The Buckeyes have one of the biggest athletic department budgets in the nation but it seems like there is a big disconnect between what Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith wants to do regarding Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) with his program.
He has gone on record to say that the university will not give money to players, it has to be through collectives, like the one former national championship-winning quarterback Cardale Jones has a hand in, THE Foundation.
As we saw during the early signing period, prospects all across the country were lured by upfront payments and schools like Oregon and Alabama reaped the benefits of 5-star prospects and transfers.
As I scoured the Twittersphere today, I came across two separate videos that go over Ohio State’s NIL strategy or lack thereof, and I outline my takes from each of them.
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Signee Lincoln Kienholz explains the difference between NIL offers from OSU and Washington
"I need to bet on myself, stars really don't matter."@AnderaMidco talked to @LincolnKienholz about why he picked the @OhioStateFB on signing day!#MidcoSports pic.twitter.com/cq7I1UOPLd
— 📣 Midco Sports (@MidcoSports) December 22, 2022
Takeaway
Ohio State coach Ryan Day talks about Pierre QB and Buckeye signee Lincoln Kienholz. #sdpreps pic.twitter.com/4wrgWTKEsn
— Ryan Deal (@RyanDeal_605) December 22, 2022
Not all prospects will be as mature as Lincoln Kienholz and pick money over development, it’s a fact. A 17 or 18-year-old young adult who doesn’t have a dime to their name will see a big NIL offer over a smaller one and be swayed by the immediate opportunity to see their bank account have five digits and a comma — maybe more.
It’s an unfortunate reality of the current situation in college sports and it looks like the Buckeyes are behind the curve. Kienholz explains that he was offered more NIL money to sign with washington, an above-average Pac-12 school that finished with a solid 10-2 record this year, but has been wildly inconsistent and basically a non-contender for College Football Playoff spots. If this is really the case, Ohio State is very much behind the eight-ball in NIL.
Ron James - The Gene Smith Dilemma
In the era of NIL, is the Ohio State athletic department too large?
Today we explore what I like to call
The Gene Smith Dilemma pic.twitter.com/r8fM2VY4Wr— Ron James🌰 (@2_Tees) December 21, 2022
Takeaway Part 1 - The problem
Thanks to @CFAPeachBowl CEO Gary Stokan for offering the formal invitation. Excited for the game on Dec. 31! pic.twitter.com/kyOwpqlIsn
— Gene Smith (@OSU_AD) December 13, 2022
There is so much more in this video than in the Kienholz interview that I’m going to break this down into two parts; the problem — and the suggested solution. The problem is two-fold as James outlines, the fact that Smith has built a massive athletic department that houses the largest set of Olympic sports in the nation. All of them being non-revenue sports hurts the bottom line for the football program who basically funds every other sport in the program.
Smith wants donors to know that since NIL changed the dynamics of the relationships with student-athletes to an employee/employer one, the money that was donated previously to the athletic department that now goes to NIL funds, isn’t helping the bottom line, aka funding non-revenue sports.
Does Smith have a point? Yes, but this was his own doing, creating a monster that is difficult to fund even with a massive TV contract on the way.
Takeaway Part 2 - The solution
Thanks to collectives for their support! https://t.co/bznUfgd3wu
— Gene Smith (@OSU_AD) December 8, 2022
What James suggests actually makes a ton of sense and it could very well solve the issues the Buckeyes are having. The first part would be to cut some of the Olympic sports, which is what we have seen other Big Ten schools do — like Iowa — which recently cut men’s gymnastics, tennis, and swimming and diving teams. It would be unfortunate for those athletes, but with the transfer portal, it would be much easier for them to find a new home given the appropriate time.
The second part would be to use the revenue generated by the football team to pay the football team. Makes plenty of sense right? The money being donated to the athletic department and NIL collectives would then be used to fund the non-revenue sports. Also makes sense.
Plenty of schools across the country have been able to make the adjustment much faster than Ohio State. It’s an area it needs to change, which I outlined in my thoughts this morning about how yesterday’s early signing period “disappointment” went.
These changes would clearly see some of the current sports being cut, but you have to feed the mouth that feeds the rest of the program, right?
