Totally agree. The UF leadership (Pres., AD, UAA, Collective, big money boosters, etc.) simply haven't made the commitment YET to divert enough of our significant revenue resources towards large enough NIL deals to compete with other programs for most of the elite athletes out there.
Saban said, no thanks. I think Dabo will be next. I wonder how long Sully will watch lesser coaches/programs buy up all of the top talent? I wouldn't want to be a part of this crap if I were a coach. Heck, I'm just a fan and I'm losing more interest by the season.
I have a neighbor that was a high school head coach that has retired and he told me he was glad he was retired. He said the kids today care about the money and me, me, they have no loyalty to a school nor the deep down desire to compete. If things don’t go their way, they just transfer to another school. They don’t want to stay and work thru problems, they look for the easy way out. Dealing with parents of these same kids is a headache, they think their kids deserve all the breaks with out working thru them and sticking with their school and coaches.
Crazy times. Same thing for teachers. Parents want teachers fired for trying to discipline their badass kids. The kids are so spoiled and entitled, and the parents think they can do no wrong. I guess it’s really the same in all walks of life. Hiring and training todays youth is just as frustrating. But teachers and coaches used to be who parents depended on to instill some discipline and work ethics. Nowadays they’re hated for trying to do so.
So let's go back about 105 years. Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to Yankees. Rumors will soon be flying that Arnold Rothstein bought White Sox players to guarantee his World Series bets. WW I vets are returning expecting financial gratitude from the nation- they've seen Paree and have little interest in returning to their farms. Even black vets have had a glimpse of life without Jim Crow and gotten uppity. (It will take 40 years and two more wars for real progress even to start.) Money, money, money!!! What's happening to the country? Within a decade Ruth was paid more than the President, but Ruth explained he deserved to make more because he had a better year than Coolidge. Salaries kept getting bigger, but players were regularly traded, including Ruth, Cobb and many other stars. In the '50s, teams start moving, too: Braves moved to Milwaukee, then Atlanta; Athletics to KC, then Oakland; Browns only move once to reach Baltimore; two of three NY teams move to the west coast; one Senators franchise moves to Minneapolis, another moves to Dallas; the first team in Seattle only survives a year and heads to Milwaukee; Expos leave Montreal for a third attempt at MLB in DC. Then there are expansion teams- MLB went fom 16 teams to 30. Where is team/city loyalty? Money, money, money!!! What's happening to the country? In '69, Curt Flood filed suit against MLB and in '72, the Supreme Court threw out the reserve clause and created free agency. Players jump from one team to another and long term contracts are well into nine figures and surely will reach ten before long. Where is team/city loyalty? Money, money, money!!! What's happening to the country? During those same years, airplanes, electricity and telephones became part of normal life; radio was born; movies gained talkies and color; television was born; celebrities became richer and richer; the work week became 40 hours over five days; kids seldom had to work to help pay family bills; Dr Spock changed how parents raised children; families became smaller; women were allowed to go to college, hold responsible jobs, own property and credit cards; black people sometimes were allowed to go to college, hold responsible jobs, own property and credit cards, play baseball get into the HOF. Holy sh*t, man walked on the moon. Money, money, money!!! What's happening to the country? Obviously, I'm saying that changes keep happening. Sorry, you old folks (at least old from the neck up), but money, money, money will continue to drive changes. In fact, many changes will be very good. In fact, many peoples' lives- including athletes- will be better off because of money-related changes. It was nice to read that Gators ARE a big player in NIL in some form, even if they still have to figure out how to do it right. A 1960 song asked, "What's the matter with kids today? Why can't they be like we were, perfect in every way?" It's old, but available on Spotify and several other apps.
She was in the movie and in the clip, but sang other songs, like this one: . Other good ones are like this: and this:
D1Bsb's top 85 transfer pitchers lis got to Barlow. 43. Billy Barlow, RHP (Clemson to Florida) As usual, Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators will have no shortage of arms entering the 2025 campaign. Barlow, a 6-foot-2, 215-pounder, is a solid addition to that group. Barlow made 10 starts and appeared in 15 games for Clemson last season, tallying a 4.28 ERA in 48.1 innings, along with 42 strikeouts and 20 walks. There’s more juice in the tank with Barlow’s arm, but last season, he was primarily 90-92 mph with his fastball, along with a mid-80s slider and 82-84 mph changeup.
UF is not all that far behind when it comes to baseball NIL. Obviously not at A&M’s level but in the next grouping of SEC teams including TN, LSU, ARK and a couple of others. Yes, it could be better but let’s not make it sound like UF is handing out scraps.
The Gator NIL collective isn't even ranked in the Top 20. Even Kansas & SMU are ahead of us. We have the money and are giving out a lot of NIL deals, but it's more like participation trophies in Little League instead of really trying to bring in the best talent. TOP 20 NIL Collectives
I agree. We wouldn't have gotten Shelton if that was the case. However my original point was this is not sustainable. Right now coaches don't even know how many scholarships they can give. While there was talk of 35 full rides, schools do not want this. I think they will settle at 24. What's happening is Texas AM and other schools with more NIL money are loading the box with extra depth for the other 10 players.
I question these rankings. I don't know if anyone really knows. I have heard that Stricklin hasn't been great at this for what it's worth vs other AD's. Again TIFWIW.
My first visit to Mark Light was for a regional game vs Minnesota in 1994. Unfortunately we took a beating and the canes fans were out in force. Ugly people in more ways than one.
I was there a few years back and the Canes sitting around me actually expected to lose. Quite a change from the obnoxious crowds of their heydays. Losing does that to you.
JD, I agree that we need to continue to grow our NIL in order to compete with the big boys. But because of misconceptions among our fan base, just wanted to point out that UF baseball has been very competitive in paying NIL money the past few seasons.
