Mike Gundy is not a rule breaker. The 56-year-old head football coach at Oklahoma State wants that on the record.
Neither he nor his program break the rules. Especially in regard to Name, Image and Likeness.
NIL, which was born on July 1, 2021, completely changed the landscape of collegiate athletics forever. Where athletes were previously compensated under-the-table, illegally, they are able to be compensated for things like public appearances, social media promotion and charity work.
However, the creation of “collectives” created a system of pay-for-play. That’s just the reality.
Collectives are tasked with raising funds, which are used to pay players on a bankroll-like system. Although there are promotional elements to the transactions, they are essentially professional contracts.
Teams with greater NIL funds are able to offer more money to top talent, which allows them a better chance of landing top talent — on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal — over programs with less wealthy collectives. Money has always been part of the process, but the dollar sums are greater today than just three years ago.
For a college football head coach or staffer to float the idea of significant NIL opportunities at their program to a recruit is legal. Offering them X amount of money for their commitment is not.
Both of those things are happening across the sport. There is no system of checks and balances in place, so programs are operating within a very small grey area, or just flat-out defying regulations.
Not Gundy. Not Oklahoma State. They don’t break the rules.
Gundy spoke to the importance of the Cowboys’ top NIL collective, Pokes With A Purpose, during a press conference on Tuesday. He made it very clear that success on the field and NIL off of the field go hand-and-hand.
When asked whether he discusses NIL with recruits, Gundy responded with a big smirk and some sass.
We don’t — here. Because it’s illegal.
I don’t break the rules.
So now, I don’t know if other people do or not… that’s a good question!
— Mike Gundy
Here is his full answer:
Gundy is well-aware of the ongoings at other schools. He is aware of the illegal activity taking place.
His grin and the twinkle in his eye says it all. Gundy was pretty proud of that one!