Syracuse head coach Fran Brown knows that navigating the NIL era isn’t just tough for college football programs—it presents new challenges for the players reaping the benefits as well.
Thus, Brown has instituted some rules for the Orange in addition to their practice schedules—once a week, the team will take a quick class on financial literacy. To ensure that players are able to put their newfound knowledge to good use, 40% of all of their NIL earnings will be put into savings.
Brown spoke about his plan, which is being helped in part by Community Bank, this week as Syracuse goes through their spring practices.
“Financial literacy is so important now,” Brown said. “A lot of people think you only need to learn financial literacy if you’re rich. You need to learn financial literacy to become rich.”
Brown explained that the plan stemmed in part from his upbringing, where money was often tight.
“It was extremely tough growing up,” Brown said. “Every NIL dollar, would not have been just for me. It would have been able to help my mom at home. We would have been able to not have to move all the time.
“Our players, they have to save 40% of their checks. They understand, no, I have to put 40% of my check away, so that way I can be better later. I’m your coach. There’s no way we’re going to pay you a lot of money as a good player and you’re going to walk away from here with no money.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Syracuse Football Coach Fran Brown Has a Smart Plan for Players and Their NIL Money.
