Cody is not the only contributor to The Matador Club (Tech’s NIL group). He has a partner in his O&G ventures who also played OL for Tech, John Sellers. Sellers’ wife played softball for Tech so now you know why softball is suddenly a thing at Tech. Sellers cares about football too. Anyway, there are 12-13 billionaire/multi-millionaire alumni who have contributed 7 figure amounts to Tech’s NIL and there are thousands more who contribute smaller amounts, like me at $100/month auto-pay for the past 3 years or so.* Most of the ‘12-13 club’ are graduates of Tech’s petroleum engineering department. And everyone is in it for the long haul. This is a 4-5 year experiment. If Tech underperforms this season, nothing will change.
*If you contribute $100/month for one year, The Matador Club sends you a box of Tech swag including Tech golf shirts, T-shirts, baseball hats, coozies, etc. All high quality. Your NIL group should something like that to encourage participation.
As someone mentioned earlier, we’ve had some major contributors over our 98 years, be happy! It’s going to get even tougher with the current admin in DC for all colleges. Save for a rainy day!
As for as TT goes, let then waste their $$ on a few players. It won’t take them to the next level.
Exactly. A lot of guys will take less money to play for a big name with a chance of winning a championship. Plus, you have the next tier guys who will play for peanuts to be on those teams.
A giant NIL isn’t going to defeat a very large NIL + Status.
Mike,
I am eternally grateful for all Mr Fertitta has done for us both financially and politically. He is a true leader. I would never ask him to do more but would appreciate his continued help. The Man put us on the map and should be remembered during freshman orientation.
Go Coogs!
That #1 recruit is getting $3.5MM for 3 years
Hasn’t even played a down of college football yet, you can buy players all you want but like some have said, mediocre results = payments will stop coming
I wouldn’t be surprised if Fertitta wishes other BMDs would step up instead of him being the first one they call. I am sure UH is sensitive to that and tries to get other BMDs involved. After decades of existence, UH still only has a small number of mega-BMDs willing to be reliable athletic donors. These are donors who are passionate about UH athletics and will donate regardless of how the program is doing. To me, this is what separates UH from Texas, Texas A&M and now, Texas Tech.
For those BMDs who are more business-minded, which I believe the City of Houston has a considerable number, their donation has to make financial sense to them. This is where winning in football is critical to increasing donations.
I have a special appreciation for donors who donate during the hard times, with no expectation of a return. Lord know how many of us did our part during the lean years.
So if Texas Tech makes the playoffs this year and becomes the top football program in the Big12, it seems to me that some fans’ comments on here are going to look a bit foolish.
As for me, I have to say good luck to our fellow conference member (Tech) with their donors’ $$$ commitment in trying to become a bigger, better football program… like maybe a Clemson.
Clemson is not a great comparison. Dabo is very much more of a developmental coach and a holistic builder than people give him credit for.
Despite his personality and antics, he’s much closer to that in how he runs a program than he is to the the other end of the spectrum. He would actually get along great with the brain trust in the Big 12.
Dabo’s Clemson program could not be more different than what may very well work out in Tech under McGuire. Tech may win big time, but if they do it won’t resemble Clemson in any way except perhaps a win loss record, which you could say about anybody.
Dabo Sweeney was very slow to recognize the importance of NIL. In fact, he resisted NIL for his program until the competitive balance shifted so much, Sweeney was forced to play the NIL game. Clemson does not lack financial supporters. I have seen pictures of their football facility and it takes a back seat to no one.
Exactly. Smart move by a top player. Take the most you can get year one. Then higher offers will come next year. Not much to lose on his part. He’ll dominate no matter where he’s at.
