Why USC football shouldn't think twice about new NIL collective

It's already known that the USC football program and university aren't necessarily thrilled with the idea of the Student Body Right NIL collective coming to fruition. The collective aims to provide the football players with a base salary.

USC, on the other hand, wants to go with BLVD as their 'collective-plus' option. BLVD hasn't brought back big gains yet, though, and has been here since 2020. The boosters want to see action on the NIL front, and know that this is the way to go.

Remember when SC lost Josh Conerly to Oregon after all the analysts swore he was coming to USC? They lost him due to Oregon's NIL collective being such a force in his recruitment. Remember when all the analysts thought Francis Mauigoa was coming to USC? Well, sure enough, he chose Miami--another program with a major NIL collective. SC needs to get with the times.

USC football shouldn't have strong issues with the Student Body Right NIL collective.

It's fair for USC football to hear the word 'collective' and shudder. Tennessee and Miami's collectives have recently been subject to controversy, and Nick Saban made headlines everywhere when he accused Texas A&M of cheating through just buying players with their NIL collective. Collectives are touchy subjects these days, but the reality is that nobody has been in trouble yet.

Everybody knows the saying that's said all the time: NIL is the wild, wild west at this point. Anyone scared of taking advantage of this NIL period for whatever reason is just going to end up missing out. SC has already lost out on too many five-star players to collectives, and while the rules are lenient on NIL, need to take advantage of the situation.

While it's alarming that the school is against this, they haven't provided any true explanation other than the speculated reason that they just don't want to touch potential baggage that comes from collectives. If other big programs are doing it, though, it's worth giving it a shot.

Ohio State, Tennessee, Miami, Oregon, and Texas A&M are all some notable programs doing it. Those are schools that can typically recruit, and it makes sense as to why their recruiting practices are now extending to NIL collectives.

Besides, Ryan Kartje of the LA Times has reported that the collective "says it has no intention of getting involved in recruiting or the portal or with prospective student athletes, all of which would be a violation of NCAA NIL rules."

They clearly know the rules, and the rules don't permit what they are about to do. They aren't going to get involved in recruiting and roster building. Their work is all on players already with the team.

It's still understandable for the school to be wary of situations like this, as USC was hit with the Death Penalty in the last decade without doing anything wrong, but scared money don't make money. As of right now, the school hasn't seen anything that suggests that Student Body Right is going to be doing anything illegal.

The team and school have no control over what the boosters do anyways, but they shouldn't be worrying about potential consequences as much as they are now and if anything should be encouraging Student Body Right. There is slight risk involved here, but it's a risk that needs to be taken in the NIL era. With the rules loose right now, this is the time to jump on something like this.