Jedd said on his radio show with softy recently we are well under $5M in NIL annually. He said it will take getting to $10M-$15M annually to be at the top range of NIL spending nationally. This is over and above $15M in rev share. What is Jedd and UW doing to find this $?
Follow up to this, I see our athletes having NIL deals with adidas, Alaska airlines, T Mobile, Learfield, Msft, and Simply Seattle to name a few. You would think these would be worth several million alone. Wonder what else is out there?
Uhhh f/u to this - Our NIL collective was one of the top 10 in the nation before revenue sharing rendered them obsolete. How the heck did things fall apart so quickly and where did all that money go?
Christian can answer this hopefully but seems because Chun was heavily involved in the making of the CSC that UW has taken the position of trying to do things the "right" way and shut the fan collective down, while all our peers ignored the rulings and continue business like usual.
1. What sense do you get from Jed as to how he feels about UW’s NIL status
2. How many programs have a large booster vs a broad base. How much do those broad bases generate at top programs?
3. Is the upper campus supportive of the NIL as it currently exists or are they hoping for major reforms and discouraging participation
4. I hear all kinds of numbers, where does the UW really stand in terms of NIL, top 15, top 25?
All of these would be in regards to pure outside NIL not the House money dedicated from the university, which I assume all top 25 programs are doing at the same rate
What UW fan 2011 said. It would seem that a competitive NIL bankroll is critical for attracting and retaining both on-field talent and coaches, particularly the head coach.
What is the buzz around other head/assistant coaches in the industry regarding the Washington head coaching job? It used to be considered a top 15 job in college football and yet in recent times it seems like our coaches are now poachable by other schools within the top 15 (I'm not discounting that Alabama, USC, and Michigan are higher tier jobs). Fearing that another program was going to come steal your head coach if he did well was never a problem at Washington before. What has gotten the program to this point, what is the view of the job from other coaches, and how can the program get back to a level where it's seen as a destination rather than a stop along the way? If it were NFL teams taking our coach(es) I would understand that but that isn't happening and, to the best of my knowledge, never has.
Historically and to present day, UW head coaches don't leave unless it's for a top tier job. Darrel Royal left (1950s) for Texas. Sark left for USC. KDB left for Alabama. That's the entire list of coaches who chose to leave UW in the last 75 years, and all went to a football blue blood.
Yes I am aware of that. I am curious if Christian has heard anything from other coaches/assistant coaches currently in the business. In particular, if he has any insight into whether the perception of UW as a top 15 destination has changed. Sark left because of marital issues and I'm still shocked USC even wanted him. Royal was here for 1 season and went 6-6. Texas was deadset on getting him and gave him a great offer. KDB is the only guy who has really left for a clear "upgrade" because he had a lot of money on the table here to stay.
Looking ahead to next season in the B1G, the Dawgs get Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Penn State at home and then have road trips to Michigan State, Nebraska, O****n, Purdue, and USC. Which of those teams would you say are on an upward trajectory vs. which are on a downward trajectory? The schedule looks tougher now than it initially did at the start of the season.
Any thoughts on Sark's firing of Kwiatkowski? Any chance you can interview him about that and a potential return to Montlake someday? We'd all love to have him back here if Walters ever leaves.
Why is there such a disconnect this year between the AP/Coaches poll view of the Huskies and the metrics view? They're a consensus top 25 team in metrics, with some having them as high as 14th and most having them well into the top 20, but the voters have basically written them off all year.
Looking back at your travels into Big 10 country over the past two seasons, are there any game day experiences that stood out? Things that you hadn’t seen before at other stadiums?
I like this, particularly in the context of what Caple has seen elsewhere that Huskies could do better with the Gameday experience. For example, one thing that we are severely lacking in is the ability to have butts in seat 15 minutes before kickoff. I get the factors behind why that's the case, but there are certainly ways UW can make this better.
Living here in BiG country, there are 2 game day experiences that come to mind and both involve the marching band.
My favorite is the Badger Bash at Wisconsin. Starting 2.5 hours prior to home games at the Union South, the marching band performs with Bucky Badger. Then after the game ends, stay for the 5th Quarter where the band plays for 20 more min.
The other experience is the Skull Session at St John Arena next to The 'Shoe, 3 hrs prior to Ohio State home games. After the band performs and gets the crowd all hyped up, they march to The Shoe to enter the stadium and do Script Ohio.
Hey Christian, can you comment and/or research a bit re: why the Huskies haven’t been able to generate NIL $ on par with other elite programs? We may not have the “largest” fan base and maybe lack the “only show in town” monopoly of some markets (Bama, Ohio St, Ole Miss, Auburn, etc) and we lack a “Daddy Warbucks” (Ok State, TAMU, SMU, $&@& Orygun, etc) but we should have one of the wealthiest fan bases and alumni groups… plus some of the top F500 firms are right here in Seattle.
Said differently, our diaspora is fairly large and it’s extremely wealthy… but where does it stand on the giving scale?
There has to be a frame work to analyze… perhaps it’s been done already. If not, it’s begging for the Caple Index to be borne!
I think Fisch has done a terrific job as head coach: improved facilities and amenities, improved NIL, rebuilt roster, hired excellent assistants. I would not give him as high marks as OC and play caller. How would you assess Fisch as OC and play caller ?
As an addendum to this question, if you could have a short discussion with a coach or former coach who called plays to get their perspective, that would be incredible. I'm thinking Rick Neuheisel, Chris Petersen or similar. Could be an OC who called plays too.
How is the relationship between AD Pat Chun and Jedd Fisch? With the coaching carousel this year, some of the rumored candidates received new contract extensions (i.e. Kenny Dillingham) to keep them at their schools. Since the buyout of Fisch's existing contract drops on Jan 2, I would think they would negotiate a contract extension/higher buyout if UW was serious about keeping Fisch around. Christian, could you provide some insight here?
Husky Stadium has been selling Alcohol Beverages throughout the Stadium over the past 5 years. How much income does the Athletic Department generate over the course of 6-7 games a year because of this? Seems like the 2025 season has to be the biggest yet based off of how much better the vendors have gotten getting people through the lines on gameday.
There are some obvious areas where this team could benefit from additions from the transfer portal, however at some level good players are good players and you could always use more of those. So to put this in context I have a hypothetical scenario for you - I’ve turned the transfer portal into a time machine. It can no longer be used to acquire players from other programs, it can now be used to bring back players from our recent past. Let’s say the last ten years. However, there is one rule - this player can’t have taken a snap in an NFL game. I think that rule makes this a more interesting exercise. Because obviously having more defensive tackles or a true top end wide receiver would be big deals for this team, but I don’t think it’s realistic to say that Vita Vea or John Ross is going to arrive through the portal this offseason. The no-NFL-snaps-Time-Machine maybe imposes similar constraints as the talent pool and salary cap impose on the real life portal.
Thanks again for another year of coverage. We’re lucky you bet on yourself after the athletic. It is a privilege in this era of sports journalism and I don’t take that for granted. We experience this thing we care about through your perspective and it’s very unique to have had continuity through three different companies - the news tribune, the athletic and substack. That longevity is unique and special.
What would it take for UW football to be considered a "blue-blood" program? Is it a combo of a roster budget of $30+M, NIL budget of "X", head coach pay of $10M-$12M/yr? Would there be other aspects that would go into that informal formula?
Whenever questions come up about Blue Bloods, I always ask this question (and I hope you see this, Dave, to have a chance to respond): Please define what Blue Blood means to you. Maybe Christian could do the same.
We try to have meaningful discussions about this without a consensus meaning of Blue Blood, and it seems to me that the conversations go off the rails.
Good point. My definition of blue bloods is based on unofficial labels that media assign to programs such as Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, USC (there may be a few more). My question really is centered around whether a program can attain that status by increasing budgets or whether it is a reputation based on long term, historical success. However, I am not naive to think that those programs have not and did not "compensate" players/families in ways that separated them from the rest of the pack. NIL came about partially to level the playing field so my question is as to whether it is possible or if the "blue bloods" would just increase under the table benefits in order to gain and maintain advantages over other programs. I personally think that the NFL model is right around the corner and athletes there as in other professional sports can receive endorsement deals to the extent that the free market supports. FBS football (and basketball) is far from an amateur sport.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Dave. The conversation can be so much more intelligent the closer it gets to Apples & Apples on the Blue Bloods definition. Of course, every definition brings its own challenges but that's part of the fun. I rather like yours, though it isn't that long ago (for this old guy, anyway) that the media-assigned traditional Blue Bloods were nearly headlined by Nebraska & Oklahoma, two programs that are trying their best to regain some of the heady status they once held.
James, I agree with your points and to delve into this a bit further, lets look back at recent history. Jedd has made the comment about program continuity. If that's an important variable, what would the compensation pool for coaches have to be in order to not get them poached to another program? If we look at the DeBoer situation, if Dannen would have offered him a similar package to that of Alabama, would he have stayed at UW? The issue with coaches leaving is that players follow along. In the NFL model players are contracted to a team and are not able to follow coaches. Also, another question I have is pertaining to recruiting. In baseball and hockey, if a high school player desires to go pro as opposed to going to college, they go into a draft as opposed to a recruiting pool. Should major college football/basketball under a professional model follow the same structure? I don't have strong opinions or qualifications to say what things should be, I'm just in a discovery phase to try to understand all of this evolution. My fear is that if parity is not achieved, how long before fans of non-blue bloods simply give in to the fact that their teams don't have a reasonable chance to compete for a championship and therefore lose incentive to support and attend games? MLB figured this out years ago that their small-market teams would never survive without modifications to the system in order to prevent only having a small number of teams in the League.
Fisch has done a tremendous job rebuilding the roster after KDB left it in shambles, but he hasn't really gotten any wins against teams that we shouldn't beat. I forget the spreads at kickoff but even USC and Michigan last year turned out to be teams we should have been clear favorites over. Do Jedd and his staff have what it takes to pull out a victory over a team that's better than theirs?
People seem to think the fan experience at Husky stadium is subpar and stuck in the past. Since you've gone to so many stadiums, including so many Big 10 stadiums, what do you see out there? How much worse is the Husky Stadium experience? Also, why doesn't the athletic department work to modernize and give the experience some extra juice?
Great question. Personally, I've been to seven Big 10 stadiums and Husky Stadium stands up to all of them. The seven are Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the former Pac-12 schools Whoregon, U$C and UCLA. Speaking only of in-stadium experience, Michigan State is truly awful. Environment at UCLA and USC (depending on their record and ours) is pretty mediocre. Other than Husky Stadium, best was the Big House, then Camp Randall, followed by Iowa. The Eugene Sewer Authority (aka Austin Stadium) I'd likely place after Camp Randall. Pre-game tailgate and such, Michigan is head and shoulders over everyone, then Camp Randall. Would love to get other perspectives, especially on stadiums I've yet to visit. We try to get to one each year.
When you are looking for something to write about in February, could you please consider doing a story on Dylan Morris so we can hear what Alabama’s run has been like from his Assistant Coach perspective?
Jedd said on his radio show with softy recently we are well under $5M in NIL annually. He said it will take getting to $10M-$15M annually to be at the top range of NIL spending nationally. This is over and above $15M in rev share. What is Jedd and UW doing to find this $?
Follow up to this, I see our athletes having NIL deals with adidas, Alaska airlines, T Mobile, Learfield, Msft, and Simply Seattle to name a few. You would think these would be worth several million alone. Wonder what else is out there?
Uhhh f/u to this - Our NIL collective was one of the top 10 in the nation before revenue sharing rendered them obsolete. How the heck did things fall apart so quickly and where did all that money go?
Christian can answer this hopefully but seems because Chun was heavily involved in the making of the CSC that UW has taken the position of trying to do things the "right" way and shut the fan collective down, while all our peers ignored the rulings and continue business like usual.
To sum up my questions:
1. What sense do you get from Jed as to how he feels about UW’s NIL status
2. How many programs have a large booster vs a broad base. How much do those broad bases generate at top programs?
3. Is the upper campus supportive of the NIL as it currently exists or are they hoping for major reforms and discouraging participation
4. I hear all kinds of numbers, where does the UW really stand in terms of NIL, top 15, top 25?
All of these would be in regards to pure outside NIL not the House money dedicated from the university, which I assume all top 25 programs are doing at the same rate
What UW fan 2011 said. It would seem that a competitive NIL bankroll is critical for attracting and retaining both on-field talent and coaches, particularly the head coach.
What is the buzz around other head/assistant coaches in the industry regarding the Washington head coaching job? It used to be considered a top 15 job in college football and yet in recent times it seems like our coaches are now poachable by other schools within the top 15 (I'm not discounting that Alabama, USC, and Michigan are higher tier jobs). Fearing that another program was going to come steal your head coach if he did well was never a problem at Washington before. What has gotten the program to this point, what is the view of the job from other coaches, and how can the program get back to a level where it's seen as a destination rather than a stop along the way? If it were NFL teams taking our coach(es) I would understand that but that isn't happening and, to the best of my knowledge, never has.
Historically and to present day, UW head coaches don't leave unless it's for a top tier job. Darrel Royal left (1950s) for Texas. Sark left for USC. KDB left for Alabama. That's the entire list of coaches who chose to leave UW in the last 75 years, and all went to a football blue blood.
Yes I am aware of that. I am curious if Christian has heard anything from other coaches/assistant coaches currently in the business. In particular, if he has any insight into whether the perception of UW as a top 15 destination has changed. Sark left because of marital issues and I'm still shocked USC even wanted him. Royal was here for 1 season and went 6-6. Texas was deadset on getting him and gave him a great offer. KDB is the only guy who has really left for a clear "upgrade" because he had a lot of money on the table here to stay.
Looking ahead to next season in the B1G, the Dawgs get Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Penn State at home and then have road trips to Michigan State, Nebraska, O****n, Purdue, and USC. Which of those teams would you say are on an upward trajectory vs. which are on a downward trajectory? The schedule looks tougher now than it initially did at the start of the season.
Any thoughts on Sark's firing of Kwiatkowski? Any chance you can interview him about that and a potential return to Montlake someday? We'd all love to have him back here if Walters ever leaves.
Why is there such a disconnect this year between the AP/Coaches poll view of the Huskies and the metrics view? They're a consensus top 25 team in metrics, with some having them as high as 14th and most having them well into the top 20, but the voters have basically written them off all year.
Looking back at your travels into Big 10 country over the past two seasons, are there any game day experiences that stood out? Things that you hadn’t seen before at other stadiums?
I like this, particularly in the context of what Caple has seen elsewhere that Huskies could do better with the Gameday experience. For example, one thing that we are severely lacking in is the ability to have butts in seat 15 minutes before kickoff. I get the factors behind why that's the case, but there are certainly ways UW can make this better.
Living here in BiG country, there are 2 game day experiences that come to mind and both involve the marching band.
My favorite is the Badger Bash at Wisconsin. Starting 2.5 hours prior to home games at the Union South, the marching band performs with Bucky Badger. Then after the game ends, stay for the 5th Quarter where the band plays for 20 more min.
The other experience is the Skull Session at St John Arena next to The 'Shoe, 3 hrs prior to Ohio State home games. After the band performs and gets the crowd all hyped up, they march to The Shoe to enter the stadium and do Script Ohio.
Hey Christian, can you comment and/or research a bit re: why the Huskies haven’t been able to generate NIL $ on par with other elite programs? We may not have the “largest” fan base and maybe lack the “only show in town” monopoly of some markets (Bama, Ohio St, Ole Miss, Auburn, etc) and we lack a “Daddy Warbucks” (Ok State, TAMU, SMU, $&@& Orygun, etc) but we should have one of the wealthiest fan bases and alumni groups… plus some of the top F500 firms are right here in Seattle.
Said differently, our diaspora is fairly large and it’s extremely wealthy… but where does it stand on the giving scale?
There has to be a frame work to analyze… perhaps it’s been done already. If not, it’s begging for the Caple Index to be borne!
I think Fisch has done a terrific job as head coach: improved facilities and amenities, improved NIL, rebuilt roster, hired excellent assistants. I would not give him as high marks as OC and play caller. How would you assess Fisch as OC and play caller ?
As an addendum to this question, if you could have a short discussion with a coach or former coach who called plays to get their perspective, that would be incredible. I'm thinking Rick Neuheisel, Chris Petersen or similar. Could be an OC who called plays too.
How is the relationship between AD Pat Chun and Jedd Fisch? With the coaching carousel this year, some of the rumored candidates received new contract extensions (i.e. Kenny Dillingham) to keep them at their schools. Since the buyout of Fisch's existing contract drops on Jan 2, I would think they would negotiate a contract extension/higher buyout if UW was serious about keeping Fisch around. Christian, could you provide some insight here?
Husky Stadium has been selling Alcohol Beverages throughout the Stadium over the past 5 years. How much income does the Athletic Department generate over the course of 6-7 games a year because of this? Seems like the 2025 season has to be the biggest yet based off of how much better the vendors have gotten getting people through the lines on gameday.
There are some obvious areas where this team could benefit from additions from the transfer portal, however at some level good players are good players and you could always use more of those. So to put this in context I have a hypothetical scenario for you - I’ve turned the transfer portal into a time machine. It can no longer be used to acquire players from other programs, it can now be used to bring back players from our recent past. Let’s say the last ten years. However, there is one rule - this player can’t have taken a snap in an NFL game. I think that rule makes this a more interesting exercise. Because obviously having more defensive tackles or a true top end wide receiver would be big deals for this team, but I don’t think it’s realistic to say that Vita Vea or John Ross is going to arrive through the portal this offseason. The no-NFL-snaps-Time-Machine maybe imposes similar constraints as the talent pool and salary cap impose on the real life portal.
Thanks again for another year of coverage. We’re lucky you bet on yourself after the athletic. It is a privilege in this era of sports journalism and I don’t take that for granted. We experience this thing we care about through your perspective and it’s very unique to have had continuity through three different companies - the news tribune, the athletic and substack. That longevity is unique and special.
What would it take for UW football to be considered a "blue-blood" program? Is it a combo of a roster budget of $30+M, NIL budget of "X", head coach pay of $10M-$12M/yr? Would there be other aspects that would go into that informal formula?
Whenever questions come up about Blue Bloods, I always ask this question (and I hope you see this, Dave, to have a chance to respond): Please define what Blue Blood means to you. Maybe Christian could do the same.
We try to have meaningful discussions about this without a consensus meaning of Blue Blood, and it seems to me that the conversations go off the rails.
Good point. My definition of blue bloods is based on unofficial labels that media assign to programs such as Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, USC (there may be a few more). My question really is centered around whether a program can attain that status by increasing budgets or whether it is a reputation based on long term, historical success. However, I am not naive to think that those programs have not and did not "compensate" players/families in ways that separated them from the rest of the pack. NIL came about partially to level the playing field so my question is as to whether it is possible or if the "blue bloods" would just increase under the table benefits in order to gain and maintain advantages over other programs. I personally think that the NFL model is right around the corner and athletes there as in other professional sports can receive endorsement deals to the extent that the free market supports. FBS football (and basketball) is far from an amateur sport.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Dave. The conversation can be so much more intelligent the closer it gets to Apples & Apples on the Blue Bloods definition. Of course, every definition brings its own challenges but that's part of the fun. I rather like yours, though it isn't that long ago (for this old guy, anyway) that the media-assigned traditional Blue Bloods were nearly headlined by Nebraska & Oklahoma, two programs that are trying their best to regain some of the heady status they once held.
Cheers!
James, I agree with your points and to delve into this a bit further, lets look back at recent history. Jedd has made the comment about program continuity. If that's an important variable, what would the compensation pool for coaches have to be in order to not get them poached to another program? If we look at the DeBoer situation, if Dannen would have offered him a similar package to that of Alabama, would he have stayed at UW? The issue with coaches leaving is that players follow along. In the NFL model players are contracted to a team and are not able to follow coaches. Also, another question I have is pertaining to recruiting. In baseball and hockey, if a high school player desires to go pro as opposed to going to college, they go into a draft as opposed to a recruiting pool. Should major college football/basketball under a professional model follow the same structure? I don't have strong opinions or qualifications to say what things should be, I'm just in a discovery phase to try to understand all of this evolution. My fear is that if parity is not achieved, how long before fans of non-blue bloods simply give in to the fact that their teams don't have a reasonable chance to compete for a championship and therefore lose incentive to support and attend games? MLB figured this out years ago that their small-market teams would never survive without modifications to the system in order to prevent only having a small number of teams in the League.
This ^^^ is great stuff - I'm right with you.
Fisch has done a tremendous job rebuilding the roster after KDB left it in shambles, but he hasn't really gotten any wins against teams that we shouldn't beat. I forget the spreads at kickoff but even USC and Michigan last year turned out to be teams we should have been clear favorites over. Do Jedd and his staff have what it takes to pull out a victory over a team that's better than theirs?
People seem to think the fan experience at Husky stadium is subpar and stuck in the past. Since you've gone to so many stadiums, including so many Big 10 stadiums, what do you see out there? How much worse is the Husky Stadium experience? Also, why doesn't the athletic department work to modernize and give the experience some extra juice?
Great question. Personally, I've been to seven Big 10 stadiums and Husky Stadium stands up to all of them. The seven are Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the former Pac-12 schools Whoregon, U$C and UCLA. Speaking only of in-stadium experience, Michigan State is truly awful. Environment at UCLA and USC (depending on their record and ours) is pretty mediocre. Other than Husky Stadium, best was the Big House, then Camp Randall, followed by Iowa. The Eugene Sewer Authority (aka Austin Stadium) I'd likely place after Camp Randall. Pre-game tailgate and such, Michigan is head and shoulders over everyone, then Camp Randall. Would love to get other perspectives, especially on stadiums I've yet to visit. We try to get to one each year.
Grade each position group (A thru F) on how they performed over the entire season. I'll give you a head start... with Special Teams getting a F minus.
When you are looking for something to write about in February, could you please consider doing a story on Dylan Morris so we can hear what Alabama’s run has been like from his Assistant Coach perspective?