Are you worried about the NIL situation in college athletics? Your federal legislators are here to (maybe) help.
As we established in the latest OFD Podcast, the Notre Dame football offseason (and college football offseason) is officially underway. This means recruiting, NIL, nonsense rankings, and much more will dominate the headlines.
LET’S GO!
ROAD TRIP TO THE CAPITAL
Without question the biggest topic of concern when it comes to Notre Dame and college football recruiting has to do with name, image, and likeness. Many Irish fans have come to believe that this new world of recruiting will end of being a HUGE detriment to the continued rise of the program.
Notre Dame has tried to stick to the spirit of the NIL rule while watching other programs allow a lot of other stuff to go on. The NCAA has done almost nothing to stop the freight train of craziness from screaming down the tracks. Mark Emmeret is stepping down as the NCAA president after a year of hand-sitting.
So now the commissioners of the SEC and Pac-12 are on their way to talk to some U.S. Senators about possible NIL legislation to rein in the wildness that has sprung about in and around college athletics.
Amid unrest around NIL in college sports, commissioners George Kliavkoff & Greg Sankey are traveling to Washington D.C. to meet with key U.S. senators on Thursday in a lobbying effort for federal legislation, a US Senate aide tells @SINow. https://t.co/PyDyqesWD7
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 5, 2022
FIRST ROUND TALENT
The NFL Draft was somewhat disappointing for Notre Dame fans this year. Even though Kyle Hamilton was selected in the first round, it was farther down than we expected — and then the only other Irish player to have his name called in the following 6 rounds was Kyren Williams. Next year figures to be a much bigger haul from Notre Dame, and we have an early mock that has tight end Michael Mayer being selected in the first round by the Tennessee Titans. Mayer was the only Irish player mocked to the first round.
WAY-too-early 2023 Mock Draft is here! Shaping up to be an exciting class of QBs (5 in this first round projection), WRs (5), RBs (2) and DL (6). Two reminders: 1. I did not create the draft order! 2. Prospects should not base future decisions on this! https://t.co/YLfv5eESGN
— Todd McShay (@McShay13) May 5, 2022
RECRUITING LOSS
As hot as the Irish are on the recruiting trail right now, it wasn’t enough to gain the commitment of 4-Star OL Austin Sierveld who chose the Ohio State Buckeyes over Notre Dame. I’ve heard that behind the scenes, Notre Dame is fine with this loss — but would have absolutely taken his commitment if he had given it. Kind of a weird dynamic.
BOOOOOOM! The Buckeyes just land a four-star in-state offensive lineman in Lakota East’s Austin Sierveld. The commitment moves OSU into the fourth spot nationally, passing Penn State for the lead in the B1G. https://t.co/yKI6IN9x6T
— Land-Grant Holy Land (@Landgrant33) May 4, 2022
SIXES
There are multiple outlets predicting the Irish to be #6 when the first AP preseason rankings are released this August. I don’t hate it, but yet I still think this top 25 is actually pretty bad.
Projecting the 2022 Preseason AP Top 25
Who do y’all think will end up higher in the poll?
✍️ @BCrawford247 https://t.co/mCxqIBs3vR pic.twitter.com/1PmrewQcFU
— 247Sports (@247Sports) May 4, 2022