Greg McElroy Exposes Unexpected Fallout of ‘NIL Go’ in Brutally Honest Take on College Football Shift

The NCAA tried to lock the back door, but Greg McElroy just found the window wide open. On the June 9th episode of his podcast Always College Football, the former Alabama quarterback lit up the mic with a scorching take on NIL Go—the fancy new system meant to clean up the money trail in college football. Instead, McElroy thinks it just invited the old-school bagmen right back to the party. And if he’s right? We’re staring down a full-blown college football relapse.

Now, NIL Go is the Deloitte-powered digital portal birthed from the House v. NCAA lawsuit. Think LinkedIn meets the IRS, but for college athletes. Any NIL deal over $600 has to pass through this system—verified, evaluated, and either cleared or flagged.

Athletes can appeal or adjust, but the rule is simple: no NIL Go green light, no play. But here’s where things get dicey. According to McElroy, that kind of surveillance doesn’t scare the scammers—it motivates them.

Greg McElroy warned, “All student-athletes are required to report NIL deals over $600 to NIL Go. But here’s the problem—here’s the unforeseen circumstance that surrounds the NIL Go platform. It potentially welcomes the underbelly of college football back into the sport potentially. I don’t know this for sure, but potentially.” So, if people want to avoid a paper trail, they’ll find ways to make deals secretly, without NIL Go involvement.

Let’s be real: college football’s had its fair share of dark alleys. Before NIL went legit, secret handshakes and booster bank drops were the norm. When NIL became the Wild West, at least things were out in the open. Now? McElroy’s worried the crackdown might actually push folks back into the shadows. All in the name of avoiding digital red flags. “Because right now, it’s free and fair—schools can give guys whatever they want,” he explained. “But now that every single NIL deal might be scrutinized, it welcomes bad actors back into the game.”

And it’s not just about the cash. McElroy brought the heat on enforcement too. The newly formed College Sports Commission (CSC) is about to get real familiar with the term punishment. Miss a NIL report, and you could face suspension; fail to clear a deal, and your school might forfeit games. Whole programs could face postseason bans if they don’t get in line.

McElroy gave props to CSC: “One positive when it comes to the CSC, the College Sports Commission, is that we have a little bit of transparency. Now, to us and the public, we are probably not gonna have transparency. We won’t get access to the fine print in some of these NIL deals. But atleast somebody will. And will be able to atleast determine what the market is for some of the players, so there’s not constant leverage points and constant opportunities for guys to create angles against their university for fear of that guy potentially going into portal. So it’s good for the school, good for the collective, and I think in some ways it might be good for the player as well.”

And that’s where NIL Go could actually score a touchdown. According to Greg, if done right, this whole system might finally give players a clear sense of what they’re worth. No more NIL roulette. No more fake leverage during transfer season. Just facts. You’re worth this? Cool. Here’s the market rate.

But McElroy’s not exactly popping champagne just yet: “Hopefully, with everyone playing by the same rules—which, let’s be honest, might not happen—we’ll see more competitive balance. Ideally, everyone’s finally using the same deck of cards.” Translation: If the rules are the same but enforcement isn’t, it’s still the same game with different refs. The NIL Go era could either be college football’s great clean-up or its messiest re-run. Meanwhile….

Greg McElroy names ‘legitimate national championship contender’

And just when you thought Greg McElroy was l0w-key done cooking, he dropped another one. Greg McElroy literally stamped Clemson as a real-deal national title threat for 2025. Not fringe. Not pretenders like they were for the last 5 years. Legit.

Greg McElroy slotted the Tigers at No. 10 in his preseason defensive power rankings but made it clear: the ceiling’s higher than Dabo’s headset budget. “This should be one of the best groups in the country,” McElroy said. “Frankly, not having them in the top five was tough.” So what’s got him buying Clemson stock like it’s 2016 again? It starts with the bag they fumbled last year… and the bag they secured this offseason: Tom Allen.

Fresh off a dominant stint at Penn State, Allen was hired as Clemson’s new DC—and McElroy didn’t hold back: “One of the best hires of the entire offseason.”

He turned Penn State’s D into a backyard cage match. Seventh nationally in total defense. You all know what that front-seven did to Ashton Jeanty in the Fiesta Bowl. Now he steps into Clemson with one of the nastiest D-lines in the country. T.J. Parker? Certified one-man demolition crew. “At times, single-handedly winning games for the Tigers,” McElroy said.

That’s not just hype—Parker’s a projected top-10 NFL Draft pick. And he’s not alone. Peter Woods is back in his natural spot on the inside, pairing up with DeMonte Capehart. McElroy called them “one of the best tandems at defensive tackle in the entire country.”

But he’s not blind to the gaps either. The only reason Clemson isn’t ranked higher? Chemistry and being slept on. Allen’s fresh in the building, and DC transitions can take time. “Because there isn’t as much coordinator continuity, that just remained a tiny question mark for me,” McElroy noted. Still, the potential’s screaming louder than Death Valley on a Saturday night. Sammy Brown’s about to make that year-two jump. D-line is locked and loaded. And Allen? He’s got a whole toolbox of disguises and blitzes ready to unleash.

“I am extremely bullish on what Clemson might be this upcoming season,” McElroy said. And he didn’t flinch. So if you’re looking for a sleeper to crash the playoff party, it might just be the Tigers wearing orange—with Tom Allen holding the blueprint and T.J. Parker and Peter Woods swinging the hammer. They literally got top 12-15 legit S-tier ballers, draft-eligible players, in that squad.

The backdoor of college football might be creaking open again. But down in Clemson? They’re slamming helmets and building something scary. And McElroy’s already in line for front-row seats.