Some fans, both UT and opponent fans, believed that the Volunteers would once more have to deal with unfavourable recruiting from rival schools when word initially leaked that the NCAA was looking into the Tennessee Vols for the program’s handling of NIL deals.
When a programme is under NCAA investigation, other programmes may exploit it as a means of recruiting athletes away from that programme, even if the probe appears baseless, which is nearly always the case. Tennessee dealt with it during the course of the Jeremy Pruitt/UT investigation, which was finally concluded this past summer.
However, it doesn’t seem that Tennessee will see any negative recruiting, despite the fact that this story first raised concerns about that possibility.
This is partially because the public appears to be pushing for the NCAA’s dissolution, which this inquiry and the ensuing lawsuit (the state of Tennessee v. NCAA) may hasten.
It’s also because Josh Heupel, the head coach of the Tennessee Vols, submitted a declaration on Friday endorsing the preliminary injunction that aims to prevent the NCAA from enforcing NIL recruiting regulations, which converted the investigation into a major recruiting plus last week.
In an era where a large number of college football coaches spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about NIL deals, Heupel made it clear that he 100 percent supports players’ abilities to earn income from NIL deals (especially early in their college careers).
“Because of the risk of injuries in college sports, an early NIL deal could be the best or only NIL deal they might ever secure,” noted Heupel in the declaration that was filed on Friday. “The current NIL environment is complicated for everyone involved: current student athletes, prospective student athletes, coaches, schools, collectives and fans. NCAA rules are vague and confusing. They frequently change and they sometimes conflict with NCAA’s prior guidance.
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