Jeremy Darlow's Relationship with WVU is Larger Than Football
Football is a way of life.
For several student-athletes around the country, football is the only thing they've ever known to do and possibly the only thing that they have to cling to.
Life after football is something that no athlete wants to ever think about. The transition from football is a challenging one from all aspects. The dream for every young football player is to make it to the NFL. Unfortunately, not everyone's dreams are realized and many find themselves scrambling on what to do once they are no longer playing the sport that they dearly love.
In fact, fewer than 2% of student-athletes make it to the professional ranks. Meaning that well over 98% of the collegiate sports community will have to tackle a regular 9-5 job - which is not the problem. The problem that plagues the country is these student-athletes not being prepared to take on the so-called "real world" where sports are no longer the primary focus.
To reverse this current trend, leading brand consultant guru Jeremy Darlow is teaming up with universities throughout the country to help educate student-athletes centered around self-branding. "The target is every program, truly. My goal is to help kids, that’s 100% what I want to do. Whether you are on the tennis team, the basketball team, the football team - it doesn’t matter and I don’t care how good you are at that sport. I want to make sure that every single kid has a chance to build a plan."
What many athletes struggle with the most is realizing that sports are not going to last forever. Even if you are part of the small percentage that makes it into the NFL and retire at age 35, you still have to figure out what you will do beyond that to continue bringing in income.
“Have a plan and recognize that you are more than just an athlete. So often I’ll ask these kids, 'If you weren’t playing football, what would you be doing?' And they don’t have an answer. There is no answer for them and that’s a problem. We have to be challenging them to be thinking ten years down the road. That’s the biggest thing for me is to have a plan. I’m not here to tell you that you’re not going to make it to the NFL. I’m not going to tell you that - I will tell you the stats and I’ll give you the realities. The stat that I know is only 2% go onto play pro at any sport. So 98% of these kids are not going, but they all believe they are, and that’s where we have to have parallel plans. Have a plan to make it, but at the same time, have a plan for something outside of sports.”
“I go back with coach Brown a few years now. When he was over at Troy we connected. He actually read one of my books, Athletes Are Brands Too. He was one of the first head coaches to read that book and he became an ambassador for it. He actually has a quote on the inside cover of the book. The book has the same mission as the course. It’s about teaching kids how to prepare for life after the game," Darlow stated. "We’ve been connected since then, so when the time came for me to launch the course, he was one of the first people I called. I knew that he would be on board. I knew he would be interested in it because he is truly, genuinely concerned and he wants to prepare these kids. He wants them to be thinking of stuff outside of the game so that they have a future."
Darlow expressed his excitement to be working with West Virginia and talked about how his involvement goes beyond the course that he will be providing.
"I was so impressed. They’re so genuine, they’re so authentic, they truly want to help. This isn’t a ploy, this isn’t about publicity - it’s about setting these kids up and giving them the tools. I’m also a part of a program there called 'The Fifth Quarter' and that’s bigger than just personal branding. It’s about leadership, it’s about finding yourself outside the game of football, or whatever sport it may be, and I think that’s important.”
For Darlow, this problem occurred to him when he was working at Adidas and realized that athletes have virtually no idea what they want to do once their playing days are behind them. “I’ve been doing brand marketing for over 15 years, been in the industry for well over a decade. I was with Adidas for eight years. I was director of marketing for football, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, and tennis while I was there and that’s probably where this started for me. It was very much my experience with athletes there, some of the biggest names you could think of in sports and entertainment. But surprisingly, what I realized is even the big names struggle with the idea of what they’re going to do after they take the jersey off for the last time. That’s the thing that really kicked me off. I really want to help build a plan for life after sports, regardless of stature, regardless of sport, regardless of level."
Although it may seem as if helping players develop a plan for what comes after their athletic career could be easily achieved, this process is a challenge. Darlow's expertise within this area of interest is crucial to not only the WVU football program, but also to every university, school, and athletic program that will partner with him.
“It’s an emotional rollercoaster and the very least I can do is come up with a plan. It’s not about building a plan two weeks before you’re done. It’s about building a plan as soon as you put that jersey on for the first time because once you put that jersey on, the reality is you’re an influencer. I don’t care what level you’re playing at, I don’t care if it’s college or if it’s high school. If you put a jersey on, you have some influence, and every single person could take advantage of that and turn it into something like a vocation or dream job outside of sports.”
The main objective of the course is to help the student-athletes become educated with self-branding and to ultimately prepare for life after football. Darlow mentioned some of the main points he really wants the "students" of the course to focus on and how he plans to help them along the way.
“Have a plan. That’s the message to be delivered by the end of the course. The individuals that go through the entirety of the course will walk away with their own brand marketing plan. The first step of that is learning how to build a brand. You can’t just say, ‘I’m going to make a plan.' You’ve got to know how to do it. The first phase of the course is about looking in the mirror and identifying what makes you unique, what makes you strong, what you love, what you are passionate about, and then going out and building a plan against that.”
It will be very beneficial considering that the NCAA is preparing to make changes centered around the athletes' ability to profit off of their name, image, and likeness. Darlow's course is more centered around building a resume and a brand for their career - not to help them gain endorsements while in school. However, once the (NIL) guidelines are finalized, some of his teachings could be put to use.
“My focus is on other things. The NIL and the changes that happen with the NIL coincided with me launching the course that I work on - the course that helps athletes build brands outside of sports. It was all coincidental. Timing is just by happenstance, but it’s great. It’s great timing for me because it brings attention to what I think is the real issue and that’s education. The most important thing isn’t talking about endorsement deals, talking about shoe deals or shoe contracts, or Instagram followers. It’s talking about building a plan. What are you going to do when you take the jersey off? What are you going to do once you graduate? Because if you don’t go onto the NFL, the NBA, or the WNBA, those text messages stop. Those media members are not calling you. I’ve never hired anybody based on how far they can throw a football - I say that to everybody. That’s not the reality, that’s not how it works. While you have an influence, let’s use it to build some equity in something other than sports.”
Aside from the benefits of the course itself, the West Virginia coaching staff could use this to pitch to their recruits. One of the biggest hurdles to cross in the recruiting process is winning over the recruits' parents. Often times, recruiting the recruit is much easier than recruiting the parents. If you don't have them sold good luck in landing their son.
Parents want to know that when they send their child off to college that they will not only be in good hands but be surrounded by people who really want to help make a difference in each player's life. Having Darlow's course in the fold could help both the recruit and the parents see how much Neal Brown wants to be involved not only in their football career but in helping them get to where they want to be when it's all over with.
Darlow has also announced partnerships with Mercer, Miami (OH), and Georgia Tech and as he mentioned previously, he hopes to "hit every program" to better prepare student-athletes around the country.
What benefits do you see coming from Darlow's partnership with West Virginia? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
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