USC announces creation of third-party agency for NIL deals
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — The USC athletic department is taking its next step in the Name, Image and Likeness arms race across college athletics.
On Wednesday, USC announced a new partnership with media company Stay Doubted to create a third-party agency that will provide NIL services to USC student-athletes who choose to opt in.
The agency, BLVD LLC, will also operate as a media company for USC student-athletes. If one were to opt in, the agency will work to find NIL opportunities from sponsorships to events and merchandising.
USC will not be a party to the agency agreements, nor will it receive any cut of revenue from NIL deals.
“We believe every student-athlete should have access to NIL support resources and currently only about 3% of our student-athletes have engaged professional service providers,” USC athletic director Mike Bohn said in a statement. “We strive to support our student-athletes in all ways, including in the NIL space. We are thrilled to be able to meet this need and make these resources available through a qualified and reputable third party for our student-athletes should they wish to take advantage.”
BLVD LLC will officially launch later in the summer in advance of the fall sports season.
“This agreement and the creation of BLVD are an absolute difference-maker for both our current and future student-athletes,” head football coach Lincoln Riley said in a statement. “There is simply nothing else like this in our sport. Combining BLVD with the significant advantages of being in Los Angeles provides an NIL program that will have no equal.”
ocregister.com
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WeAreSC — The Trojans just landed a commitment from two-way Washington athlete Kade Eldridge over UW and ORE. The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder is No. 11 in the Trojan ’23 class (now ranked #9) and is expected to play TE.
Kade Eldridge — “I am tossing around the thought of enrolling early. I am currently signed up for a summer class so if I did want to, I could enroll early.”
Of the four official visitors on 6/10, Eldridge is now the third to announce for USC, joining OT Tobias Raymond and DL/DE Grant Buckey.
on3.com
What other position does Eldridge play?
Also plays Edge and Tailback. This guy can really run.
hudl.com
Oh ya!! A 6’4″ running back would be unique but with that speed is going either defense or TE. Can’t figure why he is only 3*. I am sure he will move up to 4* soon.
Ya, I’m sure MICH is coming all the way to California for a small-town 6.5/240 pounder who only has 3-star talent. Nope. Harbaugh doesn’t shoot that low. Regardless of his ranking, I’d take Eldridge based on his highlight tape which shows amazing versatility and aggressiveness, as well as a guy who obviously really enjoys playing the game from the look of things. I like that, and so did UW and ORE, who already had Kade in on early OVs, but still lost him to LR. Reminds me of what I think Duane Bickett (’82-84, Glendale) would have looked like in… Read more »
Uh oh, I see some “end-arounds) in the future here.
Big victory for USC here over UW and ORE in the northwest recruiting arena. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Kade Eldridge develops at USC.
New 3* TE!!
What happened to Stanford football? I can’t wait for USC to play the Cardinal at the Farm on Sept. 10, 4:30 PT kick. Stewart Mandel (The Athletic) — “It’s been several years since Stanford had elite talent like in the days of Andrew Luck, Christian McCaffrey or Solomon Thomas. “Stanford for years was synonymous with its smash-mouth running game, but the Cardinal have increasingly struggled to run the ball over the past four seasons. They bottomed out last season, ranking 12th in the Pac-12 at 86.8 yards per game. Meanwhile, their top tailbacks each of the past two seasons, Austin… Read more »
Harbaugh left 12 years ago so you can’t say Shaw was riding on Harbaugh’s talent. Shaw actually has a better record than Harbaugh. Shaw may be running out of juice at Stanford. He should look for greener pastures before he gets fired. An NFL assistant sounds like a good job for him. He doesn’t seem to have the charisma to be a top Power 5 HC, which is so important these days.
Nobody fears playing them anymore? I bet Clay Helton would not want to play them again. So if they have no run game, but McKee is a good Qb, is he going to pick apart the USC D backfield? Something about a Stanford game that makes me uneasy.
I’m glad STAN is playing the COLGATE Raiders the week before USC rolls into town. With the Trojans coming off lowly RICE, both USC and STAN will be looking to see just who is really prepared to be good, maybe great again. I think Shaw has earned all the leeway he’s getting, but he’s no match for an incredibly ambitious 38-yr old Lincoln Riley. Makes me wonder? Would LR have ever jumped on a massive monetary offer from STAN, like the one USC made? I don’t think so, not by a longshot. Only an incredible top 5 football brand like… Read more »
Allen, Interesting take, but entirely theoretical. Stanford’s culture makes it impossible to pay a white male football coach in excess of $10 million a year. In that culture, a female BB coach is viewed as an equal to a male FB coach. Given pay equity is a big deal in that culture, I just think Stanford football is done absent Condi Rice deciding to become competitive with SC and ND. If she is willing to change the culture, Stanford has the funds and connections to put a top 10 team on the field annually. I just do not seeing it… Read more »
I compared STAN with USC re LR because both are private/wealthy and both the Cardinal and the Trojans have just been through or are still experiencing the dreaded “we don’t fear them anymore” syndrome. But as you know, STAN wants nothing to do with an annual Top 10 team football culture, or reputation. But at the same time, because they are the School of Pop Warner after all, I think they might not be too happy letting USC and UCLA join a better tier of CFB. Were I a STAN fan, that would totally suck forever. Same if CAL were… Read more »
I agree with Wilner. It is going to take 6-8 years for the reality of the new collegiate football to sink in. Neither Stanford nor Cal will play the NIL “pay for play game”. Neither has strong enough of a national brand to go the SC route of “you earn it.” Their academics will not allow easily for transfers (except graduate transfers). If this goes the way it appears to be going, the disparity in talent between Oregon, USC, Utah and probably UCLA will be such that Stanford will be forced to make a choice: modify the culture for football… Read more »
I will however be eternally grateful to David Shaw for ending the Reign of the Cat. Both 2021 SC and 2021 Stanford ended up 4-8. Stanford routed SC for its only rout of the season. I think they scored more points that game then their other two high scoring games combined. And, 2 of Stanford’s wins were SC and Oregon. I still expect a tough game in early September. It will probably be the last tough game Stanford is capable of giving the LR Trojans for the next few years.
That and what appears to be perfect timing.
UCLA football announced the signing of former USC OL Liam Douglass and UPENN grad transfer WR Ryan Cragun early Tuesday morning.
Douglass entered the portal way back on 12/14, after four seasons with USC. The former 3-star tackle-turned-guard Trojan castoff out of Harvard Westlake (CA) played just one snap on offense in 2021, and was primarily a special teams participant only.
Liam Douglass is now a Bruin
Next…!
Why would UCLA take Douglass? Is he getting a scholarship? Or did they just admit him to the school? If Douglass gets any significant minutes, UCLA is in real trouble.
Bruin fans think Douglass was playing all last year on a bad ankle corrected by surgery. Anyway, that’s their party line, but UCLA fans have basically been shamed into absorbing this blatant Trojan reject under LR. Bad look Choc Chip! The guy just doesn’t like to recruit. Chalk this one up to the Tim Drevno connection.
Does he look like he ought to be in the movie “The Sandlot”?
5-star WR Brandon Inniss committed to OHIO ST earlier today.
The 6-0, 190-pound priority USC target from Ft. Lauderdale American Heritage, Fla., officially visited the Buckeye campus last weekend after visiting ALA on 6/3.
Inniss was previously committed to OU, but reopened his recruitment when Lincoln Riley left for USC, which had assumed the role of favorite, but never ended up getting an official visit.
OU’s WR coach last season, Dennis Simmons, moved with Riley to USC, but that connection didn’t prove strong enough to beat the Buckeyes here.
cleveland.com
We are set with WR’s, I think.
It’s great to again follow a fast-track USC program that now has deal-closing access to such great recruits at every position.
Frankly, I don’t think the loss of Inniss to the Buckeyes even matters. Not now it doesn’t. USC is Wide Receiver U last time I checked. Plenty more where that came from.
Ryan Abraham saying Maximus Gibbs no longer on the roster.
Good. 400 pounds is no way to go through life. I wish Gibbs the best and am sorry he couldn’t be a part of USC’s constantly developing resurgence. Hopefully, he lands well.
This post-Helton USC comeback isn’t gonna take as long as I thought.
LR told us at least 35 kids who were on the 2021 roster would not be on the 2022 roster. I wonder what the final number will be. Basically, we are looking at replacing most of the 2022 2 deep with transfers and true frosh.
It’s amazing how much fluff and mediocre talent brought in by Helton was on the USC roster in the 2021 season. Helton couldn’t recruit, and the talent he got, he couldn’t develop. But the Eagle fans still love him: “I really like what I see in Coach Helton,” said Sherry Rahn, an Eagle season ticket holder for 10 years. “I noticed it from the beginning when he met with fans in the parking lot at a game last season. He was out there shaking hands and talking to people. You see some coaches, like in the SEC, that are put… Read more »
Alas, poor Sherry, already duped. The Cat’s flaws were never hand shaking and talking to people. And if that were only what it took, he’d have several Nattys by now.
My daughter, the GSU alumnae, is drinking the kitty-Cat Kool-aide. Breaks my heart….
How can an AD look at what Helton did at USC and still hire him with any confidence? It’s baffling to me how the coaching world works. There are guys who have failed at 3,4, and 5 stops, but they find another job. Crazy.
Chris, First, I am delighted GA Southern hired The Cat. It saves SC I think $3 million in salary. Second, remember Charlie Weiss? He had about the same record at ND that Helton had at SC. After ND fired him, he went to the pros for a couple of years as an OC and then was hired by Kansas as HC. He went 1-11 his first year and 3-9 his second. He got fired 4 games into his third season (2014)and has not coached since. I expect the same fate awaits Helton.
Yes, but Helton like Weiss, Will by then made enough money to coast the rest of his life.
Even a credentialed Degree is no refuge from gullible presumption.
He is a sincere interview. Inspires trust.
But it is crazy that helton’s next job was not running a Young Life camp somewhere…..
Why exactly does your daughter like Clay? I mean, seriously.
I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would be encouraged if The Cat were just taking over their favorite football program.
Doesn’t the press out your way ever cover just exactly why The Cat was forever banished from the USC football program? I thought CFB fans in your part of the country took the game very seriously, no?
She thinks i am just being mean to the new Eagles’ coach from my USC dominated orbit.
What can I say—she is also a Dem.
ATL — I wish you could get your very interesting daughter to become a TDB member and post here!
I bet she’d come up with some suitable (not just laughable), even accurate additions to the standard, “He’s just a good man.” Oh, Clay!
Being in your family, she’s obviously smart. So please ask her to chime in here, even if only for a day.
It would be a perfectly memorable contribution from a sincere person who may know more about the situation than we do, eh?
Be patient DDS,
She no doubt has her own opinion.
Wait till after the season and revisit the Helton discussion. You will of course be able to discuss the improvements made by Riley from your Orbit :-))
I think you are right, Alfa1….
ATL, There is hope. If Helton performs as all of are convinced he will, perhaps that will give her a chance of rethinking her political POV. I recommend Prager U videos to help. They are quite good and normally 5 minutes in length.
Another good idea….
His next gig when he gets fired in his 3rd year.
I was hesitant saying the players CH brought in we’re 2nd rate in place of him being lazy in targeting talent USC was accustomed to bringing in. I didn’t blame these players for jumping at CH’s invitation. For me, it was all about CH being not worthy at all HC’ing here.
We all know “some” USC players (undoubtedly many) under CH would have never been at USC were LR the coach. And that’s based on pure talent alone. Clay had to take certain guys because he couldn’t get better ones. He was always kind of stuck in the mud there.
But every single player who wore the C/G uniform during the disastrous Helton era still deserves our total respect and admiration for being Trojans on the field, even if they didn’t play so well. JMHO.
Other than Trigg, I wonder if there were any guys who left that LR really wanted to stay. We will never know for sure, but I would like to know who got run off or who truly went on their own accord.
I’m betting LR kept 92% of the guys he wanted. Just a wild guess!
I’m also looking forward to watching Michael Trigg’s highlights while playing for Kiffin. Very interesting.
Wille McGinest helping USC land super DE prospect Matayo Uiagalelei from St. John Bosco.
Trojans On His Mind?
Colin Cowherd — “Ohhh, I’m gettin’ some good tweets. Very exciting times. I’m not gonna give away what’s happening. I can’t get into it. I know my future. I’m just not gonna tell anybody.”
Santa Clara four-star 6-4, 330-pound OL/DL Amos Talalele decommits from CAL and commits to the Trojans (“My heart is in L.A.”).
Talalele has already officially visited CAL, and also holds offers from ARIZ, CU, FRESNO ST, ORE ST, UW, NEV and UTAH.
George Kliavkoff Likes What He Sees The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach grills Pac-12 Commish George Kliavkoff: Auerbach — “In the wake of Lincoln Riley’s move from Oklahoma to USC, there has been a lot of talk about what it means for the Pac-12 and talent in the Pac-12’s footprint. Have you already experienced the impact of Riley’s hire league-wise? And what do you expect it to continue to do for the conference?” Kliavkoff — “Lincoln Riley going to USC is one indication of a much broader strategy that I see across all 12 of our schools, which is an increased focus… Read more »
I love it when we beat Oregon or ucla for a recruit.
Steveg, I think UCLA ‘s days as a legitimate rival are fading, just as Stanford’s are, for exactly the same reason – NIL. UCLA will need to run its NIL just as USC is, but its brand is much weaker and its coach simply awful at marketing. SC will own the California market for NIL and will have established itself as a premiere national brand before UCLA removes Chip. Within a very short time (no more than two years), UCLA will simply not be able to match SC for football player dollars. I think UCLA will concentrate its NIL push… Read more »
RJJ I see only Oregon as a willing/able program like USC in this whole conference that will do what is necessary to remain a player in CFB. UDUB was in the past but they don’t seem to try anymore. And Utah becomes competitive when the conference is down like the past few years, much like UCLA. I will believe Kliavkoff when I see more than two PAC-12 programs playing top college football with the best teams in the Nation.
I’m getting the impression more and more that George Kliavkoff is viewed as an up-and-coming superstar. I’m really enjoying his public positions and methodology. He also understands the importance of USC much more than his predecessors.
Especially the Bruins for me, because of all the history there. Thinking about this brings me back to USC vs UCLA and the days of Matt Grootegoed (ranked as SuperPrep’s #14 DB nationwide) in ’99-00, when he was trying to decide between UCLA, MICH, USC, ND, and UW. Before we published our SP All-America issue on 1/14/00, Groots personally told me that he favored UCLA, but was only giving the Bruins a 30% of signing him. Here’s Groots, right after his UCLA visit — “I really like Bob Field. He’s honest and straightforward. He’s not a car salesman. UCLA would… Read more »
Great story Allen, about “our” favorite player! Just wish Matty would have considered being a coach after his CFL playing days were over. If he could teach players how to play like he did, what an asset that would be. Still today, I have never seen a player with the knack of knowing where the ball was like he did. Every game I saw him play, there was a fumble, loss of yardage, pick or important tackle he caused or was involved in.
I don’t think what Groots had, which is top-level instincts, ball skills, desire, vision, hunger, commitment, and preparation, is easy to teach to anyone.
Groots, probably the most versatile player I ever saw, had football instincts that I don’t think can be taught, regardless of reps. JMHO.
The first time I saw MG play for Mater Dei, I didn’t really know who he was. That didn’t last long.
Riley is tweeting out fight on emojis, three of them. It’s going to be a good day!
He’s got us eating out of the palm of his hand.
Agreed. Look at Scott Schaefer’s tweet from the breakfast this morning. Good stuff!
Actually 4 emojis now.
The Big Mystery: Who will be reported first? Why?
Does LR want these names out now, or will they be secret for a while for the numerous reasons both prospects and schools sometimes want it that way?
Happy Father’s Day TDBer’s.
Back to ya my friend.
Jordan Addison will be wearing Carson Palmer’s retired #3 for the 2022 season. I’ve never been a big fan of retired numbers, so I’m glad to see this happen, just as I was when Mike Garrett allowed eventual Thorpe Award finalist/Poly Fab Fiver Darnell Bing to wear #20.
Carson Palmer 3
Reggie Bush 5
Matt Leinart 11
Charles White 12
Mike Garrett 20
O.J. Simspon 32
Marcus Allen 33
What will be the next # to be unretired for a new Trojan?
I looked up retirement of jerseys because some guy with a snarky blog was making a huge (and snarky) fuss. It seems the Toronto Maple Leafs were the first to retire a number permanently. In football uniforms came in a set usually one number per set. When the team retired a jersey, it meant taking that jersey from the set. The current retirement etiquette just requires permission from the honored player to reinstate the number. I understand Carson Palmer gave his permission. That alone says something about the players scheduled to wear it. Thinking logically, most stars are from a… Read more »
So USC has had a huge weekend, what is going to come out of it? Anyone have any ideas?
I’ll bet we get multiple huge commitments by the end of the weekend. I’m also thinking we end up with a top 3 class in the country if not higher. I listened to a national recruiting podcast this morning and the comment or said this is the best collection of talent visiting at one time that he has ever seen. More big names visiting at one time than He can remember anywhere.
Luau at Lincoln Riley’s
The weekend got off to a bang on Friday night as the visitors were treated to a gathering at Lincoln Riley’s home.
On3.com
Pac-12 Commish George Kliavkoff Says NCAA Should Not Govern CFB “We have to be realistic about the fact that football is a unique animal among the rest of the college sports and that there are conferences that should be more aligned and should be more in control of the future of high-level college football,” Kliavkoff told The Athletic (Nicole Auerbach) on Friday. “I’ve had conversations with several of the FBS commissioners, and I’ve been surprised by the unanimous support for the idea among the folks that I’ve spoken to about taking football rule-making and football rule enforcement out of the… Read more »
Great article. Delighted to have a competent Commissioner. Wilner wrote on the same topic a while ago. As I recall, Wilner thought about 35 schools would form the mini-NFL. He expected it would take 6-8 years to get in place. Commissioner K is predicting a much larger body and looks like sooner rather than later.
Yesterday, USC announced Suzanne Nore Johnson has been elected Chair of the Board of Trustees, replacing Rick Caruso. Johnson is the lead independent director at Intuit, and serves on the board of directors at Pfizer, and VISA. Johnson is co-chair of the Brookings Institution and serves on the boards of several other nonprofit institutions: The Broad Museum, The Broad Foundation, the Carnegie Institution for Science, the Markle Foundation and the University of Southern California. She is an advisory board member to the Initiative on Financial Security at the Aspen Institute. Johnson is also a member of the Global Agenda Council for the Future of Financial and Monetary Systems for the World Economic Forum. She served as chairman… Read more »
I’m sure the coaching staff is doing everything it can to create a lasting effect on the recruits here this weekend. And it is comforting to know the administration is on board in providing the tools to make that happen. But the battle doesn’t end keeping them favoring your program at NSD. LR knows he needs to lock up the top California recruits. But it is a huge advantage he & staff have a pipeline into Texas. It makes a supporter feel so positive we will get our share and then some at the end of the day!
https://twitter.com/USC_Athletics/status/1537179603021680640
USC Athletics has reached an agreement with Stay Doubted, a modern-day media agency empowering the next generation of student-athletes and fans, to provide enhanced NIL services to its student-athletes, USC Director of Athletics Mike Bohn announced today (June 15). Click Here for more information on ‘StayDoubted’ Stay Doubted has managed over $63 million in sports partnerships, including more than $1 million in collegiate athlete partnerships in the first year of the NIL era. It also has an impressive client roster in the brand partnerships space, having worked with companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, State Farm, Verizon, lululemon, and many others.… Read more »
Now that the state of Oregon is the drug OD capital of the world, I wonder if Duck or Beaver football will feel any repercussions? Doubt it, though some moms and dads might be second-guessing.
I doubt it will. Drugs are prevalent on every campus, along with extraordinarily toxic indoctrination. I doubt many universities are still in the education business. They are the income business selling certification and indoctrination (unless you are in STEM or a professional school). Collegiate football at the elite level is now big business. Kids can make more than their professors and most of their coaches. If anything, the NIL may help as I assume all of them will have morals clauses in them.
Great catch RJ, the morals clause will trip up a few but perhaps it may change some lifestyles.
More like Portland mostly. That town tries so hard to mimic itself after San Francisco being trashy and there’s homeless living everywhere. Little if any law enforcement allowed to enforce anything, thus life can be anything you want but yet in elections the rest of the State can’t overcome its vote total.
But it’s the entire state of Oregon that’s getting widely trashed nationally for being an “open-air drug market“. While Portland is definitely ground zero for addict deaths, I’d be surprised if ORE and ORE ST recruiters haven’t formulated a canned response for 2022 recruits and their parents. I’m just not sure if “it’s only happening in Portland” is enough. Maybe so.
Mildy interesting article over on RoT. I say mildly because it merely demonstrates statistically what we’ve known intuitively for years.
https://reignoftroy.com/posts/usc-football-labeled-among-worst-developers-talent-entire-country
Volunteer, Loved the article. What surprised me is SC has TWICE the number of nationally rated recruits in the Helton era than Riley had at OU during that time. It simply shows, as you stated, the incompetence of Clay Helton. It will be interesting to see how his “player centered/lack of accountability” model works when he has no talent. I know how I think it will work. But, the administration of GA Southern disagreed.
Yeah, I may even find myself watching a GA So game this Fall, if for nothing else other than morbid fascination. But, it will have to be a really slow day with no other forms of entertainment available. 😄
A couple of questions come to mind with this agency. First since it’s an agency the players will have an agent, is that permitted? Second, with all that money changing hands how much will go to the agent? (Assuming they aren’t all lawyers working off community service- sorry law students it seemed funny when I thought it up)
And finally, what happens to the students who don’t opt in to the plan? Are they excluded from making deals?
Rialto, As I read it (and I could, of course, be mistaken) is that this is an option for the kids who do not qualify as “stars”. Kids like Addison and Caleb are going to have agencies represent them. For example, Addison has the agency that represents Aaron Rodgers represent him. But, not all kids are going to be able to get such agencies to take them as clients. This is for “the other kids”, like the OL and the DL that just committed to SC. As I understand it, this combine will represent kids like that. Thus, SC is… Read more »
ALL SCHOOLS SHOULD FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF USC IN THE AREA OF NIL.
The One and Only Phone Call Lincoln Riley (SI.com) — “You’re on one of two lists as a head coach. You’re on a list to get fired or you’re on a list of other people wanting to hire you. I never had one year at Oklahoma where people didn’t call in-season. I never subjected myself to it. It’s never rocked me. It’s never had anything to do with me doing my job. I’ve taken one phone call in seven years at OU, and it was the USC phone call after the Oklahoma State game. That’s the only phone call I’ve… Read more »
Scott Schrader (WeAreSC) — 2023 three-star DL/DE Grant Buckey (6-5, 265) from Bakersfield Liberty (CA) took his USC OV last weekend and today announced his commitment to the Trojans (over UCLA).
“I just liked the culture, the opportunities and the chance to win a national championship,” said Buckey about why he chose USC.
Buckey said USC DC Alex Grinch plans to play him at DE.
on3.com
As a USC alum, and resident of Bakersfield, California, I am delighted to read of Grant Buckey’s (2023 three star athlete with great potential) decision to enroll at USC.
Fight On!
I’m sure you know that Grant’s dad is Jeff Buckey (6-5, 295), the big-time SuperPrep AA (the #3 OL prospect in the entire country back in ’92) who chose STAN over ND and UCLA in the end. Jeff, also a terrific prep discus thrower, starred for the Cardinal from ’93-96, before a four-year NFL career after being drafted by Miami. Buckey was so highly regarded, we even ranked him above UCLA’s HOFamer Jonathan Ogden (#6 in the country) in ’92. Some speculate the 6-5, 265-pound Grant will put on serious weight and end up on the O-line for USC instead… Read more »
Perfect timing, right before the biggest recruiting weekend of the summer. ✌
Not only that Allen but they have taken a higher road than the schools sucking all the money they can get from their supporters. It sounds like a legit way to do NIL, not the TAM way. One day something may come up like a stadium renovation and they have bled their boosters dry already.