Florida Coach Exposes Just How Out Of Control NIL Era Has Become By Noting Insane Shoe Rule
The NIL era continues to be wild.
Since the NIL era began in college athletics back in 2021, the landscape of college sports has often been described as ‘The Wild, Wild West.’ As we enter 2026, that phrase doesn't do the current situation any form of justice. There were at least some laws in the Wild, Wild West.
While there are rules – it would be more accurate to just call them guidelines – when it comes to what you can and can not do regarding NIL, they very much feel optional at this point in the proceedings.
Newly appointed Florida head coach Jon Sumrall recently joined Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow on OutKick's Hot Mic and gave a very real example of just how little sense said NIL guidelines make.
With Florida being sponsored by the Jordan brand, one would imagine that Sumrall could hand out as many pairs of shoes as humanly possible to players after their careers wrap up in Gainesville. But no, that isn't the case at all.
"We give out Jordan Brand shoes here, because we're a Jumpman school," Sumrall noted. "So, that's like a cool, hip thing. And I've got all those Jordans on my desk here, but we can't give them to the players after their careers are over because the monetary value is too great. It's called an extra-benefit."
"I'm like, the shoes are worth a couple-hundred bucks, I don't know maybe a couple thousand bucks, I don't know how much they're worth. But, we're already paying these dudes. Why can't we give them these shoes?"
That's a valid question, coach.
Jon Sumrall being introduced as Florida's next head coach. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Many players are being paid six to seven figures per season to play, and are paid that sum regardless of performance, but handing out a pair or two of shoes that your team is already sponsored by is a no-no.
Good luck trying to make that make any sense.
The funniest piece in all of this is that someone at Florida likely had to tell Sumrall shortly after he was hired that he wasn't allowed to hand out shoes. The look on his face when he was told that had to have been priceless.