Posted July 23, 20241 yr Moderator I know this has been talked about, but thought it is good to hear from Rob Mullens on the subject. This is another subject Rob talks about. The University of Oregon’s athletic director pushed back on the perception that the Ducks have made significant strides in football recruiting simply because of Nike cofounder Phil Knight keeping the name, image and likeness coffers full. “It’s a lot more than NIL,” Rob Mullens told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Mullens’ counterpart at Nebraska, former Washington AD Troy Dannen, reportedly told boosters this spring that Oregon and Ohio State each had a staggering $23 million available in NIL. And Georgia coach Kirby Smart joked about Knight at SEC media days last week, saying, “I wish I could get some of that NIL money that he’s sharing with Dan Lanning.” When those comments were read back to Mullens, the AD grimaced at the suggestion that the Ducks were, in simple terms, buying players. Two NIL collectives support Oregon athletics: Ducks Rising, which is a collective in a more traditional sense, and Division Street, which is largely funded by Knight and other ultra-wealthy Oregon boosters. “We’re fortunate that we have an incredibly supportive base that’s helping us compete in NIL,” Mullens said. “But there’s a lot more to it, it’s leadership, it’s culture, it’s strategy, it’s work ethic. A lot goes into that.” Phil Knight may foot the bill, but Oregon AD says Ducks’ recruiting success is ‘a lot more than NIL’ WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM As part of a wide-ranging interview, Rob Mullens says the Ducks' recruiting wins have had more to do with coach Dan Lanning than the Nike cofounder's contributions.
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