Why Latest NIL Numbers Shouldn’t Worry Oklahoma State Fans Right Now

There are fewer targets harder to pin down than what a college football team spends on its roster.

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The site recently published an article on what each of the power conference schools are spending on their rosters. The site’s writers reached out to 70 sources, including coaches, GMs, personnel directors, agents and others. It was an undertaking so significant that three writers were bylined along with the site’s colleges team. Meaning, they put in the legwork.

But even SOME money is missing. The surgery is meant to account for athletic department revenue, booster donations and other school sources. It doesn’t account for any endorsement deals for athletes. This is strictly what the schools spend. It also acknowledges that coaches tend to “undersell” figures and administrators tend to “oversell” figures for legitimate reasons.

Per The Athletic, the Oklahoma State Cowboys came in just below the Big 12 average of $18-22 million. Here are two reasons why Cowboys fans shouldn’t be that concerned — yet.

Cowboys Fans Shouldn’t Fret About NIL Spending Right Now

Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker hands off to running back Ayo Adeyi. — Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker (17) hands off to running back Ayo Adeyi. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

First, there should be an acknowledgement that head coach Eric Morris’ predecessor, Mike Gundy, wasn’t exactly sold on NIL or the transfer portal. Gundy’s last two, best teams were in 2021 and 2023 when those two things were still grabbing a foothold in the college sports marketplace. When it was time to start building his 2024 roster, student-athletes could transfer as much as they wanted without penalty and NIL was uncapped and ubiquitous.

That followed two awful seasons that cost Gundy his job. It took a coaching change to get boosters interested in giving more. The Oregon win is great, but they want to see more. That’s why the Cowboys are lagging behind based on these figures.

The second reason Cowboys fans shouldn't get wrapped up in the number is that money only gets you so much. Yes, Texas Tech has spent loads of money and it helped them get to a Big 12 title last year. But it also ended with a loss to Oregon in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

Money gets you talent, but it takes a village to build a football team. Football programs can't put their eggs in one basket. There's a lot of risk associated with it. Spending big on the wrong player can hamstring a program. There was potential for that at Tech with the reported $5 million it spent on quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Fortunately, the Red Raiders still had quarterback Will Hammond.

Morris and the Cowboys sold out to the transfer portal this offseason because most of last year’s team had already hit the portal and he wanted to build a mature, competitive team now. But his plan for the is multi-faceted. He won’t ignore the transfer portal, and he needs NIL for that. But he and his staff are recruiting hard and have already proven they can develop talent.

The roster’s three best offensive players are all players he and his staff developed at North Texas — quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young. All played one or more years for Morris at UNT. The Cowboys are reaping the benefits of that development and future recruits are seeing what it leads to.

Those two factors should give Cowboys fans some confidence Morris has a plan for the short term and the long term. NIL will always be a factor. The program lagging behind most of the Big 12 and stark black and white doesn’t feel great. For the Cowboys to be successful consistently, they can't get wrapped up in one number. They need an approach that allows them to pull every lever to bring talent to Stillwater. That’s what Morris is working to achieve this season — and beyond.

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