Prep coaches sound off on name, image and likeness, which is now law

The all-out blitz has commenced. As Florida high school football coaches prepare for the first day of formal practices on Monday, they find themselves being hounded on all sides by a fresh set of headaches.

Forms, physicals and humidity are now accompanied by name, image and likeness. Even as a new season dawns, the concept of amateurism — even at the grass-roots level — seems destined for a sunset.

“Money’s the root of all evil,” veteran Jesuit football coach Matt Thompson said. “I don’t like it.”

Neither does Durant counterpart Claybo Varnum.

“I don’t see us as a place that it will impact a whole lot, but I just don’t know,” said Varnum, whose school is nestled in the rural outskirts of east Hillsborough County. “I’m not for it.”

On Wednesday, the State Board of Education ratified name, image and likeness legislation approved in June by the Florida High School Athletic Association. While the law comes with a series of restrictions (i.e. collectives are prohibited; student-athletes can’t promote alcohol or tobacco products), it still creates potentially fresh revenue streams for prep athletes.

And potential pangs for their coaches, who remain uncertain just how the high school landscape will be affected — if at all.

Will schools with affluent boosters (i.e. restaurateurs, car-dealership owners, etc.) be able to lure blue-chip prospects from other schools with the promise of five-figure deals for endorsing their business? Will this legislation impact enough athletes to matter? Will the rich simply get richer? Has prep athletics lost its soul?

“It’s such an interesting question,” Plant football coach Hank Brown said.

“It’s like, the dynamic of that coming into high school and having an influence, you don’t really know who’s going to win in that scenario, and you don’t really know how you’re going to do it, and how are the guys going to be able to take that and be influenced? There’s a lot of conversation behind it of, ‘Will people recruit? Will people do things?’”

The answers might be found by a gaze northward. If Georgia’s adoption of name, image and likeness legislation is any sign, the concerns of Florida coaches might be rendered minimal — or even moot.

Four months after the Georgia High School Association approved name, image and likeness for prep athletes, only 44 of 429,714 student-athetes (.0001%) had signed deals, according to data gathered by Connect Savannah reporter Travis Jaudon. Some Tampa Bay area coaches sense a similarly modest number of Florida athletes will land such deals, simply because there’s not enough money floating around.

While Florida remains one of the nation’s most fertile football recruiting landscapes, its high schools generally don’t draw nearly the crowds — or booster support — of states such as Georgia and Texas. And its coaches remain among the lowest-paid in the country.

“With how tight things are as far as fundraising and all that kind of stuff, I just don’t know how many programs in the state are really going to have the financial backing to be getting high school kids NIL deals,” veteran Mitchell football coach Andy Schmitz said.

“I’m trying to think in my head like, what sports bar and grill, what car dealership, anything like that that’s out there that supports a school, which one of those businesses are going to say, ‘I’d rather give $1,000 to the starting quarterback and not give it to the Mitchell or Plant or Armwood football program.

“To me, the pot of money is still the same pot of money. I just don’t see these businesses saying, ‘Oh yeah, now let’s give extra.’ I just don’t know if that’s going to happen.”

But what about the schools with cauldrons — or caches — of money? Will affluent private programs with wealthy boosters be able to attract elite athletes with promises of four- and five-figure name, image and likeness deals?

Not necessarily, Thompson insists. Jesuit takes only a small amount of sophomore transfers each year, and — with limited exceptions — accepts no junior or senior transfers.

“It’s not going to benefit us, because we have an academic standard just to get in the school,” Thompson said. “You can’t be a five-star phenom eighth-grader and say, ‘Hey, I want to go to Jesuit,’ and take the entrance test and you can’t read. Jesuit’s been around for 125 years, they’re not going to bend for anything.

“I don’t think it’s going to benefit us at all.”

But it could benefit private programs with less-stringent entrance policies.

“I can see private schools having alumni with more money than they know what to do with, trying to help build a state champion team,” Mitchell boys basketball coach Jason Vetter said. “And private schools already break all the recruiting rules with no penalties, so that won’t be a deterrent for them.”

The general sentiment is, if any school benefits significantly from the new legislation, it will be schools with a championship tradition embedded in deep-seated communities. Think Lakeland High football (eight state titles) or Plant football (four state titles since 2006). Or possibly Key West High baseball (11 state titles) or Miami Senior High boys basketball (19 state titles).

“Lakeland High School might not give you money, but Lakeland Toyota down the road might,” Varnum said.

“And I think about ... Plant. Like, those places are deep-rooted, and you’ve got successful businesses (around them) that are invested in high school football. I think those are the places that, if you’re going to see a benefit, it will come from them. I think about us, we don’t have any booming businesses around us where we are.”

Nor do most inner-city schools, which concerns Middleton football coach John Courtney.

“The main concern about NIL is, NIL to me is fund-based,” he said. “So a lack of resources, as far as money within the inner city, is an issue for any inner-city school in reference to compete with other schools that can offer higher bids as far as NIL.”

The ensuing months will indicate whether such concerns are merited or unfounded. The sun has just now risen on a new era.

Whether it brightens or scorches the prep landscape remains anyone’s guess.

“We don’t foresee kids making hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars,” Florida High School Athletic Association executive director Craig Damon told the Board of Education on Wednesday. “However, there will be that 1% of elite athletes that possibly have that opportunity.”

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls