It's been a buzzing week in college football with signings taking place all around the country.
Especially after Texas A&M was able to grab a five-star wide receiver.
This is a great move for the program, but head coach Mike Elko is making a distinct statement to his football team not to get caught up in all of the hype.
Mike Elko warns of guys in locker room comparing NIL deals
In this world of college football being revolutionized, mixing teenagers with football and money may equal toxic locker rooms.
Elko was sure enough to address that to the media.
Mike Elko not overlooking how NIL could create locker room issues:
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) December 5, 2024
"You see some insane freshmen deals.
"I would like to know how the upperclassmen in their program feel when these freshmen come in making five times more than the returning starter." pic.twitter.com/QGESl1KIfN
This is also Elko saying that he's not opposed to using NIL. He's bringing up the idea on being transparent with his players about how they feel if deals start leaking to the public.
Especially with freshman players, this can be a concern for the older guys who feel like they deserve just as much as the freshman who come in to the system.
However, Elko emphasizes that there are enough resources to get some highly-ranked recruits to College Station.
"Our NIL plan didn't allow us to get involved with certain kids or continue to recruit certain kids or to match a number that might've allowed us to land certain kids, but that was more of an internal plan than it was a lack of resources," Elko said.
Elko is correct. There are some insane freshman deals out there. It's about how teams coach after the recruiting. Look at Ohio State: their season led to losing a game to a middle-of-the-road Michigan team in Columbus, Ohio.
Elko is just hoping that the NIL deals with freshman kids compared to the upperclassmen doesn't cause an issue. After all, the upperclassmen kids that aren't happy at a program use a little thing called the transfer portal.