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Will elimination of National Letter of Intent have an impact on college football recruiting?

RaleighPittFan

Assistant Coach
May 12, 2005
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“The NLI is gone and the consensus is prospective student-athletes will sign financial aid agreements, scholarship agreements. This sets up better with the looming revenue-share, so there will be more of a contract with the players and schools.”



I think it will be extremely messy for a bit. There really isn't any incentive for a top player to "commit" to anyone until the very last minute because I'm assuming that anything formal will be binding in some way. Money goes up as desperation sets in. Might see financial penalties for backing out of things? May change the entire ebb and flow of the process.
 
I think it will be extremely messy for a bit. There really isn't any incentive for a top player to "commit" to anyone until the very last minute because I'm assuming that anything formal will be binding in some way. Money goes up as desperation sets in. Might see financial penalties for backing out of things? May change the entire ebb and flow of the process.
Or will the opposite happen? You could get someone under contract as a 9th grader -- and I assume start paying them for their "NIL" then as a 15 year old. They would then be contractually obligated to go to your school.

I guess if they could breach the contract a pick another school once they are a senior in high school. What's the penalty that you could put into the contract? That any money you get from the new school has to be paid to the school you originally contracted with?
 
Or will the opposite happen? You could get someone under contract as a 9th grader -- and I assume start paying them for their "NIL" then as a 15 year old. They would then be contractually obligated to go to your school.

I guess if they could breach the contract a pick another school once they are a senior in high school. What's the penalty that you could put into the contract? That any money you get from the new school has to be paid to the school you originally contracted with?
I'm only speculating. You could be correct. I could see schools ponying up to assist in buyouts like we see with coaches? No idea. I just feel like true 5-star's would benefit from playing things along for as long as they can. Would monkey up the whole system. The enforcement side of things (how and if anything is enforced) would probably dictate a lot of behavior.
 
Or will the opposite happen? You could get someone under contract as a 9th grader -- and I assume start paying them for their "NIL" then as a 15 year old. They would then be contractually obligated to go to your school.

I guess if they could breach the contract a pick another school once they are a senior in high school. What's the penalty that you could put into the contract? That any money you get from the new school has to be paid to the school you originally contracted with?
Can you even enforce a contract signed by a minor? I think this varies by state and whatever the contract is relating to.
 
Can you even enforce a contract signed by a minor? I think this varies by state and whatever the contract is relating to.

Nope.
Minors have to ratify the contract at 18.

Parents can legally bind a minor into a contract only through court approval (best interest of the child hearing, minor prove up hearing, etc.)
 
I'm assuming someone will consider that and the parents will have to be involved. We're entering a very strange time in college football.

Technically that has always been the case with recruiting.

I remember way back in the recruiting day Kellen Winslow Jr. wanted to go to Washington.
But Sr. refused to sign because rick neuheisel was their coach and he had been a replacement player during the strike in the ‘80s, and he wasn’t going to let his son play for a “traitor.”
Sr. wanted Jr. to play at Michigan State because at the time they had the only black coach in P5 football (maybe even FBS, I can’t remember).
But Jr. didn’t want to go there.
So it was a refusal to sign the contract standoff. Dad wouldn’t sign to bind Jr. to Washington. Jr. wouldn’t sign the contract after dad.

Crazy Jr. ended up where he is today with such parenting…
 
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