We could be witnessing the beginning of the end for a mighty Ohio State football program if this is all true.
The landscape of college football has been completely shaken up ever since the new NIL (name, image and likeness) rules came into play, because for the first time ever, players are now legally allowed to profit — and massively.
In fact, the money is so mammoth-sized that powerhouse programs such as the Ohio State University (OSU) Buckeyes are reportedly falling behind the other top powers due to a lack of cash, which is resulting in them losing out on top high school recruits — something that doesn’t normally happen with the OSU program.
Dave Biddle, editor of 247Sports and CBS’ Bucknuts, and host of 97.1 The Fan’s “On The Money,” said on his radio show the Buckeyes lost a five-star recruit because they couldn’t afford him, according to FanNation. And, even worse, the school was outbid by more than half of what the recruit was looking for in NIL money. (RELATED: Mississippi State University Football Coach Mike Leach Dead At 61 From Heart Condition)
“[OSU] didn’t get him over $750k,” Biddle said, according to Cleveland-based podcaster Chris McNeil.
On NIL:
“Ohio State missed out on a 5 star recruit because they could not pay him even half of what he was looking for. They didn’t get him over $750k.”
–@davebiddle on 97.1
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) December 13, 2022
McNeil then let us in on some more information from a “well-connected” source of his.
“UGA offered the kid 1.8M to sign and 800k/season… OSU couldn’t get him more than 500K,” McNeil tweeted, citing his unnamed source.
Further nugget:
“UGA offered the kid 1.8M to sign and 800k/season… OSU couldn’t get him more than 500K”
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) December 13, 2022
For clarification (sorry the train left the station already 😂): the UGA quote was not from @davebiddle. It was from a well-connected source that reached out to me after I published the Biddle quote on Twitter.
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) December 14, 2022
As a Michigan man, I hope to God all of this is true. How incredible it would be.