An anonymous survey of Alabama prep coaches conducted by The Birmingham News reveals that most are concerned about the consequences of NIL at the high school level.
According to the News, in response to a question about whether Alabama should have NIL on the high school level, 31 coaches who responded voted a resounding “no,” while only six said Alabama should join the NIL ranks. Another 10 coaches were either undecided or said NIL was inevitable in the long run.
An anonymous survey of Alabama prep coaches conducted by The Birmingham News reveals that most are concerned about the consequences of NIL at the high school level.
According to the News, in response to a question about whether Alabama should have NIL on the high school level, 31 coaches who responded voted a resounding “no,” while only six said Alabama should join the NIL ranks. Another 10 coaches were either undecided or said NIL was inevitable in the long run.
“NIL is coming, and I’m retiring when it does,” one coach said. “Coaches in education don’t make enough money to deal with children trying to get money for their behalf. Plus, parents already make our job extremely difficult without bringing money into the equation. It’s a lose-lose.”
Alabama is in the minority by not currently allowing high school student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. However, state Rep. Jeremy Gray (D-Opelika) recently introduced legislation that would allow high school athletes to participate in NIL deals, but that bill did not make it out of committee before the session ended in May.
“I’m 50-50 on the NIL deal,” one coach said. “It will really ramp up recruiting in the high school ranks here. I don’t see how it could or would be monitored properly by the AHSAA. However, on the other end, if a student athlete has done his or her part to earn compensation through a NIL opportunity, I would totally support it -- if it was truly earned.”
Former Alabama High School Athletic Association executive director Steve Savarese has long been against prep NIL.
“When high school athletes start making more than the principal and the superintendent, you’ve got a real problem,” he told AL.com after Georgia passed its version of the NIL.
Heath Harmon, the new executive director for the association, has said that he's waiting until he a clearer picture of the "entire organization" before he weighs in on NIL.
“Where are we wanting to go and how do we get there?” he said during his opening press conference in June. “For me, that will be a process to work through conversations and make sure we come up with a solid plan.”
Many coaches and other, however, believe it's just a matter of time before high school NIL happens in the state.
“It’s inevitable that it will happen,” one coach said of NIL. “My issue is leadership at the state level has been so bad about regulations that I don’t think we will have a plan in place when it does. I hope we have a proactive approach instead of reactive. It will only affect the best players in the state and the school they attend.”
Many believe that wealthy boosters will take advantage of the system.
“There’s little demand for small businesses to use local high school athletes for promotion, and not enough revenue to be shared among all the kids in a program,” one coach said. “High school athletics should not be treated like SEC football programs. While I’m not against high school athletes making money, it must be approached logically and fairly. Those advocating for it often don’t coach high school kids. Instead, they use already talented students to promote themselves.”
