In Depth Interview With Bud Wentz about NIL & Transfer Portal

[Zippy87]

2 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

I also had limited sympathy for the players when they (the ones primarily in the rich programs) said they needed a piece of the revenue pie. When you look at it players get a full ride covering absolutely everything = $120,000 over four years. On top of that they get tutors, gear, nutritionists, medical care and counseling without waiting for an appointment like the rest of the student body. They get cost of living allowances on average about $2,000 per year. On top of that if they come from disadvantaged backgrounds they can get a Pell Grant up to $9,000 per year. I realize the demand on their time is huge, but so is working two jobs to get thru school like I did while playing soccer. NIL needs some sanity. Is the star running back really worth $000K when the linemen blocking for him get little? The very nature of NIL works against teamwork and everyman counts.

 

Ryan Day will make $9.96 million this season – with the potential to go as high as $10.2 million with bonuses. Is he really worth that much?

 

I have zero problem with the athletes who are actually playing the game making some cash. I do think there needs to be better parameters put in, but I've never understood why it's OK for OKish coaches to make millions and jump from job to job but the players should think about the team.

[kreed5120]

6 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Ryan Day will make $9.96 million this season – with the potential to go as high as $10.2 million with bonuses. Is he really worth that much?

 

I have zero problem with the athletes who are actually playing the game making some cash. I do think there needs to be better parameters put in, but I've never understood why it's OK for OKish coaches to make millions and jump from job to job but the players should think about the team.

 

I think this is more about the differences between the haves and have nots. Players like Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M or Joe Burrow at LSU certainly move the needle and made money for their school therefore they should be paid. It's probably realistic for players to get paid at the the top 30-40 or so schools as they're competing at a semi-pro level.

 

When you get to the MAC level, no one player is going to drive 100s of thousands to millions of extra dollars for the school. The MAC is really what amateur athletics is about, but now we're forced to try to spend like a semi-pro team to maintain our status. Using Ali as an example, I'm glad he returned, but him returning didn't directly lead Akron to selling 1000s of extra season tickets.

[zippy5]

56 minutes ago, akzipper said:

 

Bingo. I also worked two jobs while I was at UA and both were internships that paid practically nothing.

Pre NIL, athletes weren't even allowed to have a part-time job. Remember, not everyone is a FB player getting a 100% scholarship. Baseball players, wrestlers, track, VB etc can be on a maybe 10% scholarship and have to fund the rest on their own. At least these guys and girls have another option now

[1981 grad]

6 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I wonder if NIL would allow players to come on as walk-ons officially but still get paid enough to make it worth it to them? 

 

If current players would leave, Lyles, Tavari, or Prather would make the most sense given their potential places on the depth chart. 

The transfer pool closes May 1st.   How do you tell a student to leave when he will not have time to find another program?  Does Groce find him another program?

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 minute ago, 1981 grad said:

The transfer pool closes May 1st.   How do you tell a student to leave when he will not have time to find another program?  Does Groce find him another program?

 

Entering the Portal closes May 1st I believe but finding another program doesn't close. I could be wrong but there are still a couple thousand players in the Portal along with more being added daily. 

[Zippy87]

6 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I think this is more about the differences between the haves and have nots. Players like Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M or Joe Burrow at LSU certainly move the needle and made money for their school therefore they should be paid. It's probably realistic for players to get paid at the the top 30-40 or so schools as they're competing at a semi-pro level.

 

When you get to the MAC level, no one player is going to drive 100s of thousands to millions of extra dollars for the school. The MAC is really what amateur athletics is about, but now we're forced to try to spend like a semi-pro team to maintain our status. Using Ali as an example, I'm glad he returned, but him returning didn't directly lead Akron to selling 1000s of extra season tickets.

 

I'd argue the greatest difference between now and pre-NIL is that now it's just public. Akron was and still is at a significant disadvantage compared to P5 teams. 

[kreed5120]

30 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I'd argue the greatest difference between now and pre-NIL is that now it's just public. Akron was and still is at a significant disadvantage compared to P5 teams. 

 

I'm not talking about necessarily competing with the P5 teams. That ship long sailed. The thing is other G5 and mid-majors are starting collectives so if you don't utilize NIL, you're now not just below the P5 in the pecking order, but also below all the other mid-majors as well. You've now become a low-major. On par with the likes of the MEAC, SWAC, or whatever other cupcake conference that are out there.

[egregiousbob]

Mr. Wentz's skills at hypebole might qualify him as a certain presidential candidate's running mate.

[Let'sGoZips94]

4 minutes ago, egregiousbob said:

Mr. Wentz's skills at hypebole might qualify him as a certain presidential candidate's running mate.

 

Well he speaks coherently so that disqualifies him from the current White House.

 

Good things are happening with the basketball program. 3 P5 guys are coming here and a 4th player that chose us over P5s and high mid-majors. Clearly there's, at the very least, some truth to what Wentz is saying. He's also putting his money where his mouth his and heavily financing these endeavors. Why do you feel the need to 💩 all over it? 

[kreed5120]

Certainly he seems connected enough that he has some business connections in the Akron area. I'd imagine the collective is more than just him at the moment, but I'm not sure who else is helping to bankroll it as nobody really advertises it.

Edited April 23, 2024 by kreed5120

[Sergeant Zip]

 

Involvement with Athletics:

• Initially supported football by sponsoring coaches' shows and gradually became involved with basketball and other sports.
• Built strong relationships with coaches and administrators to enhance facilities and support athletes.

Basketball Player Development Center:

• Opened after years of planning, with construction delayed by COVID-19.
• Features state-of-the-art facilities such as a full court, shot tracking systems, film review rooms, and advanced coaching tools.
• Designed to help attract and develop elite athletes while freeing up space for other sports.

Philanthropic Efforts:

• Wentz's family foundation supports various causes, including children's hospitals and local schools.
• Partnered with the NFL to build sports facilities in local schools.

Perspectives on NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness):

• Advocates NIL as a tool for retaining and recruiting top talent, helping Akron Athletics compete on a national level.
• Believes NIL offers significant potential for community involvement in college sports but acknowledges it needs more regulation.

Basketball Aspirations:

• Aims to take Akron basketball to new heights, such as achieving a Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA Tournament, which could benefit university enrollment and visibility.

Personal Insights:

• Shared memorable moments as a basketball fan, including his passion for supporting Akron sports.
• Discussed his Mount Rushmore of Akron basketball players, highlighting legends like Xavier Castaneda, LCJ, Big Dawg, and Enrique Freeman.

[ZipsFan31]

Love it! Thank you Wentz financial group! 
 

I’m curious how much NIL will take to get Bryce James here! 
 

probably too much lol 

[72 Roo]

After watching this interview I would give serious consideration to having Bud as our next AD. I have no doubt he could run an excellent dept. My only worry would be could he hire great coaches. Character counts. He has it in spades.

[LZIp]

14 minutes ago, 72 Roo said:

After watching this interview I would give serious consideration to having Bud as our next AD. I have no doubt he could run an excellent dept. My only worry would be could he hire great coaches. Character counts. He has it in spades.

I suspect Bud would have to take a significant pay cut from his “day job” to be our AD.

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, LZIp said:

I suspect Bud would have to take a significant pay cut from his “day job” to be our AD.

 

From the sounds of former interviews he already is spending the bulk of his time being the volunteer GM for the basketball program. Personally, I think his time and effort is better spent on his passion project over running an entire D1 athletic program, which he has little to no experience doing. 

Edited January 3 by kreed5120

[Zippy87]

Really good interview with Wentz. His contributions to the Zips program are incredible. 

 

Being realistic, though, we won't compete with the major programs consistently until we build a new arena or significantly renovate the current one. 

[kreed5120]

39 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

Really good interview with Wentz. His contributions to the Zips program are incredible. 

 

Being realistic, though, we won't compete with the major programs consistently until we build a new arena or significantly renovate the current one. 

 

I think you misspelled needing a war chest of ~$3 million annually for NIL. Players aren't going to care if us poor folks have to sit on wooden bleachers. They're going to care if their $250k NIL check clears. The amenities players care about about, like locker rooms and practice facilities, are new.

[Zippy87]

4 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I think you misspelled needing a war chest of ~$3 million annually for NIL. Players aren't going to care if us poor folks have to sit on wooden bleachers. They're going to care if their $250k NIL check clears. The amenities players care about about, like locker rooms and practice facilities, are new.

 

This is a bit of an oversimplification, no?

 

Do players care about crowd size? Atmosphere? Not playing in a high school-quality gym?

 

Of course NIL matters and should be the priority, but they'll never consistently compete with major programs without investing beyond that, too.

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, Zippy87 said:

 

This is a bit of an oversimplification, no?

 

Do players care about crowd size? Atmosphere? Not playing in a high school-quality gym?

 

Of course NIL matters and should be the priority, but they'll never consistently compete with major programs without investing beyond that, too.

 

It's not really an oversimplification. Our football program has one of the nicest stadiums in all of the G5 yet we've been a bottom 10 program since it was built. Imagine how much further ahead our football program would be today if we were playing in a mid-tier MAC stadium, but had $4 million in NIL to spend each season. There are lots of mid-majors that have relatively new arenas and the program is still hot garbage. Build it and they will come is only true in Hollywood movies. 

 

I would say St. Mary's basketball would be the next step program that we would all love to see Akron become. At least those with realistic expectations. Have you seen their arena? They play in what looks like a high school gym. The reality is boosters will get much more bang for the buck spending 2 million per year in NIL for 30 years than donating $60 million for a new arena as that's what recruits are going to care much more about. If you have a program that's flush with cash then fine do both, but schools like Akron have a finite amount of resources.

Edited January 4 by kreed5120

[Zippy87]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

It's not really an oversimplification. Our football program has one of the nicest stadiums in all of the G5 yet we've been a bottom 10 program since it was built.

 

Respectfully, this is an oversimplification as well. With better decision-making, the Zips football program could have grown with the stadium. Instead, we fired Brookhart for Ianello, one of the worst coaches I've ever seen. We actually did have some success with Bowden - then dumped him for another one of the worst coaches I've ever seen in Arth. 

 

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

I would say St. Mary's basketball would be the next step program that we would all love to see Akron become. At least those with realistic expectations. Have you seen their arena? They play in what looks like a high school gym. The reality is boosters will get much more bang for the buck spending 2 million per year in NIL for 30 years than donating $60 million for a new arena as that's what recruits are going to care much more about. If you have a program that's flush with cash then fine do both, but schools like Akron have a finite amount of resources.

 

Do you think it's helps that the school is in Morega, California, which looks like this? 

 

 

Listen, I love the City of Akron and UA, but I'd be fine with St. Mary's gym too if it looked like that when I walked out of it.

 

Your pitch (beyond winning, of course) can't just be NIL. Yes, it's important, but: 1) You'll never compete with bigger schools on that alone, 2) I know we are ahead of others, but at least some in the MAC will eventually catch up.  

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Respectfully, this is an oversimplification as well. With better decision-making, the Zips football program could have grown with the stadium. Instead, we fired Brookhart for Ianello, one of the worst coaches I've ever seen. We actually did have some success with Bowden - then dumped him for another one of the worst coaches I've ever seen in Arth. 

 

 

Do you think it's helps that the school is in Morega, California, which looks like this? 

 

 

Listen, I love the City of Akron and UA, but I'd be fine with St. Mary's gym too if it looked like that when I walked out of it.

 

Your pitch (beyond winning, of course) can't just be NIL. Yes, it's important, but: 1) You'll never compete with bigger schools on that alone, 2) I know we are ahead of others, but at least some in the MAC will eventually catch up.  

And how was the attendance under Bowden? The stadium was still sitting half empty most games. This idea of a new arena magically making the community buy into the program is a farce. At best it might provide a slight attendance boost the first 2-3 seasons until the new smell wears off. Like I said, you can look around D1 basketball. There are quite a few mid-majors that have recently built or renovated arenas and Akron is still running circles around them in regards to success. It's not the magical driver to success that you think it is.

 

I think what you're overlooking is the costs it takes to fund a new basketball arena. The proposals pre-covid were around $75 million I believe for the city partner project. That same arena would probably be close to $100 million, if not more, now post inflation. Where are we going to magically find money to both pay for an arena plus stay competitive in NIL? You're operating under the impression that we have an infinite amount of resources both as a university and as a booster base. It's not realistic that we can compete on both grounds. We need to focus on what allows us to maximize our dollars, which would be coaching and NIL. We have the coaching so NIL should be the next focus.

Edited January 5 by kreed5120

[Zippy87]

23 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

And how was the attendance under Bowden? The stadium was still sitting half empty most games. This idea of a new arena magically making the community buy into the program is a farce. At best it might provide a slight attendance boost the first 2-3 seasons until the new smell wears off. Like I said, you can look around D1 basketball. There are quite a few mid-majors that have recently built or renovated arenas and Akron is still running circles around them in regards to success. It's not the magical driver to success that you think it is.

 

The MAC punted on attendance leaguewide when they agreed to make most of their conference games on weekdays for the TV deal. I'm not sure comparing basketball really works. 

 

23 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

I think what you're overlooking is the costs it takes to fund a new basketball arena. The proposals pre-covid were around $75 million I believe for the city partner project. That same arena would probably be close to $100 million, if not more, now post inflation. Where are we going to magically find money to both pay for an arena plus stay competitive in NIL? You're operating under the impression that we have an infinite amount of resources both as a university and as a booster base. It's not realistic that we can compete on both grounds. We need to focus on what allows us to maximize our dollars, which would be coaching and NIL. We have the coaching so NIL should be the next focus.

 

I'm not overlooking anything or operating under any assumptions. I realize the costs associated and how hard it will be to pull off. I think renovation is more probable and, if done right, can achieve a close-enough impact. I'm just pointing out that you're never going to consistently hang with the big boys playing in the current JAR. 

 

I love how we jumped to the forefront of the MAC in NIL, but I don't expect that to last. UMass will be ahead of us the day they join. I expect Toledo and Ohio to be competitive there too. It's not realistic to expect NIL to be a separater for long IMO. 

[kreed5120]

14 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

The MAC punted on attendance leaguewide when they agreed to make most of their conference games on weekdays for the TV deal. I'm not sure comparing basketball really works. 

 

 

I'm not overlooking anything or operating under any assumptions. I realize the costs associated and how hard it will be to pull off. I think renovation is more probable and, if done right, can achieve a close-enough impact. I'm just pointing out that you're never going to consistently hang with the big boys playing in the current JAR. 

 

I love how we jumped to the forefront of the MAC in NIL, but I don't expect that to last. UMass will be ahead of us the day they join. I expect Toledo and Ohio to be competitive there too. It's not realistic to expect NIL to be a separater for long IMO. 

 

Even Saturday home games in September and October are poorly attended. In general live attendance at sporting events is down compared to decades past. More people prefer to watch from the comfort of their own home. I don't see that trend reversing.

 

If your goal is to take the next step, programs like Toledo or Ohio aren't who you should try to compare yourself to. I'm not exactly sure what renovations you have in mind for the JAR or the cost associated with them. Either way a renovated JAR won't be a premier arena in the MAC and definitely won't be at the elite mid-major level. You can put lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day it's still going to be a pig. Maybe revisit the arena decision once Infocision is fully paid off. Perhaps by then the University debt load would be more manageable.

[Zippy87]

11 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

If your goal is to take the next step, programs like Toledo or Ohio aren't who you should try to compare yourself to. I'm not exactly sure what renovations you have in mind for the JAR or the cost associated with them. Either way a renovated JAR won't be a premier arena in the MAC and definitely won't be at the elite mid-major level. You can put lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day it's still going to be a pig. Maybe revisit the arena decision once Infocision is fully paid off. Perhaps by then the University debt load would be more manageable.

 

Certainly there are improvements they can make that would at least help. Replacing the bleachers would be a great start. Improving sightlines (remove the track?) would be good. I understand your greater point - a new arena right now is unlikely - but there's still work they can do to draw more fans and create a better gameday experience. 

[MDZip]

11 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Maybe revisit the arena decision once Infocision is fully paid off. Perhaps by then the University debt load would be more manageable.

Sadly, that is not until 2038.