Alabama Football: How NIL will impact college recruiting

Will Alabama football still be the top dogs in the recruiting world?

Alabama football has been the best recruiting school for over a decade now, and they have done that due to their ability to adapt. With new rules impacting collegiate athletics, programs will have to adapt once again.

For the first time ever, student-athletes are allowed to make money off of their name, image and likeness. They cannot be paid by schools, but they can pursue endorsement deals with other companies.

We’ll have to witness a few recruiting cycles before we truly know what this means for recruiting. Will players choose the biggest schools for the most exposure? Will they be more eager to find a team with a chance to start so they can get their name out there? They might consider schools in larger areas so they can be closer to companies looking to make deals.

All of this remains uncertain, but one thing is for sure. This will be a logistics nightmare for many schools. It will take a deep compliance office and wide connections to ensure that athletes are both following the rules and maximizing their potential.

Because of this, larger programs have the advantage. Players may have to wait to start, but they’ll have resources to find them the best deals out there.

Companies will also be willing to make deals with Alabama football players. While they would prefer to have the top names, value comes with having an Alabama football player endorse your brand.

Infrastructure will matter for the first few seasons of this new era. No one has more infrastructure than Alabama, and that will be integrated into Nick Saban’s recruiting pitch.

Numbers don’t lie, and it will soon be clear how valuable being an Alabama football player can be. Once that happens, the Crimson Tide will have another reason for prospects to pick them.