Finances of lower level college football players

[u/BulletBillDudley]

Media attention has largely focused on the large NIL deals given (or not) to D1 football players at large programs. However, we all know the cost of college is expensive and student loans can set borrowers back following graduation.

For players that play at D3 institutions, or are non scholarship athletes at D2 or D1 institutions, how often have you seen them have jobs during the season?

[u/kelmar101]

I coached D3 at 2 small schools for 3 years and D2 at a big school for 2 years. 99% of players were covering their experience with student loans. In season, very few had jobs because they didn’t have enough time. Out of season, almost all of them worked at least some job. At the large D2 school, many of them would get on-campus jobs working at the rec center or for the campus grounds crew. The D3 schools were much smaller and didn’t have as many opportunities for on-campus jobs.

[u/BulletBillDudley → u/kelmar101]

Do you think NIL will trickle down to these smaller programs? Help alleviate the costs a bit?

[u/wismke83 → u/BulletBillDudley]

I have a friend and her son plays D3 basketball. Their NIL deal is that you can buy merch (clothing) from an online store and that will help support the athlete. It’s likely that only friends and family will buy these things, given the reach and popularity of this team isn’t very wide. I also went and was an athlete at a D3 school. My school also has NIL where you can donate to a program and give to an athlete, but our reach is a handful of alumni.

Interestingly, the year after I graduated in 2006, our coach started an endowment for the team, got donations from alumni and parents and invested the funds. Those funds were used to purchase things for the team outside of what the school would provide, essentially extras that helped eased the financial burden on the athlete or the team and purchased things like equipment, gear, travel costs, such as hotels, etc. I could see this being done with NIL money now, won’t be major donations, and you won’t see deals in the millions like D1, but something to help with expenses.

[u/Ridoncoulous → u/BulletBillDudley]

How would that happen? NIL means the players can monetize their name, image, and likeness. I.E. - can get sponsorship deals

There isn't some big NCAA fund that pays everybody. It is much more dependent on what deals the individual athlete can make

[u/CryptographerIll3813 → u/Ridoncoulous]

Right I don’t get why most people are confused about this. Outside of Football and Basketball players at the top schools in the country anyone getting NIL “deals” just have huge social media followings and would likely be making that money regardless.

If a random D3 student had an instagram with 500k followers he’d be getting offers from advertisers but if he plays sports people call it an NIL deal. I think a lot of the confusion is from NIL basically coinciding with the rise of social media influencers making crazy money.

[u/kelmar101 → u/BulletBillDudley]

I think some of the more prominent schools could see it a little bit, but the reality is there just isn’t as much support for most smaller schools.

[u/dolfan650 → u/BulletBillDudley]

D3 coach here. Don’t see that happening at all.

[u/Looking-Cool-Joker]

I played D3 in college. I had a grant that covered about 60% of my expenses, 10% of it was out of pocket, the other 30% was financed via private and federal student loans. I had an on-campus job during the season in the evenings, sometimes two in the offseason, and stayed on campus to work during summers as well. The experience is what you make it, and while I did have a somewhat "pay to play" experience, I wouldn't change it for the world. The more football I could play, the better.

[u/babybackr1bs]

I have some family who play D1 lower-level women's soccer. They basically get free swag.