How far can college football programs go on the NIL track? Well, a month back, we saw how Steve Sarkisian let his efforts talk. The Texas Longhorns came up with a line-up of Lamborghinis to flex their NIL fund to the new recruits on campus. But right now, a program keeps itself away from all the flex.

Rather, they planned something unique to save the riches and bolster their NIL funds. That’s Middle Tennessee football that has picked up the buzz by saving a six-figure amount. There was a time when Middle Tennessee football had given up all hope. Under their former head coach, Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders witnessed three losing seasons in five years. That’s when they counted on the former Vanderbilt head coach, Derek Mason. Moving into his second season under him, what’s the unique decision they made? 

On August 18, the College Athletics Attorney, Mit Winter, tweeted, “This is very smart. Middle Tennessee’s football team eliminated alternate jerseys and helmets and saved $668k, most of which will go towards paying team members.” Do you remember Mason’s speech when he took over? “This is the house that Rick Stockstill built, and he left good bones and a strong foundation. He did a lot to raise and encourage these young men and help them take the journey. Now that responsibility has been passed down to me,” said the head coach. In that way, Mason has been very particular about keeping the tradition intact. Moving into 2025, Middle Tennessee goes back to tradition. But here came a twist. It enabled Mason to save money along the way.

But what’s the hoopla all about? Middle Tennessee will have just blue and white uniform combinations in 2025. As reported by athletic director Chris Massaro, it’s going to save them $668,000. Now, come on, we all have an idea how much resource allocation goes to uniforms. For instance, for power programs like Oregon, jerseys are a huge deal since they boast an annual array of new gear.

Things are different for programs like Middle Tennessee, which belongs to the 68 non-power schools, being a Division I FBS team. It’s not easy for Mason’s program to dish out hundreds of thousands of dollars on new uniforms. The Blue Raiders’ sole mission is to gain a financial edge for their players. For this, the newly-appointed GM, Dana Marquez, chose the challenge to be different by eliminating several alternate uniforms and cutting back from 408 helmets.

In an interview with Front Office Sports, the Middle Tennessee GM shared, “How are we going to best compete against different positions if we’re sitting here spending money on stuff that really we’re only wearing one time a year? We just went with one color, and we did a game helmet and a practice helmet.” As per the reports, Middle Tennessee would be able to gather almost half a million dollars as they get away with helmets. On the other hand, getting rid of two uniforms would bring them $84,000 in savings. Now, how are the Blue Raiders going to invest the saved fortunes?

Middle Tennessee is turning NIL into accountability

Mason and Co. will be investing the money to get rid of the salary-cap burdens as imposed by the House vs. NCAA settlement. They are going to save up some to hire the best people to lead the program. However, the major portion will be going towards NIL payments. But nothing comes easy when you are part of the Middle Tennessee football program.

As Marquez shared, “If we’re going to pay you $2,000 a month and you want to make $4,000, you’ve got to work to get the $4,000. And we show you how to do that.” Mason and Co. focuses on emphasizing accountability. At Middle Tennessee, NIL is not just free money. Now, how can the Blue Raiders prove their value to access the funds? The Blue Raiders made their Saturday eventful as they went to visit the local farmers’ market and interact with the vendors during the weekend. Not just this. 

A few days back, Mason’s offensive line took part in a fun activity by meeting with T’s Nuts, a peanut butter brand. And it was not restricted to only a visit; the Middle Tennessee offense even created its own spreads, which they are going to sell later. The mission to prove themselves even turned them into ticket salesmen. Marquez noted, “Everybody’s still running off of an old model of, ‘This is the way athletes are done,’ and they’re trying to compete with the Power 4, and that’s not who we are. My goal was to educate our players, our parents, our agents, about having my own business and understanding what it [takes to be] an entrepreneur.”

While Middle Tennessee football did something praiseworthy in the NIL landscape, there is too many things on the Blue Raiders’ plate. They lost nine games by an average of 24 points, and all three of the Blue Raiders’ wins were one-score games. Let’s hope Derek Mason’s pursuit of NIL momentum doesn’t come at the cost of his core mission.