The enrollment cliff. NIL. The portal. It’s all colliding — and the stress at the mid-major level and below has never been greater. Sports will be cut. DI schools will continue to drop levels. ADs are battling with Presidents, Chancellors, and Legislators. Coaches are taking subpar talent just to field a team. Frustration is everywhere. There’s plenty of blame to go around… But the NCAA and four commissioners are holding up meaningful change. They might be right that congressional help is the only path forward for every level — but they better get it because the frustration is real, and it’s mounting. So many talented, well-intentioned people in college athletics are feeling burn out. Kind of a depressing post, but these topics keep coming up again and again in conversations the past few months.

If this video makes sense to you, then you’re probably already working with Dropback. If this went over your head…well…that’s probably why you should connect with Luke and team.

“You identify these athletes, invest in them, and in many cases they leave.” FCS, G6 and even P4 leagues are facing business problems. How do you solve them? The answers might just be with Private Equity. herosports.com/fbs-fcs-colle…

“𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.” What a powerful line. I count ~18 A4 athletic departments flirting with irrelevancy. Another 10-ish A4 basketball programs flirting with irrelevancy — which is why the tournament is expanding.

Nine additions? Six assistant coaches? Completely unnecessary in this new landscape. Put the money into the roster.

Received a newsletter this morning titled “You can just do things” and it hit home. 13 years ago: coaching college basketball 10 years ago: signed my first client as a coaching agent 2 weeks ago: that same client landed her 3rd DI head coaching job (back at her alma mater) 7 years ago: joined one of the only companies preparing for NIL 2.5 years ago: went out on my own Today: working with schools companies navigating the chaos of college athletics Plenty of mistakes along the way. Even more great people. You can just do things. Put yourself out there. Add value. Skate to where the puck is going.

As the high-major assistant stated, above the cap $ is more about “cleaning the money”, not actually finding money above the cap. The CSC can crack down on collectives and MMRs, but there will always be another workaround.

LSU football roster budget: $40 million LSU basketball budget: $12 million Revenue sharing cap: $21.3 million $30.7 million needs to be approved as legitimate NIL through NIL Go. For comparison, Patrick Mahomes reportedly brings in $25 million in legitimate NIL deals per year

Deep pockets, yes. But that’s only a discussion point due to the inability to enforce House the way it was originally sold to all involved. If the settlement and its mechanisms had teeth, the story today would be about the dominance of the Big East and the mid majors.

As predicted. This went completely off the rails. Talk of returning to the old days of a scholarship as the only form of compensation for athletes. “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” @AthletesOrg @jimcavale

A Hawai‘i lawmaker said NIL funding is important to maintaining UH’s R1 research status and national presence. A successful athletics program impacts visibility, enrollment, fundraising, economic development, and more. College sports is messy right now, but that’s also why I love working in it so much. When the impact is that wide, all the decisions around it matter.

I hate the phrase “above the cap” NIL. It’s just money washing 2.0. MMR redirecting money. Apparel partner redirecting money. While begging for real ad spend that is slow to arrive. Creativity, innovation, and a long-term outlook is where “above the cap” $ will come from.

Invest in winning strategies, please. EIU 🏈: 3–9 EIU WBB: 3–18 EIU MBB: 9–12 A marketplace doesn’t contribute towards winning. If you’re going to spend $, make it something that can potentially impact winning. Winning makes a player, team, and program more marketable.

The press release states that “EIU has built a forward-thinking NIL program.” Yet, they’re doing something in 2026 that everyone did in 2023. Many athletic departments are *still* so far behind on NIL eiupanthers.com/news/2026/1/…

College sports is really trying to take the worst aspects of pro sports. Look what happened in the MLB this week when there’s effectively no cap. Collectively bargain a cap. Work together. Make decisions that are best for the next 40-years…

They’re under the radar, but Hawaii is putting together a successful NIL operation. $, talent identification, alignment, strong leadership. 9-win 🏈 season Men’s 🏀 is ranked in the mid-major top 25.

1. No “Plan B” for the House settlement was ever discussed. That alone tells you everything you need to know. 2. The SEC will do anything to avoid the obvious solution. 3. Conference-level enforcement isn’t it.

Self-interest and self-preservation are making college athletics more entertaining than ever, but it’s also f****** it all up. Tony Petitti and Greg Sankey are supposed to be “fixing” this, yet they’re each other’s biggest competition. If LSU tampered with Demond Williams, is Sankey actually going to do anything? Stepping in would help the sport, but his primary duty is to support LSU and the SEC. College sports are fracturing, and no one with real power is willing to sacrifice anything to stop it.