Cal Football: Brett Johnson Doesn't Expect NIL Opportunities to Change His Life

The D-lineman welcomes the change and is working on potential deals.

No one needs to set up a collective to raise money for college football coaches.

On Tuesday — the same day the CAlegends collective was unveiled, allowing fans to provide financial assistance to Golden Bears athletes — Alabama coach Nick Saban was given a nice little raise.

Saban, 70, will earn an average of $11.7 million per year through the end of his contract extension in February 2030. That once again makes him the highest-paid coach in college football, vaulting him over Kirby Smart of SEC rival Georgia, who earlier this year inked a deal that will pay him $11.2 million for the next 10 years.

Not sure Pappy Waldorf ever took home that much at Cal, not even after guiding the Bears to three straight Rose Bowl appearances back in the late 1940s.

Anyway, college football zoomed past glorified intramurals to big business status decades ago, so it was only fair that the NCAA last summer was required to let athletes profit from their name, image and likeness.

The CAlegends.com collective, which is not tied to the university, will allow athletes to earn money from fans, boosters or businesses that would like to contribute to their financial well-being.

Brett Johnson, junior defensive lineman for the Bears, said he has hired an NIL agent and they are working on a few potential deals. He has created an account through the CAlegends collective but hasn’t negotiated any deals to this point.

Johnson doesn’t expect any of it to be life-changing for him.

“As a college athlete, a little bit,” he said of the change he anticipates.

“But say I was getting boatloads of money from whatever, at the end of the day I’ve still got to go to class, got to show up and work hard with football,” he added.

“So I can’t realistically see it making that much of a difference in my life, based on what I prioritize and what I value.”

However it unfolds, Johnson is on board with the changes.

“I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “I don’t see why athletes shouldn’t be getting paid for name, image and likeness.”

Cover photo of Cal defensive lineman Brett Johnson

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo