Outgoing Boise State defensive coordinator Dirk Koetter claims Oregon wasted no time trying to poach his former program’s top college football players. The Ducks allegedly tried to lure them into the transfer portal with lucrative NIL deals just a few days after the conclusion of their season.
Although this kind of behavior is not uncommon in the modern era, it speaks to the frustrating structure of the current system. Teams are forced to recruit their roster for next year before this year ends and programs with more more money at their disposal are going to have an upper-hand.
We know that Nike founder Phil Knight wants Oregon to win a national championship in college football during his lifetime. With that goal in mind, the 86-year-old billionaire is funding a large portion of the Ducks’ roster-building efforts with money from the Swoosh. They have a big NIL pool on which to recruit.
The same cannot be said for the Broncos. Koetter recently resigned from his role as defensive coordinator and decided to retire from coaching in large part because of the ongoing bidding wars. Boise State does not have enough money to stay competitive with Power Five Six programs. Their players are leaving to get paid more at other schools.
Oregon is spending a lot of NIL money!
Koetter recently made a desperate plea for the Idaho community to open up their checkbooks so their lone in-state FBS program can retain its roster. He also put Oregon on blast for tampering.
The Broncos lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The Ducks got on the phone with one of their best defensive players shortly thereafter and offered him a lucrative NIL deal to transfer.
I know for a fact that just last week, after the Fiesta Bowl, one of the key starters on defense got a call from the Oregon Ducks offering him $700,000.
— Dirk Koetter
Koetter also pulled back the curtains on Boise State’s NIL budget during an appearance on 95.3 The Ticket.
Let’s get some numbers out there. Our salary cap is $2 million. And that’s up from maybe something like $1.6 million last year, but it’s around $2 million. Every calendar year, that’s what it is right now, and trying to grow it. But the people we’re competing against, maybe not in our current conference, but where we’re going and who we’re expected to compete against, it’s as high as $20 million.
— Dirk Koetter
The Broncos are working at a $15 million+ deficit in some instances. Oregon has, essentially, unlimited Nike money at its disposal. Boise State has no more than $2 million.
There is no way for the smaller schools to match the numbers being offered by the bigger schools!