The dawn of the NIL and revenue-sharing era have forever changed college football recruiting — in many expected ways and some unexpected.
The money surrounding player acquisition is higher than it’s ever been, with a number of Power 4 rosters expected to surpass $30-40 miliion for next season, including some close to $50 million according to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian. And while much of that is allocated toward the transfer portal, high school recruiting gets a significant chunk as well.
Top prospects are demanding north of $500K per year, with some expected to receive $1-2 million in their first year on campus. That has altered the equation not only on the team’s side as to how many elite recruits they can sign, but also the timeline for prospects making their decisions.
Where previously the the top players would take their commitment decisions later into the summer, fall or even to National Signing Day, they’re now coming off the board in April and May. No. 1 offensive tackle Mark Matthews, the most recent five-star pledge in the class, announced for Texas A&M on May 15. It marked the Aggies’ fifth five-star commit of the cycle yes, but also the 21st (out of 32) five-stars to give their verbal commitment.
On the same date last year, only 15 5-stars had committed.
Commitments continue to move earlier in the cycle
In the 2025 class, it took until early July to reach that number. Wind the clock back to 2024, and it took until August 4 to reach the 60% threshold for committed five-stars. Expand to the the top-100 this cycle, and two-thirds (67%) have already made a decision. Two years ago in mid-June, that number was just 53.
Are prospects all of the sudden so eager to get their recruitments over with? Not necessarily. But the money involved now can change things in a hurry.
In March, Texas Tech landed an early commitment from high four-star linebacker Jhadyn Nelson, who sits just outside five-star range in the Rivals300. Tech was the first school to offer and recruited him hard, but conversations over the course of two days that month sealed it for the Red Raiders.
“They gave me a deal I couldn’t pass up,” he told Rivals’ Sam Spiegelman.
On3’s Pete Nakos later reported that Nelson is set to receive $375,000 from the Red Raiders as a freshman. He can’t officially receive the offer until August 1 of his senior year, but Nakos’ has previously reported that some programs are sending out full contracts with compensation before the official date, but forward-dating the agreement to August 1 or later.
Most recruits aren’t that forthcoming about how much money is involved in their decisions, leaving a lot of unanswered questions about how — and when — they’re being compensated. Numerous top prospects have posted photos to social media of lavish apartments and cars before they’ve even officially signed.
One industry source highlighted that schools are also getting more creative by the year in finding extra incentives to tack on once recruits sign.
2026 five-star quarterback Jared Curtis, who flipped from Georgia to Vanderbilt in December, is reportedly set to make $2 million in his first year with the Commodores. Included in that is an appearance in the upcoming movie “The Breadwinner” movie starring Nashville-based comedian and Vanderbilt superfan Nate Bargatze.
“It’s hard not to just remind Jared Curtis how much I would love for you to come to Vanderbilt. We’re local kids…become best friends,” Bargatze infamously said last fall during an appearance on College GameDay.
A little over a month later, Curtis flipped his pledge to the ‘Dores publicly.
Less movement among elite recruits
Flips like Curtis’ are becoming less common as well, though. In the 2025 class, 11 five-stars flipped their commitments at least once — including a few on Signing Day. Last year, that number dropped to just four. So far in 2027, only three.
Time will tell how the rest of the cycle plays out, but it’s not uncommon for schools to be paying “maintenance” fees to get prospects to visit — and in the case of committed players, to stay with that school.
An ACC staffer told Nakos last winter that monthly payment requests come in at $2,000 to $5,000. A handful of general managers denied participating in the practice but acknowledged how frequent it is. A Big 12 general manager said, “You’ve got to pay for them to get here.”
A tagline for the new era of college football if there ever were one.