There is increasing concern among legitimate agents - to be clear, I am intentionally differentiating those professionals who possess NFLPA certification and the myriad of runners, bagmen, uncles, grifters, 7v7 coaches, and stage dads who self-describe in similar terms - that the primary UT collective that has gone out of its way to self-promote its financial wherewithal is actually having a devil of a time delivering the goods. In other words, they do not seem to be particularly cash rich and, instead, are trying to leverage pledges as evidence of future support. More simply put, if they attempted to write Carnell Tate a seven-figure check today, well, I've been told that it would bounce.
Also, the persons operating Spyre (Side Note/Fun Fact: In my world, we caustically refer to this group as "the SpyreFyre" and/or "the SpyrePyre" in reference to what are perceived to be its fantastical self-aggrandizing claims and/or its strong likelihood of contributing to the UT football program's further cremation) are not exactly "hitters." Clawson and Gannon come from the Allegiant Athletic Agency - which no one is going to mistake as a real player on the big stage. These are the proverbial medium fish in the smallest of ponds when it comes to professional representation.
Again, I will defer to @Birm on this topic as he knows far better than do I, but nothing that I have heard about Tate suggests that he is rash or thoughtless. The best athletes have the best advisors and counsel - presumably, Tate's people are aware of the broad concerns about the sustained viability of Spyre. The Spyre business model was to essentially acquire the NIL rights to UT athletes and consequently re-market them for a presumed profit. Their Nico deal is a loser - regional corporations are not going to invest meaningful dollars in an unproven athlete with inconsequential influencer clout. More to the point, once committed to UT, third-parties have little incentive to subsidize an extant recruiting inducement. Spyre posited that they would be able to immediately line-up significant marketing deals for Nico to capitalize future investments - they guessed wrong.
Carnell Tate may yet end up at UT. If he does, I hope he collects as much money upfront as possible. I would strongly advise him against deferring any compensation or structuring his payments over time because there is significant doubt as to if Spyre will actually be able to meet its future obligations. All of their talk about a "$20M fund" is simply untrue. They have nowhere near that cash on hand - it is a pie-in-the-sky, ultra ambitious number that they floated through third-party messengers to boost their profile. (And, to be fair, this strategy worked - how many articles have been written about the UT collective? Many. How many journalists have verified deposits on hand? None.)
Lastly, while we all rightfully acknowledge that the NCAA is the most toothless of paper tigers, UT is the one program that remains in their crosshairs due to the Pruitt mess. If there is a hammer to drop regarding NIL in the next year, it will fall on UT. And, when such hammers fall, it is unlikely to be the coaches, administrators, runners, middlemen, lawyers, agents, and boosters who will suffer. Historically, the penalties for bad behavior have been disproportionately borne by the athletes. I can only hope that Tate's eyes are wide open on all such opportunities and risks alike.
-OSU on3 poster
Also, the persons operating Spyre (Side Note/Fun Fact: In my world, we caustically refer to this group as "the SpyreFyre" and/or "the SpyrePyre" in reference to what are perceived to be its fantastical self-aggrandizing claims and/or its strong likelihood of contributing to the UT football program's further cremation) are not exactly "hitters." Clawson and Gannon come from the Allegiant Athletic Agency - which no one is going to mistake as a real player on the big stage. These are the proverbial medium fish in the smallest of ponds when it comes to professional representation.
Again, I will defer to @Birm on this topic as he knows far better than do I, but nothing that I have heard about Tate suggests that he is rash or thoughtless. The best athletes have the best advisors and counsel - presumably, Tate's people are aware of the broad concerns about the sustained viability of Spyre. The Spyre business model was to essentially acquire the NIL rights to UT athletes and consequently re-market them for a presumed profit. Their Nico deal is a loser - regional corporations are not going to invest meaningful dollars in an unproven athlete with inconsequential influencer clout. More to the point, once committed to UT, third-parties have little incentive to subsidize an extant recruiting inducement. Spyre posited that they would be able to immediately line-up significant marketing deals for Nico to capitalize future investments - they guessed wrong.
Carnell Tate may yet end up at UT. If he does, I hope he collects as much money upfront as possible. I would strongly advise him against deferring any compensation or structuring his payments over time because there is significant doubt as to if Spyre will actually be able to meet its future obligations. All of their talk about a "$20M fund" is simply untrue. They have nowhere near that cash on hand - it is a pie-in-the-sky, ultra ambitious number that they floated through third-party messengers to boost their profile. (And, to be fair, this strategy worked - how many articles have been written about the UT collective? Many. How many journalists have verified deposits on hand? None.)
Lastly, while we all rightfully acknowledge that the NCAA is the most toothless of paper tigers, UT is the one program that remains in their crosshairs due to the Pruitt mess. If there is a hammer to drop regarding NIL in the next year, it will fall on UT. And, when such hammers fall, it is unlikely to be the coaches, administrators, runners, middlemen, lawyers, agents, and boosters who will suffer. Historically, the penalties for bad behavior have been disproportionately borne by the athletes. I can only hope that Tate's eyes are wide open on all such opportunities and risks alike.
-OSU on3 poster
