Hugh Freeze Embracing College Football's NIL Landscape

Despite prepping for the upcoming season, Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze continues to work on recruiting for the future. Being a college coach requires the ability to multitask, juggling several responsibilities at one time in order to keep the program moving. 

Additionally, while Freeze hopes that many players will return next year, with the transfer portal and NFL looming for some, standing pat and waiting idly as players depart is a losing strategy. Instead, the coaching staff endeavors to stack talent, not just filling out a roster but assembling a future depth chart that can withstand the rigors of the season, where attrition becomes a fact of life.

NIL Futures

With recruiting comes the talk of NIL deals, which can often act as deal-sealers. Unlike before, when it felt like the untamed West, safeguards and regulations found their way into the process, giving schools guidelines and barriers to how they spend money and how that money will be divided among the players.

Additionally, third-party NIL deals could generate serious cash for recruits. Freeze spoke to AL.com's Peter Rauterkus about the NIL landscape.

"I’m pretty confident that the transfer kid has probably earned the right that you can say to him, ‘You’re going to get some outside NIL deals.’ And give samples of what’s happened in the past for a similar player at that position,” Freeze told Rauterkus.

That (more) honest approach, due to the changing landscape, is a far cry from the $100 handshakes and shady booster involvement of college football’s past. 

Keeping Up with the Joneses

In Auburn's backyard, Georgia and Alabama will always spend money. To the north, Tennessee will dole out cash for elite players. Life in the SEC dictates that if teams want to compete, they need to find a way to spend money on players.

Gone are the days of playing just for the love of the game. Love may make the world revolve, but it neither pays the rent nor puts gas in the car. Instead, the players hope to market their skills for cash. 

Antique Sale

Freeze, from all indications, looks fully on board with leaving behind the old-school notions that players are being paid in a free education. While Auburn is one of the best schools in the SEC, and its students do receive a top-notch education, equating classes with helping the football team generate millions is uneven. Now, that doesn't mean that the head coach appears like he wants to willy-nilly throw money at players. 

Overview

Each football team is different than the last. No team stays the same from year to year. Expecting that is, on its face and above all else, ludicrous. Each fall, high school players take the field hoping to catch a program's eye. It's the nature of the game. Standing still in college football is never a sound move.

Auburn chose a proactive route instead of a reactive one.