Competitive NIL was vital in shaping Syracuse football 2024 roster, per John Wildhack

As the 2024 season for Syracuse football begins on Saturday afternoon, Orange athletics director John Wildhack said in a recent interview that the 'Cuse having a competitive name, image and likeness ("NIL") program was instrumental in shaping the team's roster for the upcoming campaign.

NIL is a hot-button topic these days, in college football and other collegiate sports. From my perspective, some of the eye-popping numbers that you see in media reports or on social media about massive NIL deals likely should get taken with the proverbial grain of salt, because some of these dollar amounts could be inflated or flat-out inaccuate.

In any case, Wildhack has said more than once, SU Athletics needs to have a solid NIL program for its student-athletes if the 'Cuse wants to be able to compete with its peers in the Atlantic Coast Conference and around the country, especially amid conference realignment, the transfer portal's explosion, future revenue-sharing and other factors.

Now, I don't think it's necessarily realistic that Syracuse will have an NIL program on par with gigantic public universities, at least for the time being. But Wildhack seems to feel optimistic about where the Orange is these days in the NIL space, and that's encouraging.

SU athletics director John Wildhack dishes on NIL and Syracuse football.

In a recent interview with 'Cuse play-by-play announcer Matt Park that was posted to the SU Athletics X account, Wildhack weighed in on NIL as the Syracuse football 2024 season is finally here.

Wildhack said there's "no question" that the Orange having a competitive NIL program was important in shaping the Syracuse football roster for the 2024 season. Without it, Wildhack said rather bluntly, the 'Cuse doesn't land Ohio State four-star quarterback transfer Kyle McCord or Texas A&M four-star edge transfer Fadil Diggs.

By extension, without competitive NIL, Wildhack added that key returnees such as junior running back LeQuint Allen Jr. and senior defensive back Justin Barron likely would have left the Hill for other schools.

Wildhack echoed the sentiment of many others in saying that from a recruiting standpoint, "it used to be all about facilities," but that emphasis has shifted. Facilities are still important, but NIL is as well, he says.

As it pertains to NIL, Orange United launched nearly a year ago as the preferred collective of SU Athletics. Managed by the Atlanta-based Student Athlete NIL ("SANIL"), Orange United supports NIL efforts across all 'Cuse sports.

There's also SU Football NIL, which, given its name, obviously focuses its NIL deals on Syracuse football. Listed on its Web site are various Orange players who SU Football NIL says it represents, including McCord, Diggs, Allen and Barron, among others.

Wildhack says that over the past six months or so, the Orange's NIL program has "made great progress." He added that donors and businesses have stepped up, although Wildhack did note that he needs more businesses to step up and get involved, whether they are located in Syracuse, the greater Central New York region, or even nationally.

"Anybody can contribute," he said, adding that it's "really important that people lean into this."

Wildhack says that he thinks the 'Cuse is in a strong spot related to the coaches of its sports teams, and the university's athletic facilities. Continuing to grow and enhance the Orange's NIL program will prove paramount to future success and "translate into us being competitive and us winning."