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Urban Meyer’s NIL meltdown highlights deeper concerns in college athletics

Originally posted on NIL on SI | By JC Shelton | Last updated Jul 16, 2025 1:27 PM ET

College football, along with college athletics as a whole, have changed considerably since three-time national champion head coach Urban Meyer paced the sidelines.

The ever-evolving Name, Image and Likeness world continues to present new challenges for athletic departments and programs. That is especially true in the current state, as leaders adapt to the revenue-share model instituted by the House settlement.

Meyer, a former Florida and Ohio State head coach that now serves as a Fox Sports analyst, revealed that he is happy with how the game is progressing on the field. However, the 61-year-old is wary about the focus shifting from building an educational base that could serve players after their careers are over.

“The game's great right now. On the field, it is as good as it's ever been. The coaching, the playing, it's never been better (with) the fan support, the viewership," Meyer said on "The Triple Option." "However, the residual damage... NIL is going to run out, and you see these big numbers – players, in my mind, should have got paid a long time ago – but what I'm really struggling with, even talking to you, no one talks about academics, getting a life after football."

"I see my former players," Meyer continued. "There's nothing worse than to have a 29-year-old man that gave his heart to us at the University of Florida, Ohio State and he's unhirable, because the university and coaching staff and the parents, etc., did not force this guy to go get a job, to get prepared for life after sport."

Meyer's concerns include, in part, how the nation's top college football players can demand millions of NIL dollars while backups and rotational players are left with scraps. That makes a transfer portal jump an enticing option for those players, who could make considerably more at another school.

"And I just get so pissed off sometimes and I'm like, 'What about the other 85% of these athletes that are making decisions for $8,000, and they're going to leave a school because some agent's telling them to?'" Meyer said.

"I'm ranting and raving a little bit... I'll take a team full of all graduates and all guys that have jobs over three or four guys that are making $20 million, and everyone else is a mess," he said.

There is a silver lining to the NIL era that could ease the concerns that Meyer and college leaders share. In the past, draft-eligible players routinely left college early for a chance at a significant payday. Athletes can now build significant wealth while staying in school, finishing their degrees along the way.