NCAA makes major interim NIL changes, allowing coaches to make appearances, provide memorabilia among key modifications

The NCAA’s ongoing quest, and that of its member institutions, to find in some way, shape or form to provide guidance on Name, Image and Likeness matters took another turn Wednesday.

The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors “voted unanimously to clarify how schools can be involved with the name, image and likeness activities of enrolled student-athletes on their campuses,” the NCAA said, in part, in its release.

In its earliest forms, it was established that schools would not have an opportunity to directly participate in the facilitation of endorsement deals and other opportunities that could allow student-athletes to profit from his or her personal brands.

However, that model has changed in the relatively short period that NIL has dramatically changed the landscape of college athletics, particularly in Football Bowls Subdivision football and notably among the sport’s Power-5 members.

“The NIL landscape is constantly evolving, and the Board of Directors decided it was important to offer further guidance with respect to a number of key questions that have arisen recently,” University of Georgia President Dr. Jere Morehead, also chair of the Division I Board, said in the release. “As we continue to reinforce current NCAA rules, we expect to offer further guidance in the future on what should and should not be done when engaged in these activities.

“We are committed to fostering a fair and appropriate NIL environment that supports our students and complies with our rules.”

Among the most noteworthy elements of this latest attempt by the NCAA to corral the nebulous NIL space, the organization said it both allowed an encouraged education of student-athletes about NIL opportunities, the financial and tax implications that oftentimes accompany those paid opportunities, and the NCAA also noted it would allow schools to educate individual boosters, prospects and collectives, such as the ones involved with programs like the University of Tennessee, Georgia, Southern Cal, South Carolina, Florida and other programs that have, for now, harnessed NIL opportunities into enhanced recruiting of prospective student-athletes.

Also of particular note:

“The Board also clarified that school personnel (including coaches) CAN assist an NIL entity with fundraising through appearances or by providing autographed memorabilia but CANNOT donate cash directly to those entities (collectives, such as Tennessee’s nationally renowned Spyre Sports Group).

“School staff members also cannot be employed by or have an ownership stake in an NIL entity.”

Those elements could have immediate reactions.

“The new guidance may require institutions and key stakeholders to modify practices, and some disentanglement may be necessary,” Lynda Tealer, chairperson of the NIL Working Group and an executive assistant athletics director at the University of Florida, said in the release.

In blunt terms: some collectives that have been in part funded or staffed directly by university personnel would likely need to divest from those organizations.

The Full NCAA release is available here on the organization’s Web site, and a PDF file with all the latest guidelines from the NCAA also is available at this link.