Rich Rodriguez on NIL Landscape: "Players Should Be Under Contract"

G5 Football Daily Staff | Jul 27, 2024

Jacksonville State Head Coach Rich Rodriguez watches the weather prior to a weather delay in the Jax State Spring game in Jacksonville, Alabama. April 19, 2024. / Dave Hyatt / Special to the Gadsden

With the reports the NCAA is set to increase scholarship limits for several sports, the topic of funding scholarships and providing Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities for student-athletes is still on the forefront of many around college athletics.

Veteran Jacksonville State football head coach Rich Rodriguez was asked during Conference USA Media Days about how he would envision an ideal NIL landscape in college athletics.

“I’ve got my own opinions and I’m not afraid to talk about the topic,” said Rodriguez. “I think the NCAA saw what was coming down the road and I think they were very concerned about having to back pay [former college athletes]. I don’t want to say it was mismanaged, but it probably was mismanaged a bit. The people who they should have talked to regarding legislation was the coaches.”

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Rodriguez has coached at several levels of college football, beginning his head coaching career at the NAIA level with Salem and later Glenville State, before coaching at West Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona before landing with Jax State, who was an FCS member at the time of his hiring. Rodriguez led the Gamecocks to a 9-4 record and a win in the New Orleans Bowl in their first FBS season in 2023.

“I’m glad players are getting more and I thought they should have been getting more previously, but I don’t know how you can have a player receiving money and not be under contract,” said Rodriguez.

“People say coaches move all the time, well yeah, when you move you have to give back money, hell I know all about that. Sharing revenue is a good thing and I think the players should be under contract and there has to be a salary cap. The most successful sports league is the NFL and they have rules for free agency, tampering, contracts, etc. We need to have more rules around it.”