Clemson football: 3 disturbing things we will see as a result of NIL

We’ve talked ad nauseum over the last few weeks about the benefits of name, image and likeness (NIL) and what it will mean for Clemson football players as we move forward.

Clemson football players will be able to make money based off their likeness in a variety of ways and that, in turn, will allow them more opportunities to provide for their families and to get a ‘head start’ in the world before their collegiate careers come to a close.

That being said, we can’t talk just about the good and not mention the bad that will come with the new NIL policy in collegiate sports that will sweep across the nation.

Here’s a look at three disturbing things we’re going to see as a result of NIL.

The NCAA Transfer Portal is going to be even more populated

For those who don’t think we’ve already got an NCAA Transfer Portal problem, it’s about to get much worse.

In its first two years, we saw upwards of 1,600 players enter the transfer portal and this past offseason, we saw more than 2,500 players put their name in the portal and it doesn’t reset until August.

When there are more than 2,000 players transferring nationwide- keep in mind that’s nearly 1/5 of the total scholarships allotted to FBS schools- without NIL on the table, can you imagine how many more we’re going to see as a result of NIL?

A freshman or sophomore who hasn’t earned playing time is going to be much more likely to put their name in the portal and take a shot elsewhere because there’s potential money on the line. The problem is that many- hundreds, if not thousands- of these athletes are going to end up in ‘portal purgatory‘ with basically no option as a result of a decision to leave their original program and their scholarship being filled.