Tennessee Volunteers AD Speaks Out on NIL Buyouts of Transferring Players

The Tennessee Volunteers are still reeling from their transfering players, and AD Danny White spoke out on the potential of NIL buyouts.

Tennessee athletics director Danny White announces a multi-year branding partnership with Pilot for Neyland Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. / Saul Young / USA TODAY NETWORK

We are still less than a month removed from Nico Iamaleava making good on his last name and hightailing it out of Knoxville and the Tennessee Volunteers' football program.

The sudden departure through the transfer portal from the high-earning quarterback has been but another match on the flames of the ongoing discussions surrounding Name, Image, and Likeness and the rules and regulations surrounding it. To this point, NIL has been the wild west, but many coaches and athletic directors have been open and honest about the program and how it needs more guidelines.

Recently, the Arkansas Razorbacks athletic director, Hunter Yurachek, made public his plans to enforce buyouts of NIL deals when their players enter the transfer portal. While that could certainly cut down on the number of players exiting the program, it is still far too soon to know for sure what effects it will have.

The Volunteers' AD, Danny White, made his voice heard on the issue with reporters on The Big Orange Caravan.

“We’re continuing to evaluate everything,” White said. “Everything’s changing so fast. We want to have integrity with which we talk to young people – whether that’s incoming recruits, our current student-athletes. At the end of the day, we are mission-driven about educating men and women, first and foremost. NIL and revenue-share is an important piece of the equation now. I’m proud of that."

“I’m happy that the kids are getting a piece of the pie now. And we’ll continue to evaluate how we can organize it better and have more controls over it. Contracts and implications on contracts may become more [of] a piece of that nationally as we move forward.”

NIL has certainly been a polarizing program since its implementation, but student-athletes being paid for their services is something that has been needed for quite some time. While it may be getting out of hand currently, especially with the transfer portal included, White said it best that "implications on contracts" could be a big part of things to come.

If anyone knows the pain of a key player up and leaving in the portal with a big NIL deal in tow, it is Tennessee and AD White. Should the NCAA continue to work towards more rules and regulations on all things NIL, White may be someone they need to have as part of those meetings.

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