Lane Kiffin delivers candid comments on NIL trends: ‘I’ll say what other people don’t say’
By Keith Farner
Published:
Lane Kiffin often speaks what other people only think about, and that was again the case on Monday at SEC Media Days when the topic of name, image and likeness and player compensation came up.
Kiffin was asked about what he’s learned from NIL in the year since it was implemented, and how to do well at it.
“How do you do well at that? You have really good boosters, that’s how you do well at it,” he said. “I’ll say what other people don’t say, as you know. It’s like a payroll. In baseball, what teams win over a long period of time? Teams that have high payrolls and can pay players a lot. We’re in a situation not any different than that. I’m sure other people have said it, I said it from Day 1. You legalize cheating, so get ready for the people that have the most money to get the best players and now you have it.”
Kiffin earlier in his comments referred to a general manager being in charge of the payouts, but he said the football program is not allowed to manage what the players make from NIL deals.
“We’re not there yet, and I don’t know that we ever will be, that’s just what I said should be because that’s what any other professional sports, which is what we are now, does,” he said.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
