Mike Gundy on NIL negotiations during the season: “Tell your agent to stop calling us”

Since Michigan was crowned as College Football Playoff National champions in January, all eyes were on the intersection of ZERO and the Transfer portal during the off-season. But on August 24th, the first games of the year will take place – and the focus will be back on the field.

To count Michael Gundy in the crowd that is ready for games. The State of Oklahoma The coach said he was ready to get back into business and put all negotiations on hold until the end of the season.

“That’s what I told the players. There are no more negotiations now,” Gundy told reporters this week. “The portal is over. All negotiations are history. Now we play football. We just practice and play football.”

NIL was once again an important part of the transfer cycle. On3’s Pete Nakos Reports indicate that after the transfer window opened, zero dollars were channeled from the high school level into talent retention, with collectives spending over $10 million annually on roster salaries.

But now that the transfer window is closed and teams are back on the field to practice, Gundy says he doesn’t want to hear about negotiations. It’s all about performing once Week 0 begins.

“The business side of what we’re doing now is we have to have those conversations with them. ‘Tell your agent to stop calling us and asking for more money. This is non-negotiable now. We’ll start again in December,'” Gundy said.

“Now we can concentrate fully on football. And that part is fun because there was so much else going on that it was hard to really concentrate on football.”

With the start of the 2024 season House Agreement threatened

As Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State and the rest of the college football world prepare for the 2024 season, there is still a lot to be resolved off the field. It all starts with the House of Representatives vs. NCAA Comparison as a judge Claudia Wilken is considering possible approval.

Sept. 5 could be a milestone as a new landscape emerges. Schools could share up to $22 million starting in 2025-26 if they are certified to do so. The settlement would also allow thousands of athletes who were not allowed to benefit from NIL, participate in revenue sharing or profit from video gaming to cash out.

Instead of paying $20 billion in damages, the NCAA and the Power Five conferences signed a 10-year settlement that includes $2.776 billion in damages. New scholarship limits will be implemented, and the settlement is expected to establish new enforcement measures in college sports.

Wilken could give preliminary approval on September 5. However, she could still reject the full settlement because there are numerous objections.

Pete Nakos contributed.