TCU FB Coach Gary Patterson Warns Boosters To Pay Up Or Watch Recruits Leave

The landscape of college football evolved in the offseason with the name, image and likeness (NIL) decision that opened the door for deeper financial implications within CFB's recruiting.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, TCU head coach Gary Patterson sounded the alarm at an event Wednesday night regarding the new reality posed by NIL, and how the bounds of legal NIL operations can still tank these "smaller" college programs by stealing top recruits.

"In taxes, do you do short form or do you do deductions?" said Patterson, tacitly pressing local donors at a TCU NIL event.

He added, "I can promise you there’s nobody in this room that does the short form. That’s what I’m talking about in recruiting. Everybody lives in the gray area. Everybody in this room lives in the gray area. The bottom line to it is we’re going to have to live in the gray area if we want to keep up.

"There’s five SEC schools calling him and telling him, ‘Here’s what we’ll give you if you come here and not stay at TCU,’ At the end of the day, that’s just real life. If we don’t do anything about it, within a year we lose him.“The rules have changed. There is no wrong anymore.

"We planted the trees. Now we have to water ‘em,” Patterson said. “I hear, ‘Well, I don’t want to get dirty. It feels dirty. I don’t know the rules.’ Let me just say, you guys know me, I’m just going to tell the truth — the bottom line to it is I can lose 25-30 guys on scholarships by January."

Patterson's insight on the NIL rule has been a clandestine truth that began to stir some concern over parity in recruiting; notably when a young recruit is making the decision between a program on a budget and the deep pockets of a powerhouse team.

OutKick's Clay Travis gave his insight on Thursday's OutKick The Show, and the honest plea that Patterson is giving to his boosters. "Hey, the 'Buying Players' season is afoot, and it's going to cost a lot of money to play at a high level."

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela