KC Concepcion is set to be one of the most important players for Texas A&M football next season. The star wide receiver, a transfer from NC State, comes to the Aggies after two highly productive years up in Raleigh, and was one of the most highly-coveted players in the transfer portal.
In this modern era of college football, then, this means that most fans conclude that he will command a high amount of leverage when it comes to NIL compensation. So no one was surprised when a number began circulating recently of 2.5MM total compensation for Concepcion in this upcoming year.
As a matter of fact, I took that reporting to mean that the Aggies were taking the next step to be competitive in the NIL space. There's a lot that's still opaque about amounts that certain players are earning, and the lack of transparency makes things difficult, but it didn't seem out of the question that Concepcion could be earning that much from the collective and other deals.
Mike Elko dismisses rumored, eye-popping NIL amount for KC Concepcion: "He does not have that much money"
However, Mike Elko at a coach's night last night had some definitive words about such rumors.
When talking about Texas A&M transfer wide receiver KC Concepcion, Mike Elko took a moment to dispel some of the NIL reporting on him. Reports came out last week that said Concepcion has made more than $2 million in NIL deals:
— 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕤 𝕃. 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟 (@Travis_L_Brown) June 18, 2025
"He does not have that much money."
This does not necessarily mean that the Aggies are not competitive on the NIL front: I don't think that they would have a guy like Concepcion on the team if they weren't competitive. It clearly is not their entire pitch to any recruit, unlike certain schools.
But it's good for Elko to address these things in one way, because it can lead to other recruits being of the belief that, if they are offered less, they are being lowballed. If that's not the case, then it doesn't help anyone.
This was a smart move by Elko to dismiss this rumor. It's hard to be upfront as a modern college football program, but the strategic way that Elko is doing so is paying off.