging from 10.3-12.3%.  

I’d say a commission percentage reduction is in order.

While I don't disagree with you regarding the state's differences in taxes, I do however disagree that this transfer wasn't good for him. Most importantly, he's home with his family, which might be the motivating factor of his choice. He's also in the 2nd largest market in the country, and he arguably upgraded coaches to improve his personal growth. We'll find out if it works out for him in the long run but I understand his decision to transfer to UCLA. And if we're going to dig in the weeds about the financial differences of the two places, today if he wanted to he can invest in the southern California real estate market and never have to worry about his personal assets for the rest of his life. And the ROI compared to Knoxville, TN is exponential. Since he grew up in socal, I'm sure he's well aware of the real estate market and might be eyeing (or not) certain homes in certain neighborhoods. For example. Manhattan Beach's avg house price is $3.08M to where in Downey (his hometown) the average house price is slightly above $800k. And if he wanted to stay close to his hometown Belmont Shore's avg house price is $1.4M. But I most certainly do understand your point, he lost upfront money with this transfer and his agent didn't do him any favors. Or maybe his agent/advisors explained to him about long term investments like real estate? Which in that case did him a huge a favor. Who knows, man. It's such a different time now that NIL and the transfer portal is part of the equation now. 

You do bring up a disadvantage the vast majority of schools have regarding state income tax rates. There are currently 9 states that do not have an income tax. (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) All schools in those states have an advantage to sway NIL signings. There are some disadvantages to some of the states listed, for example, cost of living and housing affordability. But folks like Nico don't have to worry about neither of those examples in any state in the union because he's getting paid a substantial amount of cash. 

[DChoosier]

I agree that there are a lot of other variables but at first it appeared his motivation was to go from 2.4mm to the 4mm range. I’m guessing he or his advisors thought his market value would be in the Archie Manning range.

I get the difference in SoCal real estate but I doubt that was really a driver. For one thing if he feels he will be in the NFL he probably won’t be in SoCal very long. Also, if SoCal real estate was an interest he still could have made that investment while living and making 2.4mm in TN.

The net/net is that he ended  up at 1.5 instead of 2.4 but maybe it will still work out better for him. Who knows but in any case 1.5 isn’t a bad consolation prize for a college kid :)