EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of stories based on AL.com’s anonymous offseason survey of Alabama high school football coaches. The surveys are anonymous to allow coaches to share their thoughts more freely.
Alabama’s high school coaches fear the consequences of a pay-for-play NIL model similar to what’s now legal in college football, based on responses to an AL.com anonymous coaching survey.
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.”
Earlier this week, the Florida State Board of Education ratified a bylaw change from the FHSAA that officially will allow high school athletes to profit from name, image, likeness in some form or fashion beginning this school year. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia now allow athletes to participate in NIL deals, according to On3.
The new Florida bylaw is similar to laws in other states in that it prohibits athletes from using their school’s uniform, equipment, logo, name or products in various platforms for NIL purposes. The current AHSAA amateurism rule doesn’t prevent student-athletes from working while they are in school but does prevent them from being paid for their performances.
State Rep. Jeremy Gray (D-Opelika) sponsored legislation this past session, HB25, that would have allowed NIL on the high school level in Alabama under similar conditions to the new Florida law. Gray’s bill, in summary, said that no student athletes in the state “shall be prevented from receiving compensation for the use of his or her name, image, or likeness.” HB25 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 consistently been against bringing NIL into the state.
“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.
New executive director Heath Harmon, who started July 8, has been asked several times about the issue but has consistently said he wants to “determine the current reality of the entire organization” before specifically addressing NIL and other topics.
“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.”
Having a plan if it does happen will be a key, according to one response.
“It’s inevitable that it will happen,” this 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.”
Though NIL has been allowed in Alabama on the college level since 2021, a law that was revised in 2022, the AHSAA rule prohibiting pay-for-play on the high school level has been in place since 1929.
“Remember, to be an amateur, you can’t take any kind of funds that has anything to do with you playing in a contest,” retiring AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs said in response to a question in a roundtable discussion during AHSAA Media Day last summer. Briggs is set to officially retire in September.
Coaches against high school NIL point to a number of reasons for their stance, including financial limitations and the possibility of illegal recruiting.
“The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) currently has 414 member high schools, with 393 participating in football. For the vast majority of these schools and student-athletes, NIL opportunities would not be feasible or practical,” one coach said. “The mission of the AHSAA is ‘to assist member schools in reaching the educational objectives as established by their school systems.’ NIL does not align with these educational objectives in any way.
“The discussion around NIL originates from NCAA athletics, where the introduction of NIL was driven by TV contracts and the substantial revenue generated at the collegiate level. High school athletic programs do not experience this level of income and certainly do not profit from high school athletics. In fact, many high school programs operate at a deficit or just manage to break even year-to-year. Implementing NIL at the high school level would likely exacerbate financial disparities among schools, benefiting a small minority of athletes while placing additional strain on already limited resources.”
More than one coach speculated that wealthy boosters could exploit the system to create an unfair advantage for certain teams.
“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.”
Another coach said the integrity of amateur athletics in high school should be upheld at all costs.
“The last thing we need is for immature, unprepared student-athletes to focus on money instead of their basic educational needs,” he said. “They also need to learn the true meaning/concept of being a team player, which I believe NIL would hinder.”
Some coaches, however, believe passing some type of NIL proposal is a needed way to keep up with other neighboring states. Alabama has lost several star athletes to other states in recent years, including the last two Mr. Basketball winners. None of those athletes or their families have specifically stated that NIL was a reason for their departure or that they received any type of NIL deal or promises.
“I think it is time to devise a plan that makes sense for schools and students,” one coach said. “We are surrounded by states that have made it legal. Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana have made it, so we better get a plan or we will see our best players leave. My thought is to have a two-year publicized period where we study how surrounding states implement policies and learn from their mistakes and successes and have a policy in place by the summer of 2026.”
Another coach said, “If we don’t get with the times then our best players will be leaving the state. We have to quit being reactive on every single issue and start being proactive.”
Only one thing is certain at this point: NIL will continue to be a hot button issue in high school sports across the nation.
A few other intriguing answers from coaches from the survey:
“I believe it puts rural and small schools at a disadvantage. They do not have the resources. It will kill small rural schools because any good athlete they have will be poached by bigger schools with a big budget.”
“The rich will get richer, and the poor will get poorer. Too much disparity across the state when it comes to money and resources. How could we justify paying a kid when some of our assistant coaches get paid next to nothing and some volunteer?”
“I think we can see the problems that have developed at the college level. Why would we want to replicate that on the high school level with young people who are even further from adulthood than their college counterparts?”
“I’m not completely opposed to NIL, but do not think it needs to happen anytime soon. The problems are running rampant with it at the college level, and it would be magnified at the high school level, especially when you are talking smaller school ball. I am all for kids using their likeness to make money. I just don’t want it to turn into the highest bidder gets every good player at the high school level.”
“NIL at the HS level is a ridiculous idea. With the exception of a handful of football players across the country, the demand for high school athletes to advertise for a business as their spokesperson is nonexistent.”
“No to NIL. Nothing good can come from it. Discipline, work ethic, loyalty and commitment are much more important for a young person to learn at the high school level. If we don’t teach the above characteristics, when will they be taught after high school?”
“On NIL, I think every coach in our state should fight that as hard as we can. To me, it is truly insane. Even with all its resources, college football has not found an adequate way to police it. I have no idea how we could expect the AHSAA to do so. It would truly only benefit a handful of school systems.”
“Schools that are located in an area of the state that borders a state that already has NIL will stand a chance of losing players if we don’t make a commitment to legalize NIL.”
“NIL is coming, and I’m retiring when it does. 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.”
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