LSU Coach Ed Orgeron Supportive of NIL Legislation, Doesn't Think Team Will Be Distracted from Football

Ed Orgeron knows that college football is an ever changing sport and he's been one that's been able to adjust to the times. He adjusted to the spread offense by famously bringing in Joe Brady and changed his overall demeanor as a coach by delegating different responsibilities onto his support staff.

But with NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) becoming official in the state of Louisiana, Orgeron will have to adjust to what has to be the biggest change in modern college sports. It will test all walks of football life including recruiting, coaching and of course the players who can now benefit financially on their brand.

Orgeron had yet to comment on his thoughts on the new age of college athletics but with LSU being at the forefront of the movement, he's excited for the opportunities the players now have.

"Very supportive, I think it's gonna be great," Orgeron said on WWL radio in New Orleans this week. "Like everything else there's gonna be some kinks to work out. We hired an outside source to help us out. Several of our guys are not involved with it but several of our guys have signed some deals, I'm happy for them and I'm sure others will sign.

"But I hope that the focus is that when we get into the locker, the focus is on practice and winning football games. They've gotta be able to compartmentalize this stuff and use it in a positve way."

Aside from regulations, which there aren't all that many of in Louisiana's NIL bill, one of the major concerns among some leaders of the sport is an inbalance on players who receive endorsements and others who don't. The fear is that the stars will get all of the favoritism and there won't be opportunities for other important players on the roster.

Orgeron was asked how LSU plans to adjust to the potential inbalance of benefits on the Tigers' roster, saying there will be meetings held on NIL but that this team is very mature and focused on the task at hand.

"The game is changing fast and as I get older I'm going to have to change. I'm going to be looking to seeing what people are doing, we're going to have meetings about it," Orgeron said. "We're going to talk to about it and have meetings where we talk about name, image and likeness, but once you get in the locker room it's gotta be all about football.

"This team is very, very motivated, they've had a great summer so far. I don't see anything getting in their way."