NIL is an Entrepreneurial Incubator

NIL conversations are always focused on money.

Deals, collectives, and dollar amounts. Who got paid, how much, are they gonna take it? That’s surface level NIL.

If you zoom out, it’s way more than that. It’s an entrepreneurial incubator...

For the first time, student-athletes are not just participants in a program. They’re operators. They’re building brands, launching apparel, hosting camps and clinics, learning how to market themselves, and figuring out how to connect with an audience that cares about what they’re doing.

That matters.

Because when an athlete builds something of their own, it changes their relationship with the place they’re doing it in.

It creates connection. Not just to fans, but to the university, the program, and the community that supports them along the way.

If you’re a Bobcat fan watching guys like Adam Jones or the Dowler brothers every Caturday, that connection is already there. NIL just gives it a new outlet.

I’m not talking about simply cheering for them from the stands. I’m talking about wearing something tied directly to the player. It’s supporting something they built. It’s participating in their story.

And when we can deepen this connection, something else happens.

Players start to plant roots. They’re not just passing through anymore or feeling the temptation to explore the transfer portal. They’re building something in Bozeman… something that has meaning beyond the field.

And that leads to retention.

Because in today’s college football landscape, retention is everything.

The transfer portal has made movement easier than ever. Talent can leave at any moment. Programs are constantly trying to replace what they lose.

Winning programs are not built on constant turnover. They’re built on stability, continuity, and developing players year over year and growing them into leadership roles.

Players stay where they feel connected.

They stay where they feel recognized.

They stay where they feel like they’re building something that matters.

If NIL is used intentionally, it becomes a tool that strengthens that feeling.

It gives athletes a reason to invest in where they are.

When programs can retain players and stack talent over time, you get something that every university is chasing.

You get winning.

Not just flashes of it, but consistent and sustained success.

Because teams that stay together, play better together. Leadership develops. Culture becomes real, not just something talked about.

That’s the opportunity my ASSET framework can turn into a reality. ASSET stands for Athlete Standards & Suitability Evaluation Tenets. It’s a standards-based framework I’ve drafted for Montana State that helps to identify and recognize the right student-athletes, and connect them with structured NIL opportunities that align with the university.

I want ASSET to make the transfer portal work for us, not against us. I want ASSET to help lower the stress on our coaching staff when the portal is open. I want ASSET to be our competitive advantage at Montana State University.

I truly believe that if we implement this correctly, MSU will be a university that players transfer to, and never from.

NIL does not have to exist as a disconnected marketplace of random deals. We can structure it in a way that turns it into our advantage.

An incubator that helps athletes build.

A connector that ties them to our community.

A retention tool that keeps talent in place.

And ultimately, a foundation for winning.

At Montana State University, this doesn’t have to be theoretical. It can be actionable before the start of the 2026 football season.

If approached the right way, NIL can become more than just a policy to manage.

It can become a system that builds stronger athletes, a stronger culture, and a stronger program.

And the programs that figure that out first are the ones that will win on the field and off.