FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Name, image and likeness is a hot topic in the world of college athletics, and understandably so.
Student-athletes have had opportunities to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL) since last summer when the NCAA adopted an interim policy making it legal for them to do so. Less than a year later, though, college sports’ governing body has already added more guidelines in an effort to curtail the unintended consequences.
NIL collectives have popped up at schools nationwide as a way for boosters and businesses to pool their money to facilitate NIL deals with athletes currently enrolled at their schools. But to the surprise of no one, some groups are using collective funds to persuade recruits to sign with their schools.
On Monday, the NCAA released NIL guidelines prohibiting collectives from paying players who haven’t yet signed with a school as well as current student-athletes looking to transfer. The announcement came late Monday afternoon while ACC athletic directors and coaches convened for the first day of the league’s annual spring meetings.
Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said the updated bylaws help provide some clarity as to what is and isn’t allowed in the NIL world, but with many states having their own NIL legislation and potential antitrust concerns, whether or not the NCAA’s perceived crackdown turns into anything more than a threat remains to be seen.
“I think everyone in there is eager to see what the feedback is like from the board and how we can implement it,” Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said.
NIL may have been a major talking point, but it wasn’t the only one athletic directors discussed while meeting for more than three hours inside a ballroom at The Ritz-Carlton on Monday on Amelia Island. There was also “lots of football scheduling discussion” that could result in the elimination of the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, Neff said.
Like every other Football Bowl Subdivision conference, the ACC has an annual title game that pits division winners against each other, a format the league has used to determine its champion since expanding to 14 teams in 2005. But thanks to another potential change to the rules, that may not be the case much longer.
The NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee is recommending legislation to remove FBS requirements for teams to play in their respective conference championship games. If the recommendation gets approved later this week as expected, how a champion is decided would be left to the discretion of the individual conferences, which could eliminate divisions and leave the teams with the two highest conference winning percentages to play for the title.
Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich said he’s on board with that possibility.
“I think the two best teams in the league having an opportunity to play is really important,” Radakovich said. “You can spin the opportunity to get to a championship game just as you can spin the opportunity to win a division. I think if we’ve done it this way before, if there’s good reason for us to alter our schedule where no divisions come into play because we want our student-athletes to play more people within the league, then I think it’s something we should take a look at and certainly give a try.”
As for what a new scheduling model would look like without divisions, Neff nor Radakovich detailed that to The Clemson Insider. But, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, there are a couple that would keep the league schedule at eight games that are possible: two permanent opponents and six that rotate on and off the slate every other year or three permanent opponents and five that rotate on and off every other year.
Under the current scheduling format, Clemson plays fellow Atlantic Division members North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Florida State, Syracuse, Louisville and Boston College every year. Georgia Tech is the Tigers’ permanent cross-division opponent while the eighth conference game rotates among the other Coastal Division teams annually.
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