When name, image and likeness payments upended college football in 2021, former NFL quarterback and BYU great Steve Young wondered how his alma mater would survive. “How is BYU gonna do this, right? How in the world?” Young recalled asking.
Four years later, the answer looks clear: BYU hasn’t just survived the NIL era, it’s thrived in it. Since 2021, the Cougars are tied with Boise State for the ninth-most wins in college football. They currently sit at No. 7 in the AP poll after climbing as high as No. 2 following a win over Notre Dame. A victory over No. 3 Utah in Saturday’s Holy War could push BYU back toward the top of the rankings.
BYU Vice President of Advancement Keith Vorkink says the school simply found a way into the NIL recruiting landscape it hadn’t had access to before.
“I’m not throwing anyone under the bus, but there’s rumored payment of players long before NIL. We’re a university that does our best to adhere to whatever the policies are at the time. We’re grateful for the avenue that opened up for us to participate in that space and do so in compliance,” Vorkink said.
Staying true to the culture
BYU, a private university in Provo sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has had to figure out how to compete financially without compromising its identity. Vorkink says the answer was never to try to outspend rivals.
“Our work was to figure out our play in the NIL space, but in doing so to never displace the primary role of our mission. Our football coach, as an example, Kalani Sitake embraces the distinctive role of the university and the athletic department. We want student athletes coming because of, for example, in football, the culture that Kalani brings to that that aligns to the university and the church,” Vorkink said.
Vorkink says BYU has no intention of leading the NIL market in dollars. Instead, the goal is to attract players who want the culture first. Young credits head coach Kalani Sitake with pulling that off in a sport now dominated by money.
“It’s hard to build affinity,” Young said. “And that’s why I say what Kalani’s done is what is, I think, impossible, nearly, I think he is doing it, so it’s not impossible. He’s doing it in a really complex environment that works away from affinity, works away from spirit of abundance.”
“Right now, it’s a zero-sum game, right? It’s, I’m a mercenary and just pay me. And he’s built something. He’s like, oh, no, we recognize you need to be paid. We recognize that this is part of the system, but can we put that aside, take care of that, and now build something that is unified.”
Vorkink points to five-star freshman small forward Bruce Branch and star quarterback Bear Bachmeier as players who could have left for bigger NIL money elsewhere but chose to stay at BYU.
Attracting players outside the faith
Vorkink says NIL has also let BYU recruit athletes who aren’t members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but end up embracing campus life anyway. He points to AJ Dybantsa, projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, as an example.
“AJ didn’t know much about BYU. A lot of that was because (head coach) Kevin Young came from the NBA and he wondered, could Kevin help him prepare to play in the NBA. That got him here. There were other schools who are offering him more compensation than he received here, which is consistent with our philosophy. But he thrived,” Vorkink said.
“He spoke publicly about his love for BYU and how much he enjoyed being here. That helped gets the word out to other people who are like, well, is BYU too weird or not? Can I thrive? And we believe that student athletes, if they understand the mission, accommodate or embrace it, they can have a good experience here.”
All BYU students sign an honor code that requires abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, vaping, marijuana and other prohibited substances, along with sexual relations outside marriage between a man and a woman. Young argues that the honor code, far from scaring recruits off, can actually work in BYU’s favor when presented honestly.
“It’s counterintuitive in a way, but because you lead with the honor code, you lead with the uniqueness of BYU. By definition, the conversation is different than any other, like a lot of the conversations,” Young said. “And so, when you lead with it, but you lead with it with an openness and an invitation, and you can be your whole self. You don’t have to conform.”
“There’s certain behaviors that we’re going to ask from you, but as far as who you are, you can express that, and you can be, you can feel, and I think that there’s a lot of players, non-LDS players on the team, and that’s true when I played, that felt like this is awesome being here.”
Young again pointed to Sitake for holding the program together as the money pouring into college sports threatens to pull other programs apart.
“There’s big money involved. Money is, we all know money is dangerous, man. There’s fits and starts to it too, trying to figure it out. It is the wild west, and it’s not simple,” Young said.
“Why I give Kalani so much credit in kind of holding up, like taking the spirit of what was, has always been here. And then applying it to these, and I guess in some ways, that’s the magic, is that with an infrastructure of what I call the law of love, where like, we see you. We want all of you, like the whole self, and we want you to feel welcomed and, here’s the rules of the road.”
“We think it’s good for you. We don’t think it’s bad. We don’t think it’s restrictive. We think it’s actually expansive in ways that maybe be counterintuitive, but it’s awesome.”
Calling for federal rules
Despite BYU’s success navigating the current system, both Young and Vorkink say college sports needs more structure and stability going forward.
“I think every university would want more stability, more of a solid framework around the compensation of student-athletes,” Vorkink said. “I think we all realize the value that they bring economically to the athletic department and the university and they should be able to participate in it. But legislative solutions like protecting college sports, it’s not perfect, but it really goes a long way in providing stability, and some governance in this world that we’re supportive of.”
Young, who played his college ball at BYU before a Hall of Fame NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, says he’s heard discussion of schools eventually hiring student-athletes as employees, and believes only Congress can sort out the competing interests at stake.
“Congress is the only one that can put that back together. I hope that all those competing interests can find a place where the players aren’t the ones that lose. Cause I think that was what started the whole problem before is so much money was coming into the system, and the guys playing the game were making $50 in stipend,” Young said.
Whatever changes come to college athletics nationally, Young believes BYU has already proven its approach can work.
“Hold on, you’re supposed to be flailing in this system, and I think we’ve hit on it. We’ve looked it in the eye, right?” Young said. “We’ll compete, but we’re going to compete in the BYU way.”
