Report: Pitt Made Drastic Changes to NIL Before the 2024 Season

Pat Narduzzi doesn’t have to like NIL and the transfer portal to recognize their importance in modern college football.

Pitt will never be an NIL powerhouse able to land the highest-rated recruits and transfer portal targets, but the Panthers have shown this season that it’s always about the money. It’s about the system, and the process.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports reported on the changes that Pitt made during the offseason that have led to the first 7-0 start since 1982.

Dellenger reported that Narduzzi worked with Alliance 412, the preferred NIL collective of Pitt athletics, to revamp the entire distribution model for the team. It’s transitioned from paying every player on the team in a tier system to paying players who “earn it.”

Chris Bickell, the founder of Alliance 412, who donated $20 million in 2021, has been a leading figure in the overhaul.

“I sat down with (some of the) guys and told them, ‘You’re not getting paid,’” Narduzzi told Dellenger. “I told them that the guy investing in you isn’t happy. I said, ‘If you were an investor putting your money down and you win three games, what would you do?’ Kids said, ‘Coach, I wouldn’t give it.’ That’s what he’s doing. You’ve got to go earn it.”

Dellenger further reported that Bickell said those who earn it will be paid after the season. Bickell told Dellenger that Pitt knows it has high-value players, some of who are producing at a high level and not being paid a ton, but negotiating will take place at the end of the season.

The collective has an annual budget of $6 million, which could be on the rise.

With the hiring of new Director of Athletics Allen Greene, Pitt has decided to approach NIL and revenue sharing head-on. Greene prioritizes NIL. And he prioritizes winning. Pitt isn’t where it wants to be yet, but it appears that the buy-in when it comes to doing more than just surviving in the new era of college football is taking place at every level.