Since the obvious comp for the NIL era is European Soccer, why not look for potential advantages in that realm. So, I'm going to throw out the Academy system. Why not turn PK Young into UF High, compete directly with IMG and start giving out scholarships to promising athletes when they are kids and trying to seed the loyalty early. Obviously, like Europe, they could go wherever they want once they turn 18yo, but academy kids tend to stay with the home team. Just a thought, but what's preventing schools from doing this? Also, if other schools were to do it, what's to stop this from being a marketable product in its own right. U-18 SEC league could probably get a TV deal of its own.
Already exists and is affiliated with UF as a Laboratory School. Same in tally with fsu and famu. There is no more loyalty for some beyond loyalty to self and the Benjamins. playing for the team’s success ends when it conflicts with personal enrichment, just another level of pitting individuals against each other.
Make it an official Academy. I.E. Payments/scholarships to young promising athletes. Not just a private school with affiliation to UF, but the UF Sports Academy with direct ties and cooperation with the overall program. Everything from U-7s to the Gator Varsity teams in every sport. Scour the state and nation for prospects and recruit and sign them up just like European teams do.
Interesting idea. Its already tied directly to UF as a scholastic teaching laboratory not a private entity. Good luck getting UF to ramble down that path.
Doesn't have to be NIL and probably wouldn't be as that's technically between the athlete and the individual sponsor. I'm talking straight-up IMG model only dedicated to UF first and foremost.
The optics of UF having an “athletic farm system” is in conflict with a top 5 academic school Even if the upper levels of the administration said yes the departments would revolt with the “sharing” of relatively scarce monetary resources and university prestige
IMG is a beautiful campus that hosts athletes from multiple sports. Tennis was their claim to fame years ago. Kids used to go there to create visibility for themselves but that is not as needed with all the camps and social media. They don’t necessarily attract and retain the best athletes in HS sports any longer. Some play there a year and go back home. They have a hard time attracting quality QBs.
Future headmasters for the Academy. University of Florida scientists arrested after allegedly putting kids in cages while they went to work
Well, yeah. That's the rub in all of this, right? I have questions whether UF will (or should) do what it takes to keep up with the UGA's and Alabama's of the world. This would be more of a "once you've given up all hope for sanity" scenario.
Interesting idea but there could be many snags to make it practical. Especially in the public school sector. Many public school districts have pretty strict rules about recruiting and having players actually being a resident of a school district. Yes, I know that lot of schools have played loose with these rules and have the money to arrange moving star athletes into their school area. Such a set up would have a high school in this situation out in the cold in getting into a conference so that they could get a full schedule with schools with in a couple of hours driving time. This could be especially hard with schools that have an enrollment of more that 2,500 students. Many of these school have power house football/athletic programs. Many of their stadiums and facilities put a lot of small college stadiums and facilities to shame. I am not saying this could work. I am sure if someone throws enough money around, this scenario could work. The big question could be, is the money, time, effort, and possible disadvantages worth it? Another question to ask is, Once the high school seniors graduates from this academy, how many will sign on to the parent college program? Or, is there legal ways to bind these students to sign on with that parent college program? Like many possible good ideas, there could be some hidden traps or negative returns. Still it is an interesting idea for discussion.
It's competitor would be IMG or similar types of "schools" and they would compete against each other unless the public schools wanted to schedule them. In Europe, the kids can come in as early as you like, but I'm pretty sure at 18yo they are essentially free agents. Also keep in mind the one thing we lack that Europe has, transfer fees. So, if you've got a really promising 17yo and you're a middle-of-the-pack program, you may want to sell him early to a larger club rather than have him get poached. For the most part, academy kids tend to stay. But if the player is good enough (say, Declan Rice at Aston Villa) the bigger teams will come calling and you'll have to take the transfer money and give up the player (Rice went to Arsenal for 100M) or risk losing him for free once his contract is up. One example of this is Manchester United's great teams of the past where Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, etc. all came up through the ManU youth program.
