Utah Expects Recruiting Boost After NIL Truck Deal
Oct 4, 2023, 3:41 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah football received what they expect to be a big recruiting boost after the Crimson Collective gifted their 85 scholarship players a lease on a brand-new Ram Truck as part of an NIL deal.
The announcement took place October 4, 2023 and is already making national news.
The caveats are that the players need to have a good driving record, be willing to promote awareness of the Utah Crimson Collective and need to give back to their communities through service. If those boxes are checked off, the players will get to enjoy a 2024 Ram Big Horn 1500 Truck with the lease and insurance paid for by Collective donors.
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Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham Foresees Trucks Helping Recruiting
In October of last year, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was blunt about the fact NIL (name, image, and likeness) is changing how teams recruit and retain talent. Whittingham’s main point on NIL at that time was- “it’s either adapt or get left behind.”
Utah chose to adapt in a big way with the truck reveal.
“This is huge for our players, huge for recruiting going forward,” Whittingham said. “It’s getting national attention and again, it’s a real leg-up in recruiting which is what it is all about.”
🎶Cream on the inside, clean on the outside 🎶
All 85 scholarship athletes are receiving 2024 Ram Trucks as part of an NIL deal with @UtahCrimson & #Utah360#GoUtes #UteProud #UBoyz #CollegeFootballNews #NIL pic.twitter.com/H25jQN1QWI
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 4, 2023
Whittingham also pointed out that the Utes are relatively new to the NIL game, particularly with the Crimson Collective which was launched just six months ago and is already pulling some impressive feats.
“Our Collective has only been around for about six months and to have this kind of impact is just incredible,” Whittingham said. “We are so grateful for that.”
Defensive End Jonah Elliss Talks About Recruiting Benefit Of Trucks
Obviously, Utah’s players are already in the fold and getting the trucks, but defensive end Jonah Elliss put himself back in the mindset of choosing a school as a recruit and noted something like this would play a factor.
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“Yeah, definitely,” Jonah Elliss said. “If I saw that as a freshman coming into college that every scholarship player has got a truck- I’m not sure many other programs are doing that, so that would definitely be a step up for that school.”
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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