The landscape of college football is changing rapidly.
Division I schools will be able to share revenue with athletes for the first time in history if the House v. NCAA settlement receives final approval in April. It would mean that schools can pay up to $22 million total, across all sports, to their athletes annually.
In preparation of the settlement, Colorado cut ties with its official NIL collective (5430 Alliance) earlier this month.
Reggie Calhoun Jr. — who was the director of operations for 5430 Alliance — has now been tasked with leading the Buffs into a new era of pay-for-play as Colorado’s director of football NIL/revenue sharing.
“Once the collective went away due to the new rules and what CU wanted to do, I went into my mode of wanting to show that I have more value to the program outside of just being operations for the collective,” Calhoun Jr. told DNVR. “The revenue sharing is coming, the NCAA is changing, the NIL landscape has so many different viewpoints that I think it’s time to really go back to what this all started from: athletes being able to monetize who they are.
“The coaches do their jobs from the performance side. From the front office side, I want to showcase what’s potentially down the road when it comes to the business side of sports.”
Calhoun Jr.’s new role will help him better serve both the players and the program.
Managing Colorado’s athletics budget is one of Calhoun Jr.’s top priorities. That includes forecasting potential player movement and keeping a close eye on the transfer portal.
“The portal has two windows so you’re looking at what we will have for the portal in April,” Calhoun Jr. told DNVR. “What will we have if a guy leaves? I’ll be at practice, in the weight room and at grade checks so I’ll see signs of an athlete who may leave.
“I’ll also add in my value asset of focusing on retention. If it’s a guy who I’m noticing that’s maybe on the fence of leaving or looking across the way, how do we add retention tactics and things like that?”
Calhoun Jr. also says social media can be used as a tool to project potential player movement based on the things an athlete may post on the internet.
No stone will go unturned in Calhoun Jr.’s pursuit of maximizing the Buffs’ on-field product.
“It’s really just about engulfing myself in the day-to-day of the team so that I can be aware of who’s possibly going to be offered what, who might be increased, who might be decreased, who might leave and all of those things,” Calhoun Jr. said.
“Money is the topic right now so you want to incentivize certain behaviors and build that comradery and continuity, but you also want to showcase that this is a business, too. Somebody is always watching and somebody may be watching from a different lens.”
Colorado isn’t navigating these uncharted waters alone.
Athletic departments nationwide are preparing for the impact of the House v. NCAA settlement and Calhoun Jr. believes the Buffs are positioned better than most to adapt.
“CU, the front office and the coaching staff — with all the things they’ve done in the college space for the last three years or so — they’ve seen around the corner and they’ve been embracing change,” Calhoun Jr. said. “They’ve been embracing change while going through a change.
“You go from, at one time, being a dormant program to the focal point of the college space, but you’re still looking at what’s best for the program.”
Since cutting ties with its official NIL collective — joining a host of Power 4 universities to do so — Colorado is encouraging interested donors to consider “financially investing” in athletics through the Buff Club.
As far as Calhoun Jr.’s new role at Colorado, it could very well end up being the blueprint for athletic departments across the country.
“It made me feel good to take the role simply because I believe Colorado has the best interest of the program in mind which entails the best interest of the athlete,” Calhoun Jr. said. “Overall, I think it will set off what is to come for the college sports world.”
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