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The celebratory National Signing Day of yesteryear is gone, replaced with a shell of its old self. But now with the Early Signing Period in December, most of the 2025 class has already signed and some have even committed. So On3 is looking back at the 2025 cycle from an NIL standpoint and how the class was shaped.
On3 surveyed several Power Four NIL collectives and personnel staffers to find out the biggest deals, the most expensive positions and who were the thriftiest spenders, among other topics. Sources were given anonymity to speak freely about how the 2025 recruiting class came together.
Here’s the full breakdown:
Who spent the most money on their 2025 class?
SEC Collective 1: Texas. Texas schools in general spent a shit ton of money.Big 12 NIL Collective: Oregon’s a big spender. They always are, Texas A&M is a big spender. And then, of course, Ohio State. Nebraska is a school that has spent. They were somebody that we competed with a bunch of guys.
SEC NIL Collective 2: Texas, Ohio State and Tennessee.
Big Ten NIL Collective 1: Oregon and Ohio State, they’re the biggest spenders regardless.
ACC Personnel Staffer: Auburn spends a lot on recruiting. Obviously Texas, and then you go some mix of Oregon and Texas A&M.
Who spent their money the smartest?
SEC NIL Collective 1: Georgia. A school like Georgia has the history where they can pay a little less.ACC Collective 1: Georgia is pretty good with how they spend money. Kirby [Smart] is still able to play off the cache that is Georgia. It’s rare that they ever overspend. When these kids were growing up, Georgia was the program. Georgia is still probably the safest bet in college football if I want to play in meaningful games.
SEC NIL Collective 2: Probably Ohio State and Georgia. Georgia got some guys for a steal. Kirby really leaned into some old-school stuff in getting guys to come at a discount.
ACC Personnel Staffer: I’d say Georgia, Florida, Miami and Notre Dame. South Carolina, too. Shane Beamer has done a good job.
Was this year’s market boosted because of revenue sharing? How did it impact recruiting?
Big 12 NIL Collective: Schools are dipping into that revenue-sharing bucket and using a lot of that, which will present an interesting scenario come next December. The schools that spent their 2025 and 2026 revenue-sharing budget on their 2025 roster are going to struggle come next December. And the schools, who were a little bit more measured in how they spent, are going to have more money left over for next December’s portal cycle. The other thing that has supercharged the market is you’ve got this six-month period where you have an ability to kind of finish out the Wild Wild West. A lot of schools are frontloading their NIL budgets to get guys paid a lot of money pre-revenue sharing.SEC NIL Collective 2: I’d say this class was harder than ever. At the 11th hour, you’re getting just massive offers for guys. We lost a couple of guys who were getting four times the number than we were offering from an SEC school. Especially with the House money coming in this year.
Big Ten NIL Collective 1: The amount of times a recruit came back to the table to renegotiate or had a family member negotiate and agree to it, and all of a sudden they start comparing notes with teammates and want to hire an agent. And then they want to renegotiate. … I don’t think the numbers are gonna go back down.
Big Ten NIL Collective 2: Until they’re actually on campus and enrolled, you just have to keep recruiting them, because everything can change up until that point.
Who is the highest-paid player in the class?
SEC NIL Collective 1: Bryce Underwood and Justus Terry.ACC NIL Collective: David Sanders.
SEC NIL Collective 2: Bryce Underwood, obviously we all know that one. There’s another top-100 recruit I keep hearing crazy stories about. Five acres of land that’s under development deeded to him if he stays at the school all four years. Crazy stuff. He’s going to get a percentage of the revenue from it.
SEC Personnel Staffer: Bryce Underwood.
What is a team paying for a high-end quarterback recruit in Year One?
SEC NIL Collective 1: Probably $1.5 to $2 million, and that’s just for Year One.Big 12: If you want a top-10 guy at the position, a guy who’s potentially an early contributor, if not a Year Two, you’re paying $1.5 to $2 million.
ACC NIL collective: There were a of couple kids in last year’s class that signed at a number that was shockingly low to me. If you’re being real, the first year has to be $500,000 at minimum.
SEC NIL Collective 2: In Year One, I’d say a minimum of $2 million. You can get a four-star, depending on what you’re selling them, you can get them for $500,000 to $700,000.
Big Ten NIL Collective 1: I would say anywhere between $500,000 and $2.5 to $3.5 million.
SEC Personnel Staffer: You’re starting at $700,000 and going to $1.3 million.
Big Ten NIL Collective 2: Most of them are getting over $1 million.
ACC Personnel Staffer: A million to $1.5 a year.
What position has skyrocketed in value in the last year?
SEC NIL Collective 1: Linebackers have gotten ridiculous. A guy you could get for $100,000 for last year, schools are paying $800,000 for this cycle. Wide receivers, too. I think how much the freshman group of wide receivers this last season got paid has something to do with it.Big 12 NIL Collective: Offensive line or cornerback. From my perspective, quarterback has always been up there and wide receiver. It took a little while for the offensive line in cornerback markets to catch up. But those are the two in this cycle that were requiring the most output.
SEC NIL Collective 2: Offensive tackle, by far. And then secondary. At offensive tackle and secondary, it’s closer to three or four times as much compared to a year ago.
Big Ten NIL Collective 1: A quarterback comp has jumped through the roof. You’re starting to see some big wide receiver numbers. It’s jumping everywhere.
SEC Personnel Staffer: Wide receiver, probably. They’re harder to get in the portal. They’re costing $500,000 to $900,000.
ACC Personnel Staffer: Well for portal, offensive tackles. High school kids, it’s quarterbacks and wide receivers. I can’t really get a grasp on it because receivers are a dime a dozen. I honestly think it’s because of the Jeremiah Smith fascination.
What does it cost to get an elite offensive tackle or EDGE?
SEC NIL Collective 1: For a top EDGE, probably after this cycle, between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on the school and its budget.NIL Collective 3: EDGE rusher is a little bit cheaper, but premium offensive tackles are $500,000 at a minimum, $800,000 more likely.
ACC NIL Collective: Depending on who they are and what they are, I think you can still get an EDGE for $250,000 to $500,000. A couple of those high-end guys were asking for $750,000 to north of $1 million.
ACC Personnel Staffer: The real ones, the top guys, probably $750,000.
What is a recruit or portal player’s highest ask from this cycle?
ACC NIL Collective: I had a transfer portal prospect ask me for $2.5 million. Not that I would’ve done it at any position, but he isn’t a quarterback, offensive tackle or defensive end. It’s the last position you would pay that type of money.SEC Collective 2: Had someone ask for $3 million.
Big Ten NIL Collective 1: We had one a couple years ago that was a $14 million all-in ask, but the kid ended up going elsewhere and has already transferred.
SEC Personnel Staffer: It’s not a player we got, it’s probably $1.1 to $1.2 million.
ACC Personnel Staffer: Portal was funky, bad players getting between $500,000 to $700,000 is crazy to me.
Are recruits asking for more amenities than ever?
Big 12 NIL Collective: Everybody wants a car. We dealt with a lot of people asking for travel stipends for their families. That became a big ask. People are asking to be put up in a new apartment, or put up into a nice home or a condo, whatever it may be. That’s a request that you’re seeing more and more.SEC NIL Collective 2: I’ve had more crazy things asked than ever before. Red carpet treatment, people wanting their families on chartered flights to home and away games, car service for the entire family to and from games and around town. Stuff that nobody is doing.
Big Ten NIL Collective 1: College football has always been riddled with under-the-table, amenity-style payments, especially in the SEC family travel with auto and living stipends. But now that the numbers are so significant, you’re negotiating a top-line number, and it’s your decision on what to do with the money, no different than a professional football player. The asks are — they’re getting pretty out of control.
SEC Personnel Staffer: Everyone wants a car lease.
Big Ten NIL Collective 2: A lot of recruits are looking for transportation for their families to games.
ACC Personnel Staffer: Definitely. We’re talking cars, travel for the family, private jet hours. We get a lot of guys asking for penthouse condos for $6,000 a month. Every guy thinks that they need to be bought a car. We had a high school kid ask us to buy the parents a house. And it was a $450,000 house.
What is the best way to build a roster in college football?
SEC NIL Collective 1: The best way is through recruiting, in my opinion. You have to build that roster and backfill with portal players. You have to build with guys who are looking at this as a long-term play. If you get a kid that is looking to start Day One, if they don’t start they’re going to be gone if they don’t start. And if they do start, they’re going to command a ton more money to just jump in the portal.ACC NIL Collective: It has to be a hybrid approach. You have to sign 10 to 12 kids out of the high school ranks that you feel are special. Hope that your retention rate is 85% there and then go supplement through the portal.
SEC NIL Collective 2: It’s the NFL blueprint, right? So you’re going to spend money on quarterbacks, offensive tackles and defensive line. Invest heavy there. You need secondary players, and then you need a playmaker of some sort at wide receiver.
ACC Personnel Staffer: It’s starting to become more of a blend of both. Ohio State did a phenomenal job on last year’s roster. They did a really good job of retaining those young guys that they brought in. They spent money on guys like Jack Sawyer. And then they went out and found out and added complimentary pieces. If you can build your roster that way you’re going to be in really good shape.
