Erik Bakich switched schools just as the shifting landscape within college athletics began heating up.
Clemson hired Bakich away from Michigan as its head baseball coach last month. A couple of weeks prior to his introductory press conference, Dear Old Clemson, another collective aimed at financially supporting Tiger student-athletes’ name, image and likeness opportunities, was launched. Two weeks later, the latest dominos in the conference realignment game fell when Southern Cal and UCLA bolted for the Big Ten beginning in 2024.
Bakich may have been even busier than usual over the last month, but having been a coach at the Division I level for the last two decades, he’s far from oblivious to what’s going on around him. During a wide-ranging interview with The Clemson Insider this week, Bakich said having NIL opportunities for athletes at Clemson is “much-needed,” particularly in baseball where most if not all players are attending school on partial scholarships due to the sport’s 11.7-scholarship limit.
“I’m a huge fan of NIL because I’m a firm believer that college baseball is the most underfunded sport of all the major sports,” Bakich said. “11.7 scholarships for 35 or 40 players means you have a lot of kids walking out of school accumulating a lot of student-loan debt. If I could waive the magic wand of NIL, it would be that every player on the roster didn’t have a bill or didn’t have any debt and had their full cost of attendance covered. For me personally, that’s what I would love to see. I would love to see NIL subsidize our 11.7 so every player had as few out-of-pocket costs as possible.
“And then NIL is a great opportunity for guys that want to capitalize on their name, image and likeness to create some financial freedom for themselves. I think that’s fantastic.”
With multiple collectives in place at Clemson in addition to construction being underway on an on-campus facility dedicated solely to the development of NIL activity, Bakich said he feels like there’s enough in place to attract prospective baseball athletes and to help bridge that gap between the amount of their scholarship and the full cost of attendance once they’re enrolled.
“The TimerImpact program and Dear Old Clemson,” Bakich said. “The guys that are taking the lead on this and some (of the) initiatives, I think it’s all fantastic. It’s much-needed, it’s very helpful, and it’s critical for Clemson to continue to be a leader in this space.”
As for conference realignment, Bakich said he doesn’t have a preference on a landing spot for Clemson should the school leave the ACC in the future. But there are two leagues that he holds in high regard when it comes to the sport with which he’s involved.
“I think everyone is reacting to the news cycle and no one knows what’s going to happen and where people go,” Bakich said. “Personally, we’ll play anyone you put in front of us, and we’re going to prepare to win a national championship regardless of whether we’re in the ACC or the SEC or anywhere.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I try not to spend too much time thinking about it just because I have no control over any of it. But I know ACC baseball and SEC baseball, just having spent a long time in both of those conferences, those are the top two college baseball conferences by a landslide.”
Dear Old Clemson’s first event is July 24. Now there is a new way to support Clemson student-athletes. Come out and meet the freshmen football players at this meet and greet autograph session. If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events. Purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.
