College Football Team Takes Unique Approach to NIL Money for Freshmen

While the new NIL rules have completely overhauled the college football landscape, one program is making a notable move that will affect freshmen.

A cheerleader fires up the crowd before kickoff of an NCAA college football game. / Joshua L. Jones via Imagn Content

The new NIL rules have forever changed college football in how head coaches build, and re-build, their rosters every season, but one school is taking a different approach.

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson has revealed that incoming freshmen to the Broncos football team will have to earn any NIL money they want to make in their first year.

And while some reactions to the coach's remarks made it sound like Boise State was banning freshmen from making NIL money, the coach clarified what his policy is.

"When we recruit freshmen, no NIL or collective [money] is promised to anybody," Danielson said on a local radio program.

"Now, any athlete can go out and get NIL opportunities in the community where they're from, or here at Boise State. That's up to them. That's between them and what they want to do."

"But for us, when we recruit young men, it is not about, if you come here, this is what we're going to be able to do for you. This is how we're going to develop you. We're a developmental program. What I was talking about earlier today, all of the freshmen that come in here are not promised anything. They're promised a chance to compete."

That's certainly a more agreeable way of putting it compared to initial reaction that made it seem Boise State was preventing freshmen from making NIL money at all.

And while the Broncos may not be a super-competitive NIL program compared to others in the Power Four conferences, it's still an important tool when it comes to recruiting, and Danielson's clarification will be more helpful to potential recruits.

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