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Ingram Smith, the president of the Florida State Seminoles‘ NIL collective The Battles End, had some pretty spicy comments prior to the start of the 2024 college football season.
Now, with his team sitting at 0-2 and likely already out of the College Football Playoff picture, those comments have backfired in a big way.
“Mike Norvell and his staff displayed a significant propensity to use the portal as a tool,” Smith told Pete Nakos of On3 Sports. “Our ability to add a competitive asset of NIL has only allowed that to transpire all the more.
“… We were one of the first collectives to just say, ‘Yeah, y’all are being very stupid if you’re spending 70% of your money on high school kids.’ We went heavily into retention and portal. That has changed as Florida State has signed higher-ranked high school prospects and will continue to do so.”
Florida State Is Spending Big On NIL Even If The Results Don’t Show It
Just how much has The Battle’s End invested in the football program and Florida State’s 20 other NCAA programs?
“Multiple sources tell On3 the collective will spend in the $18-million range for all sports in the 2024-25 academic year,” Nakos reports.
Smith told Nakos that he believes the Seminoles can compete with just about every program in the country when it comes to NIL.
“I’m not going to tell you that I’m John Ruiz, and I have unlimited money,” he said. “But I will tell you that we can be as competitive as we want to be in this space.”
Ruiz, of course, is the top booster associated with the Miami Hurricanes. But his “unlimited money” appears to be running out. Ruiz recently told investors that his company, LifeWallet, is on life support.
So too, it appears, are the Seminoles. At least that’s the case in 2024. It just goes to show that while NIL strength is a huge asset, it’s not the end-all, be-all in college football.