Sports

Fired College Football Coach Accused Of Lying About Guaranteed NIL Money He Didn’t Have

by Last Updated
Tulsa NIL Football Kevin Wilson
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Kevin Wilson did not make it through the entire 2024 college football season as the head coach at Tulsa. He was fired last month and supposedly left some unfulfilled NIL promises behind.

Many of his former players are upset with their lack of financial compensation since arriving to Oklahoma after they were guaranteed a much larger sum.

Wilson went 7-16 during his 23-game tenure with the Golden Hurricane. While there, he actually landed the highest-ranked recruiting class in school history and made it abundantly clear that money did not play a role. The 63-year-old could not pay his players because he didn’t have any money to pay them.

Despite what the head coach said in February, starting quarterback Cooper Legas told Fox23 that he never received the NIL money he was promised by Wilson when he transferred to Tulsa from Utah State.

What I was told was for the QB, Coach Wilson and the other people who were recruiting me specifically. He said, this was back in May, …there was already enough money in the collective fund or the NIL fund there was enough for the QB, room to have between $75,000 and $100,000 and of that money, most of that would go to whoever the starting QB was and the rest to the backup

— Cooper Legas

The payments allegedly kept getting delayed once the season got underway.

If you don’t go to class or you miss a lift or you do these things…you’re probably not [going to] get your money that month. They would use it as leverage. Follow the rules, play well, be on time to things – they were using this money as leverage and it just kept getting pushed back.

— Cooper Legas

Legas spoke with the Golden Hurricane’s athletic director to inquire about the outstanding money.

I just went to him and explained, “Hey, this is what I was told, what I’ve been hearing. So, you’re the last guy I can think to go to. How do we solve this issue?” and his response is just “You’ve got to have something in writing or you’re out of luck. If you never signed anything, that’s just too bad.”

— Cooper Legas

It was not the answer he had hoped.

Does Tulsa owe money to its football team?

The university issued the following statement:

The University of Tulsa continues to provide scholarships and academic support to football student-athletes whose eligibility has expired should they elect to earn their degrees. The Department of Athletics is unaware of any promises of NIL payments made by the former head football coach to student-athletes completing their eligibility.

— Tulsa

However, the parents of fifth-year senior linebacker Myles Jackson also believe their son was lied to by the university and its former head coach. They and Legas claim they were told by Wilson that the money would come directly from a collective.

We are looking for a resolution because it’s a letdown. Now that the coach has been let go, no one can give us answers on how they can actually get the money that was promised. So, that’s disheartening and it’s just a total disappointment for us.

— Myles Jackson’s father Matthew

Wilson pushed back on these allegations. He pointed to his press conference back in February as an example of why they are untrue. Apparently, that was not the only time he established the reality of his Tulsa’s NIL destitution.

I stood in front of the team and stated over and over that no one was promised any money… because I never had any to give.

— Kevin Wilson, via Fox23

To be clear, there was some extra money lying around the program. However, Kevin Wilson says it was paid out based on academics and the fund was maxed out.

There are two sides to every story and the truth usually falls somewhere in the middle. Tulsa denies any outstanding promises. Its fired head coach says the same. His former players say otherwise.