Anyone else feel this way about Nico?

#127
#127
LWSVOL said:
let me tell you about these young guys and their NIL incomes. The majority of them have "agents" taking as much as 20% of their NIL deals and I wouldn't be surprised at it being higher in some cases. There are no laws or regulations to control what the "agents" could get. Many are family members of the players but many are friends of family... Its bizarre what is going on. A lot of players are just getting ripped off...

Impeccable source familier with our players.
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In your opinion, do the agents increase the value enough to warrant their cost? I understand the need in the NFL where you are fighting for limited salary cap percentage and you have limited negotiation windows. College seems to me like more of an open market where the buyers are aggressively seeking the product and you have renegotiation opportunities every year
 
#128
#128
05_never_again said:
Nico is 21 years old. If he lives an average lifespan, he's got 60 years left. After taxes and fees (I'm assuming the "guaranteed investment locked in at over 6%" you are referring to is an annuity), he wouldn't be taking home $100k/year. Then you've got to factor in inflation over the next 60 years. He's from Southern California; if he wanted to live there, even a modest lifestyle gets expensive. Unless he wants to hang around his house and not really do anything for the next 60 years, he'd need to keep working. Whether that's football or something else.

If your definition of "set for life" means he never has to worry about living on the street, starving, or being able to see a doctor from the money he made at Tennessee, then yeah, I guess he is. I don't think most people would consider that "set for life" though. And of course, we're just talking about paying his own individual expenses here. What if he wants to get married, have kids, etc.?
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It does not set someone up for life.

But, I think we all have to agree it is considerable money and one hell of a head start. Unless, of course, one’s dad spends it all.
 
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#129
#129
Volfan76 said:
In your opinion, do the agents increase the value enough to warrant their cost? I understand the need in the NFL where you are fighting for limited salary cap percentage and you have limited negotiation windows. College seems to me like more of an open market where the buyers are aggressively seeking the product and you have renegotiation opportunities every year
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No. The really good players likely have decent agents but most players don't. They have someone just looking out for themselves. Without regulations ( I was told today, pro sports agents are regulated by the CBAs in the pro leagues) and a CBA, its free rein for someone to represent a kid.

its easy to sell an 18 year old kid you can get him 100K and he only has to give you 25K of it. Kid only thinks about the car he can buy. The millionaires are few in the college game relative to the number of players playing.

I was looking at a sites NIL value of the Ohio State roster back in the spring. No idea how accurate it was but only 39 players on the roster had money value. I think 3 were in the million up range and I believe Smith was at 4 plus million. From what I'm told, lot of kids on rosters, inlcuding UTs, get little or nothing from NIL. There has to be demand for a player in the NIL space to be able to get money. If no one is interested in the third string safety, then no agent is going to help get him money.

Revenue sharing started this year but that doesn't go far when you have 700 athletes like Tennessee does. Its not dovided equally so the third / fourth string again get a smaller slice.

System is just not good for the majority of players...
 
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#131
#131
The only thing that annoyed me about Nico leaving was that he did it so late in the cycle that I didn't think we'd even be able to find a serviceable QB to replace him.

I never thought he was more than an average QB and I wanted the Vols to cut him after the season and use his salary to bolster the roster in other areas.

After seeing how some highly paid players end up being busts, it will be interesting to see if teams will have success by going "all in" on a unit rather than a position. It may be more prudent to throw tons of $$ at a deep online and roll with a 3 star RB or a lower rated QB.
 
#132
#132
I agree that Nico plays like he doesnt love the game. He looks like he's out there begrudgingly. He looks completely disengaged. I thought that last year.
 
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#133
#133
Brave Volunteer said:
I agree that Nico plays like he doesnt love the game. He looks like he's out there begrudgingly. He looks completely disengaged. I thought that last year.
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That’s The Doobies’ Effect…

And I AIN’T talkin’ Michael McDonald…
 
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#134
#134
The NIL era turned college football into a business transaction. You no longer "play" for a team. You more or less are a contract worker. The upside is all the money you can get as a player. The downside is that you have 0 experience in business. That's why all the adults try to ride your coat tails. It also means that you must perform to the anticipated level that your NIL agreement was predicated on. If not, you are likely to get asked to move on, aka, fired. Likewise if you exceed expectations, you get to ask for more money.
Nico is a cautionary tale for all sides. Tennessee needs to learn that throwing money at untested players is a strategy.......just not a good one. 5 stars come with 5 star problems. Nico made himself an example of what NOT to do. Demand top dollar in a bidding war, hold the winner hostage for more money, not perform at the level that the money warranted, then turn on the team. Add the dynamic with the father and you have another wrinkle in the learning lesson. The end result is public humiliation paired with public distain. You lose millions over a lifetime. A demand for a few hundred thousand dollars ends up costing you millions. Even if he somehow gets drafted, which I doubt, it's going to follow him.
I think the only way he saves his career is to fire his dad and other clingers on. Do it publicly. Call them out publicly and let the world know that it wasn't you making the bad decision. You were being pushed by them to do all the wrong things. Dedicate himself to the game, live in the film room, and make a wholehearted attempt to help build something at UCLA. I would even venture to say that he should volunteer to give up some NIL money to help UCLA bring in some better receivers or linemen. As it stands, he will never impress on the field. He doesn't have a supporting cast of players. He gives up short term money to gamble on getting long term money. It also shows that at the next level, you are more concerned with the team than yourself.
 
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#135
#135
I absolutely do not feel sorry for him. He's an adult and can make his own decisions. Anyone who thinks this was only his dad is delusional - his dad may have been pushing it but if Nico had stood his ground, it would have never happened. But in the end, I'm glad it happened.
 
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#136
#136
VFL-82-JP said:
Sad to say, but at this moment, he and Arch are racing one another toward the bottom of the mountain they both started out standing atop.

Either could recover, of course. I'd bet a lot more on Arch doing so than Nico.
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Arch will be fine. His coach always underperforms in big games/moments and it rubbed off on him.

Nico is screwed. At least he's getting paid.
 
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#137
#137
mudhen said:
I wonder if coach Heupel took Nico's dad to the woodshed and explained to him that Nico's stats were what, 8'th or something like that in the SEC?
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If he didn’t, he should have.

I imagine the Iamaleava Crime Family tried to shake TN down one final time and someone did lay that out for them. It was not long afterwards that Nico ghosted everyone. Again, my imagination.
 
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#139
#139
jps2194 said:
I absolutely do not feel sorry for him. He's an adult and can make his own decisions. Anyone who thinks this was only his dad is delusional - his dad may have been pushing it but if Nico had stood his ground, it would have never happened. But in the end, I'm glad it happened.
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If Nico had met expectations we would have made him the highest paid QB. It’s mostly Nico’s fault.
 
#140
#140
bpalmer28 said:
I don't care about him enough to feel sorry for him. My biggest concern with the whole situation is how our fans are obsessed with him on X. It's embarrassing and a black eye on the fanbase to let a kid live rent free in our heads like Nico does.
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This x 1000. You can close the thread now.

I would only add that I feel the same way about how Pruitt and Jones continue to live rent-free in the heads of much of the fan base. You would think being five years removed that we would simply focus on the growth of the program and where we're headed, but every mention of either of them still seems to get a thread here. I never even think about that brutal decade and a half other than constantly seeing it brought up on here, but then I don't do any social media aside from this forum.
 
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