Kirk Herbstreit Shares His Hope For College Athletes In The NIL Era On 'Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich'

Kirk Herbstreit shared his perspective on how Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals have changed college athletics on "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich."

Perhaps no other topic has stirred as much debate in the world of college athletics as how much money athletes can earn through NIL deals. While there are some positives for the athletes because of these deals, it’s created countless problems that many coaches have warned about.

Herbstreit, a quarterback for Ohio State from 1989-1992, said that if NIL was around in his day, he wouldn’t know how to handle it given his modest upbringing.

"I don’t know how they do it, it’s ridiculous the amount of money some of these guys are making," Herbstreit said. "I came from no money, so if you didn’t qualify for a Pell grant, and you didn’t have any family money, you just lived off your scholarship. If you didn’t have (those things), you’re just getting by."

Despite not having any means to make extra money through his platform as an athlete, Herbstreit said he enjoyed living with minimal means.

"I kind of liked it. I didn’t come from any money. I thought it was pretty cool to have roommates, and order pizza and just bulls–t around," Herbstreit said. "I didn’t think it was awful, I thought it was great." 

Read: NFL Teams See Negative Effects Of NIL and Transfer Portal On This Draft

To be fair, he did also mention that he’s not against the idea of athletes getting money, he just knows that he wouldn’t have needed it to be happy at college.

"I will say this, it's a totally different era. The amount of money that’s coming into the system now, we’re talking about multiple billions of dollars," Herbstreit said. "I’m not saying they shouldn’t get money, I’m just saying for me, not giving me money, I didn’t really care."

Herbstreit hopes that college athletes make sure they prioritize more than just NIL deals in their careers. (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

Above all else, Herbstreit is worried that offering lucrative NIL deals will motivate athletes to only prioritize getting the biggest deal. He said that could cost athletes valuable relationships and experiences, which could be more valuable in the long-run than a check in the short-run.

"I really think as you get older, the one thing I worry about with these players is they chase this short-term money (and) they miss out on those life experiences," Herbstreit said. "You got to plant some roots, you don’t want to just go because things are bad, because even if you go to the NFL , almost all of these guys when they're done playing they all eventually come back to college where their buddies are, where their roots are.

I just hope for these guys that they think about the long term and not just, ‘How much are you going to pay me for NIL? I’m going there.’ That’s what life’s about, having life experience."