According to an anonymous NIL collective and personnel staffers, Auburn, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Texas A&M had the highest amounts of NIL spending on their 2025 recruiting classes.
On3 shared the NIL leaderboard on Wednesday.
Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas tend to find themselves in these types of groupings when it comes to NIL spending. According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, Ohio State, Oregon, Miami, Texas, and Tennessee all had bigger budgers than allowed in 2024.
“There’s something else too: At least a half-dozen major college football teams are believed to be earning more than what is likely allowable under the rev-share concept. Schools that wish to remain at their current budget must find true NIL deals for their athletes that can pass the new enforcement test. Programs like Ohio State, Oregon, Miami, Texas and even Tennessee have some of the biggest football budgets this year with numbers exceeding the high end of what might be allowable in rev-share, experts say,” Dellenger wrote.
The Knoxville News Sentinel’s John Adams believes LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn, and Texas A&M got "considerably more" in the transfer portal than Tennessee this offseason, however, proving that the Tigers were among several teams attacking recruiting on every level.
“Filling needs is crucial. However, you also need to consider the competition when you do your business in a conference as competitive as the SEC. Other SEC programs with College Football Playoff aspirations have accomplished considerably more in the portal than Tennessee has,” Adams wrote.
“LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn and Texas A&M made significant gains through the portal.”
Hugh Freeze didn't even need to produce winning results in either of his first two seasons to achieve what he did. Auburn's brain trust saved their money until the 2025 cycle, going all in when the team was ready.
For Freeze's sake, they better be ready in 2025 given all the work done, and money spent, to better this roster.