Oregon only has Phil Knight. Once he stops pouring money into Oregon, they won’t be a powerhouse anymore.
Given that we are in a huge city, we should be well set for this NIL era. I feel like you’re underestimating this @uhlaw97
I feel that you and 1927 are OVER estimating our NIL potential.
UH is known for having alums that don’t care about UH sports, hence our attendance woes.
That affects NIL as well.
Likewise…while Houston has tons of local businesses…if they want to invest in sports, they’ll invest primarily in PRO sports that can reach a much larger market/customer base.
I hope I’m wrong, but I’m not really seeing UH ever being especially big in NIL UNLESS we either a) get our own Phil Knight (or ideally more than one), or b) Tilman becomes our Phil Knight by buying us enough top recruits.
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Basketball is way different Bro.
That only requires us to pay for a few players per year.
Football is another story. That requires us to pay 20+ players per year big bucks…and top QB prospects can demand enough to where only the Michigans of this world can afford them.
See if we have the NIL to pay for as many top football recruits as UT or OU can.
The answer appears to be no.
It is what it is.
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Actually, if anything Basketball players cost MORE because there are fewer high quality players.
I was just proving point that we DO have rich enough donors to fund the #1 recruiting class in the #2 money sport in college athletics.
I keep on saying this OVER AND OVER AGAIN…,many are ignoring the corporate element in NIL.
Jamal Shead had a sweet NIL deal with Houston based Exxon-Mobil
We have enough wealthy donors to sign 1-3 basketball players per year.
We have nowhere near enough to sign a top 15 football recruiting class, or get into a bidding war with Michigan for a top QB prospect.
Ya gotta be Oregon, or UT, or Michigan, etc to do that. As I said, the rich simply get richer.
NIL is brutal to schools like UH. Have you not heard that we are considered among the weakest schools in that regard?
What makes you believe that that can be magically reversed?
I realize you have this fantasy that our rich alums and local businesses are going to do it, but the obvious question is…if that’s true…then why has it NOT been happening.
Never assume that we have the money to sign more than a few top basketball recruits per year.
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Because we can entice the “nucleus” to stay together with corporate type deals like the Chevron deal and then “choose” which 5-10 star players we use our NIL pot on.
The key to winning NIL is building a strong core FIRST and then adding pieces.
Just throwing money at players, like what TAMU did with NO Chemistry, doesn’t win you squat!
Isn’t happening and hasn’t happened thus far.
Wake me up when it does.
that’s because you are blind…it’s happening all around you!
Then why aren’t we signing a top 15 football class?
Seems to me if there was all this NIL for football out there…we’d be ranked a bit higher when it comes to signing HS blue chippers.
Remember…all basketball takes is 1-3 players per year.
Football requires more like 25-30. The NIL money apparently isn’t there.
Do you honestly think that we could get into a $10 million bidding war for a Top QB, as Michigan did?
Come on now.
you don;t have to sign a top 15 class…we weren’t top 15 when we landed Ed Oliver
Just pay for select pieces to add to your nucelues
With uncle Fertitta backing us? Hell yes!
Then why do we apparently not have enough money to sign ANY Ed Oliver level recruit…or really anyone close?
Oliver came here because his brother was here.
Again…do we have the money to pay a top QB prospect $10.5 million?
If not, then don’t say that it’s happening all around us, because it isn’t.
Maybe the inverse will help you understand.
Pre- NIL, Michigan had those THREE of those $10 million level type QBs on their roster…and for FREE!
Now, they are having to pay for them…or their alums/ supporters are having to pay for them.
So backups, like a Tom Brady type , will now go elsewhere for $500 k instead of staying on the Michigan roster because Michigan can’t afford all THREE.
That’s where we need a GM role to evaluate talent and evaluate where to use our money.
If that $10 million Michigan QB doesn’t work out…they are screwed just like TAMU was!
My point it only took ONE 5 star to beat a top 5 Oklahoma on opening day.
Build a strong nucleus via our Marketing/Corporate NIL and bid on SELECT star players to put you over the top
Then those guys will go to other schools that can pay more than we can, and currently, MOST power conference schools can.
Again, wake me up when that changes.
Anyway, that same team lost to Navy, so it’s not that great an example.
In the end, you gotta have money that we don’t to be elite and recruit at a high level in this era.
If this were happening all around us (which it’s NOT)…then how come we haven’t even signed ONE such recruit in the NIL era?
Hint: because it ISN’T happening all around us.
I think NIL is very infantile and in a bubble right now.
It’s new, and it’s there isn’t much evidence that is paying off at scale.
UH has lackluster NIL, and yet we not only have a top 5 Big 12 class for 2025, but basketball has arguable the best class of 2025 in the entire country.
Culture still matters.
If recruits get paid millions and don’t produce championship seasons, then all these donors/sponsors are going to be less inclined to donate to a program over time.
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Aggies have all the money in the world…how is that “Being Elite” working out for them?
Texas didn’t turn around till they brought in a coach that understood the role of building a nucleus first.
they then used their high $$ NIL signee, Manning, and benched him to learn so he’d be ready when it is his turn.
The Aggies would have started him from day one
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Exactly …NIL dies NOT create talent…it only pays them.
You still need to build A TEAM with culture, chemistry, execution, discipline, etc.
Yeah, but no one disputes that aTm is both a) a HUGE NIL school, which, because of its NIL power b) signed the HIGHEST ranked recruiting class ever assembled.
Did it work out well? Not so much.
But NO ONE dispute that they have NIL power and nearly unlimited NIL potential.
We DON’T.
That’s why most of us can’t understand why you keep incorrectly saying the opposite.
If we would’ve had even an average offensive coordinator, I truly believe we would be in the championship game this season