Forget The Facilities, Mike Gundy Says 'Don't Build It, Put The Money In The Bank' For NIL. College Football World Continues To Change

If you've been paying attention to the current era of college football, then Mike Gundy's comments on NIL are a road map of where we're headed. Forget raising money for facilities, put it towards the NIL bank at Oklahoma State.

Reality has struck college coaches around the country that rather than having donations go towards the university or a new project, it needs to go towards buying players. It's tough for most of these coaches to wrap their brains around legal pay-for-play, because the NCAA isn't going to do a thing about it.

If you thought congress was going to get involved, you're mistaken. There's too much going on right now for Washington to worry about NIL.

So, when Mike Gundy or Mark Stoops wants donors to put all of their chips into the NIL pot, you might as well follow the rest of football.

In terms of donations to the school for the athletic department, Gundy has come to the realization that it's better used for NIL.

“Don’t build it, put the money in the bank,” Mike Gundy said. “Put the money in the bank and spend it on NIL. That’s just the future, and I’m not saying I agree with it. I only know the sign of the times. … Players used to want to go somewhere for shiny new facilities and new uniforms and things like that — they still want to go somewhere where they win, but they also want the other stuff.

"I’m going to hypothetically build a situation: if you brought in 50 of our players and said we’ll NIL you $50-$60,000 a year cash or we can build you a new weight room and meeting room, which one do you want? They’re gonna take , right? That’s what kids do nowadays.”

Mike Gundy Losing Players To The Portal, Chasing Better Deal

In what has turned into a common practice around college athletics, a lot of these players hitting the transfer portal are searching for better opportunities. Now, whether that is because of money or playing time is a question for the player.

But, as he discussed NIL and his current Oklahoma State team, Mike Gundy emphasized that some of these players are taking money now, knowing they won't play in the NFL.

“There’s a good percentage of players that are leaving schools — and I know for a fact that we’ve had some here that have left — to go take NIL money because they know they’re not a pro player,” Gundy noted. “So I can go play for somebody and get $150,000 or $200,000 for a year for two years, and I’m not good enough to play in the NFL, or I can stay at a school and get $30,000 or $40,000, so that’s not a good business decision. You can’t blame them for doing it, but that’s what’s going on.”

As for examples of past success, Gundy pointed towards the Johnny Manziel documentary, mentioning he'd want all of that stuff as well, if he were eighteen. But the times have changed and we're watching it unfold in real-time.

Now, these athletic departments are once again in a tough spot. Not only is the head coach trying to raise more money for NIL purposes, but he's telling folks that he'd rather see this go towards the 'Warchest,' than the athletic department.

This is where schools are having a hard time navigating the dynamic of NIL, while both sides are trying to get a piece of the pie.