How Starting an NIL Agency Made Sean Clifford a Better Quarterback

'Cover 4 is a lot easier to read when you're doing [NIL] deals in the morning,' the Penn State QB says.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | At 24, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford is aging gracefully into his future. He's doing yoga, negotiating with Fortune 500 CEOs and becoming a generational voice of college athletics.

Simultaneously, Clifford is readying himself for one last ride as the Lions' quarterback.

"I think he's very hungry," Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said. "He's gone at it like a maniac this offseason."

Sure, "aging gracefully" unfairly characterizes Clifford, the fourth-year starter who returned to Penn State for another shot at the Big Ten title. But then Name, Image and Likeness emerged, presenting business opportunities upon which Clifford has capitalized like few other college athletes.

While athletes signed deals, Clifford started a company to negotiate them. He got ahead of the NIL marketplace curve, co-founding Limitless NIL, a by-athletes-for-athletes agency that represents more than two dozen college athletes nationwide. 

But Clifford found something exhilarating in running a company. Instead of competing with his desire to play quarterback, being an entrepreneur freed it. He found his other passion in life, which has made football feel even richer.

"When I wake up in the morning, I'm not just excited about football," Clifford said. "When just football is the only excitement, and sometimes it’s going wrong, you just get consumed and get in your own head. But when you have numerous things going on, football still is priority No. 1, but I still also have so much more to look forward to."

Clifford, Penn State's first sixth-year quarterback, is a prime candidate for "30 Under 30" lists in college sports. He's a Big Ten veteran who started Limitless NIL with his brother Liam, a Penn State receiver, and quickly built a company with a high national profile.

Clifford expanded that profile further in July, when he helped organize a meeting between Penn State players and Jason Stahl, executive director of the College Football Players Association, about how they might help players gain access to enhanced medical care and a share of media-rights revenue.

When Stahl publicly discussed the parameters of that players-only meeting, which included a conversation about potentially unionizing, Clifford found himself answering questions about more than Penn State's 2-5 finish in 2021. Clifford wouldn't get into specifics about the meeting at Big Ten Media Days, choosing instead to discuss the 2022 season.

Asked how Clifford handled the situation, Penn State coach James Franklin measured his tone but said he was "super proud" of his quarterback.

"If we had to choose to do it all over again, we’d probably do it differently, right?" Franklin said at Big Ten Media Days in July. "But that’s part of growing up. This is a learning opportunity for him. This is a learning opportunity for our players. But these conversations are critical. They're critical on every college campus. Some of these experiences and growing pains are necessary."

Having that voice, Clifford said, has enriched the rest of his football career. He ranks among the top five quarterbacks in Penn State history in more than a dozen statistical categories and has the highest completion percentage (.603) in school history.

He likely will finish his career atop the record book in passing yards, attempts and touchdowns. Yet Clifford still labors through the stresses of playing quarterback in Penn State.

To that end, he said, starting a company made him a better quarterback.

"NIL was a blessing in disguise," Clifford said. "To be able to come out and speak my mind and be that person outside of the jersey, it’s been really freeing for me just because in the past I’ve felt so enclosed in the 1-4 [his jersey number]. Now I'm able to speak about things that I want to speak about and have conversations with my teammates to grow their minds and help their families and people across the country.

"Just having a different voice, it's a breath of fresh air honestly to football. Cover 4 is a lot easier to read when you’re doing [NIL] deals in the morning."

Clifford's agency has a nine-person staff, and he has built a plan to include interim management to oversee daily operations during the season. That will allow the Cliffords to remain involved in company matters while training the bulk of their focus on football.

And according to the coaching staff, Clifford has delineated his responsibilities properly this offseason. Franklin, a master of time management, has said Clifford schedules himself as well as any player he has coached.

Yurcich said Clifford's agency has not interfered with his training, adding that the quarterback is "all locked in." Meanwhile, running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider has been impressed with Clifford's ability to shut off the business side of his brain during practice.

"He’s all football right now, and that takes a lot," Seider said. "When a quarterback can shut it off when he’s got his own company? It lets everybody else on the team know that there’s a time and place for everything."

Clifford sounds like a quarterback who wants to make his final year of college football count. He's taking one class this fall to complete his second bachelor's degree, in journalism. He has done more yoga than benching to deepen his mobility and flexibility. He helped recruit, and now lives with, receiver Mitchell Tinsley, a fellow sixth-year player who transferred from Western Kentucky.

Moreover, Clifford is very comfortable with his place on the team and what this season means.

"These are some of the best days of my life," he said. "Getting to play with this team, with my brother, being part of the same offense, having one more go-around ... in the Blue and White with a school that I just love so much, it's really hard to look past all that."

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.