The NIL movement in the NCAA over the past few years has been quite a controversial topic in college football circles. There’s some debate over whether this recent trend of teams offering deals to rookies is good for the overall health of the game. There are of course plenty of talking points on both sides, and the topic isn’t as simple as one might think.
College football analyst Jemele Hill offered an interesting take on NIL. Hill first tweeted about the success of the Vanderbilt and Indiana football teams this week in the NCAA, as they picked up big wins against their opponents. THE The Commodores knocked off tenth-ranked LSU 31-24while the Hoosiers decimated the Michigan State Spartans 38-13.
“Vanderbilt…another reason why the NIL era is good for college football,” Hill posted on X after Vanderbilt’s upset. “Schools like Indiana and Vanderbilt have a chance to compete at a higher level because it’s now about who has the best offer, so the talent is more spread out.”
Hill detailed his point of view in a response to a commenter who said the success of both programs was due to their coaching, not NIL agreements.
“Both are good coaches, but a great coach can’t overcome a bad team. Indy has a strong team + coach + a boatload of NIL money. Pavia is a good college player…making over $2 million this year.”
Quarterback Diego Pavia was instrumental in Vanderbilt’s success in Week 8 of the NCAA college football season. The Commodores quarterback completed 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 160 yards and a touchdown. He also did plenty of damage in the running game, leading Vanderbilt with 86 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Pavie is one of the highest paid quarterbacks through NIL.
As for Indiana, Fernando Mendoza played a key role keeping the Hoosiers’ perfect record through seven games this season. The NIL recruit had just four incompletions on the day, throwing for 332 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Michigan State.
