Cal’s Justin Wilcox: NIL Is the No. 1 Factor in a Football Program’s Success

Demands on a college coach have changed dramatically over the past few years, but Bears’ Wilcox embraces it

“My role in the program has changed significantly in the last seven years, and really in the last three-and-half to four years,” Cal football coach Justin Wilcox said this week in the video atop this article.

The explosion of the transfer portal and the NIL (names, image and likeness) component have added multiple layers to the role of a college coach, particularly in football, and particularly at a Power Five conference (Power Four conference starting next season).

So much so that Wilcox made this statement this week:

“NIL is a critical, critical component, the No. 1 component in determining the longevity and success of the program as college football sits right now.”

Sure, offensive schemes, weight training, organizational skills, player management and all those other things matter, but none as much as NIL.

Essentially players can be paid through NIL collectives, which dramatically affects which players schools can attract, especially when it comes to the transfer portal, a more reliable source of talent acquisition than recruiting high school players because the impact of an incoming freshman is more difficult to predict.

Cal’s chief NIL collective is California Legends, and a coach’s involvement in the NIL process is subtle but significant.

A coach can have no involvement in an NIL collective’s discussions with a recruit or distribution of funds or endorsements to that player. A Florida State assistant coach – reportedly offensive coordinator Alex Atkins – last month was suspended for the first three games of next season for, according to the Associated Press report, “violating recruiting rules by connecting a potential transfer with a representative from an NIL collective during an official visit, the NCAA announced on Thursday.” (That assistant coach will be back for the fourth game, which will be against Cal in the Bears’ very first ACC game, on September 21 in Tallahassee.)

However, the coach can – and must – be involved in raising money for the collective, something Wilcox said he is “eager and happy to do.”

Wilcox ability to raise NIL money may be even more important at Cal than it is in some regions of the country where rich boosters’ zeal for football makes filling NIL coffers easier.

Coaches must therefore embrace the recent modifications of the college football success model or be left behind. No one is feeling sorry for these coaches, considering the amount of money they are paid, but it does require a new and different outlook.

The entire structure of the program is different because of NIL and the importance of the transfer portal.

“How you structure the program because of the potential to have 30 or 40 new players in a given year . . . how quickly can you get new players integrated into the program.”

Everything is accelerated. Chemistry and culture among players must be established more quickly, schemes must be taught and understood faster, and any player jealousy resulting from some players earning more NIL money than others must be minimized.

Much of a roster, particularly at key starting positions, can be completely reshaped from one year to the next, making the coming season the only consideration.

It was much different when Wilcox was hired as Cal’s head coach in January of 2017.

“You knew who was going to be on the team for the next four or five years,” Wilcox said. “You’re looking down the road quite a bit further. Now it’s much more short term.”

That’s why the fact that Fernando Mendoza has three more years of college eligibility remaining does not give him an edge in the quarterback competition with North Texas transfer Chandler Rogers, who has one year of eligibility left. It demonstrates the impact the transfer portal and the accompanying NIL has had on college football.

An objective appraisal suggests Cal has fared pretty well in the transfer portal the past two years in terms of players lost and players gained.  But that transfer-recruiting process and competition begin anew each year.

And the head coach must be completely on board in the new college football world of restructured conferences, NIL monetizing, transfer portal acquisitions and all the resulting challenges.

“If you don’t embrace those challenges, I guess you could sit around and complain about it, but my job is to help our team be successful,” Wilcox said. “If I didn’t like that [job], then I wouldn’t do it.”

Cover photo of Justin Wilcox by Annie Rice, Avalanche-Journal, USA TODAY NETWORK

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