Jimbo Fisher spoke the truth on Wednesday about college football recruiting.
Fisher’s Texas A&M Aggies seemed to have plenty of success on National Signing Day. 247 Sports had the Aggies ranked as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.
New Name, Image and Likeness rules have changed college football because they allow players to make money off endorsement deals. There are also some concerns arising that some NIL deals are not actual endorsement deals, but rather a device used in pay-for-play deals.
Fisher says people should brush those concerns aside because the reality is players have been getting paid all along anyway.
“There were a lot of NIL deals going on before all this was going on, they just weren’t legal. Nobody told nobody,” Fisher told radio host Paul Finebaum.
"There's always been NIL stuff going on, it just wasn't legal."
-Jimbo Fisher on recruiting in the new NIL era pic.twitter.com/ZE7qqweUIY
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) December 15, 2021
At least somebody said it.
The difference now is that they can find ways to make the deals fit within the rules. The other big difference is these transactions can go on the books officially rather than be under-the-table cash deals. The IRS sure likes that.
Either way, like Fisher alluded to, players have been getting paid for a long time in college football, so things aren’t quite as different as some are making it out to be.
Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
