Pat Narduzzi Shares Thoughts on Pitt's New NIL Deal
PITTSBURGH -- This week, Alliance 412, a NIL collective aligned closely with Pitt Panthers athletics, announced this week that, in addition to introducing a new marketing arm to help athletes promote themselves, the collective would sign every scholarship football player to a deal and pay each of them.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi praised the initiative, spearheaded by Pitt mega-booster and information tech executive Chris Bickell. Narduzzi said this effort has been a long-time coming.
“Chris Bickell has been unbelievable since I’ve gotten here," Narduzzi said. "He’s been a great friend, huge supporter of Pitt football and he’s taking care of our guys. Can’t thank him enough for everything he does for this program. It took us a while to get to where we are, but we did it the right way or he did it the right way and got it done.”
The total value of the deal is reportedly worth upwards of $1 million, although the true figure has not been disclosed. Payments will be given out monthly and in tiers, with certain players earning more than others, but will average more than $10,000 per player. Players will have to satisfy certain requirements - charity obligations, primarily - outlined by the collective to be eligible for their payments.
Narduzzi has long been a public proponent of equality between schools and players when it comes to NIL money, but said he isn't bothered by unequal payments.
"There are guys that are going to have tiered payments, guys that are going to have special deals whether it’s Kenny Pickett or Calijah Kancey in the past when [NIL] first got here," Narduzzi said. "So I tell our guys all the time, ‘You earn what you get.’ You put it out there on the field there every day. That’s why we put our helmets on and you go out there and you try to make the team better, the university better and make your bank account better.”
Narduzzi added that he was a part of the decision to get every scholarship player paid. He reiterated his support for the NIL salary cap idea he floated at ACC Kickoff earlier this month, but was nonetheless glad Pitt had caught up with the times.
“I think it was long enough that the kids weren’t getting what they really should," Narduzzi said. "I don’t know how we got there but it’s a good thing."
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