Feel the heat: Summer coaches conferences feature NIL

Tim Prukop | Jun 29, 2022

Administrator Blog Coach Eccker Insights Featured General High School Louisiana Mississippi Parent Student-Athlete Texas

Summer is heating up in the South as July unfolds. But that means high school fall sports are right around the corner. Coaches, administrators, and parents will feel a little extra heat this upcoming season because NIL will be a big part of the sports conversation.

Are you ready?

We’ve been talking to high school coaches around the country and we know their concerns about NIL [Put me in Coach: Listening to coaches on NIL]. One serious concern they expressed is their own need to get educated because they know what’s coming. By their first practice in the coming weeks, parents will expect coaches and administrators to be able to tell them about NIL, answer questions and help their young athletes navigate NIL – whether in high school or on the college recruitment circuit.

Parents read the headlines about big-time college athletes signing deals (and we’re reporting many of those deals here on the Eccker Sports NIL information platform). Some states are allowing NIL at the high school level. Others are not. It is still a very fluid situation across the nation and it will be up to the coaches to serve as the first source of vetted information.

NIL at state conferences

Fortunately, state athletic and coaches associations will be meeting soon. And Eccker Sports will be there too.

First up, the Louisiana High School Coaches Association (LHSCA) will hold its annual coaches convention at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge, LA on July 12-13. We will be there in booths number 25 and 26 on the main inside floor and booth number 68 in the Atrium space.
We’ll also have a presence at the Mississippi Association of Coaches (MAC) convention on July 13-14 at the Sheraton Flowood Refuge Hotel & Conference Center in Flowood, MS.
Then, a week later, we’ll be in San Antonio, TX at the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) conference on July 17-19 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Look for us in booth number 16091 by the Basketball Demos.

These meetings are timely as everyone’s attention turns to fall sports. A lot happens in the fall and it goes beyond the playing field. It starts with football and Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are states well known for their “Friday Night Lights” games.

NIL impacts many conversations

There are a few key differences between the states, but even that bears some analysis. Louisiana state law allows NIL deals at the high school level. So, as football enthusiasm spreads through communities, NIL opportunities will likely be part of the environment around the teams. Those coaches will have to deal with that environment and any confusion it causes. The best way to do that is to be armed with information.

Texas and Mississippi do not allow NIL at the high school level. That could change when the legislature meets again in 2023, but for the moment there will be no (legal) NIL deals with high school athletes. Texas and Mississippi coaches won’t get much of a break from the NIL pressure, though, because the other thing that will heat up in the fall is college recruiting.

At the college level, NIL has changed the game for collegiate athletes. But, because of the lack of uniform governance, there is tremendous confusion in the market about what is and is not permissible. In fact, the NCAA recently released guidance that reinforces that collectives and people connected to universities are specifically prohibited from being involved in the recruiting process. Schools could be subject to significant penalties for violating these rules. So what does that mean for coaches? At a minimum, ensure your school and staff are educated on how to interact with people or organizations operating in the NIL space and continue referencing Eccker Sports for the latest NIL news and updates.

Bad information helps no one

If the coach cannot help with vetted information, what do you think will happen? Most likely those parents and the athletes will turn to the Internet and social media to find information from sources, whether credible or not. That doesn’t support the athletes or the integrity of the sports that coaches want to protect.

One of our guiding principles at Eccker Sports is that “information is power.” Kudos to Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi for empowering their coaches at the upcoming conferences.

And if you’ve got questions, come see us on the conference floor.