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The Notre Dame football team is having a special season as they are one win away from capturing the national championship. The Fighting Irish will be taking on Ohio State next Monday in the national title game, and these are two of the biggest brands in college football. It's not a big surprise to see two schools like this make it to the national title game in this new era of college football as big brand also means big NIL money.
NIL is one of the most important aspects of college football now. Players can make money, and they want to go to the school that will get them the most. Notre Dame can definitely get some good NIL money, but a lot of people don't consider them to be one of the top dogs.
One person that is very involved with the Notre Dame NIL situation is Brady Quinn. Quinn played football for the Fighting Irish in college, and he went on to play in the NFL. He is now a college football analyst for Fox, and he recently discussed NIL on the Always College Football podcast.
“Look there’s narratives out there about $20 million this and that, everyone wants to claim they know the exact number,” Brady Quinn said. “I’ve started the collective so I can intimately kind of tell you what’s been raised, what’s been spent, what they have. As far as certain positions and players it’s highly competitive with whatever else is out there. Maybe not by and large on some of the other players or retention to keep depending on how that’s viewed. That’s up for others to make that decision.”
One thing that does present some challenges for Notre Dame is their academic standard. It's one of the best schools in the country for academics, and not every recruit can get in. Quinn thinks that NIL helps level the playing field in that regard.
“If anything I think it’s an example of how NIL has allowed Notre Dame to be able to remain competitive despite the fact that the academic standards just aren’t the same as everywhere else,” Quinn said.
Quinn is happy with what NIL has done for the Notre Dame football program, and it is especially important with transfers. The transfer portal is another huge aspect of the game right now, and good NIL helps land good transfers. We have seen a lot of transfers make a big impact for the Fighting Irish during the College Football Playoff.
“I mean you don’t have to go back any further than the Quarterfinal game vs. Georgia and look at all the players that, whether it’s Riley Leonard, Beaux Collins, Mitch Jeter, RJ Oben, obviously you look at the kick returner,” Quinn said. “I mean they’re all transfer players so NIL has been good to Notre Dame.”
Something is clearly working out for Notre Dame as they are about to play in the national title game. Whether it's NIL or not, Fighting Irish fans don't care as long as they get to see their team compete for championships.
