The Ohio State football program has prided itself on being at the forefront of NIL. They want to be a leader when it comes to handling NIL and how to fund its players. Early in the NIL era, they did a pretty good job of navigating the space well enough to win a national title.
Now, the House settlement has changed how they have gone about things. Instead of still having NIL collectives help with money outside the school, they have brought everything in-house. That has caused them to miss out on some very highly-rated recruits in the 2026 class.
For some unknown reason, Ross Bjork has decided not to let the Buckeyes use the collectives they were using before in order to pursue NIL ventures. That means that from now on, all of the football players will be paid directly by them. That's not an avenue they need to go down right now.
The Ohio State football team needs to change their NIL rules
While the Ohio State Buckeyes might think they are following the rules to a tee, they are actually leaving themselves at a disadvantage. Other programs are still leaving collectives open to help fund the rosters. Instead, Ohio State thinks they are doing the right thing.
That has made recruiting a lot harder on them, especially in the 2026 recruiting class. If they want to start landing recruits with more regularity, they have to change how they are handling NIL until there is more complete unity with the rules across the country.
Ohio State won't get some of the blue-chip recruits that they are after unless they change what they are doing in the NIL space. Other programs are able to land some of the top recruits in the country, while Ohio State has to battle uphill to land some.
Ryan Day needs to fix this before things get worse. Fans have already started complaining, and the team needs to make adjustments to stay competitive.