Garrett Klassy: Ready Now

Our interview of Garrett Klassy for “The Creative Influencer” podcast is available today for download on iTunes, Spotify, and premier platforms everywhere. Garrett is the Senior Deputy Athletic Director for the University of Nebraska. In his role, Garrett has been intimately involved in implementing the “Ready Now” program which helps student athletes craft and manage their personal brands on Social Media. It is the first ever NCAA program to embrace social media and incorporate the development of branding into the life skills training and support that students receive.

Garrett shares his thoughts on this new approach to training college athletes on using social media—specifically how instead of telling students what not to do, they are training them on best practices, which are applicable to all influencers.

______________________________________________________________________________

A transcript of the episode follows:

‍

Jon Pfeiffer:

I'm joined today by Garrett Klassy. Welcome to the podcast.

Garrett Klassy:

Thanks for having me.

Jon Pfeiffer:

You are the Senior Deputy Athletic Director for the University of Nebraska.

Garrett Klassy:

That is correct. Yes, sir.

Jon Pfeiffer:

It's like I have you on the witness stand. What does that entail? What do you do?

Garrett Klassy:

I have a lot of roles day to day. I initially came here 16 months ago to oversee all the external operations of the athletic department. So any of the outward-facing areas, development, fundraising, communications, marketing, sales.

But since then, I've gained the responsibility of seeing all of our sports performance areas, and our medical areas, as well as I'm the sport administrator for our football program. So wear many different hats, but love being in Nebraska. And it keeps the days interesting, I can tell you that.

Jon Pfeiffer:

How many different sports does Nebraska have?

Garrett Klassy:

We have 25 sports here.

Jon Pfeiffer:

And we'll get to some of the details of it. How many scholarship athletes does that translate into?

Garrett Klassy:

Well, we have about 650 athletes overall. Now, those aren't all scholarship student athletes. So I don't know the exact number, but in any given day, we have 650 student athletes that come through our facilities and that we support every single day.

Jon Pfeiffer:

The focus that I wanted to ask you about today was that in March 2020, Nebraska announced that it was launching the first ever program to assist student athletes in building an individual brand. It's called the Ready Now Program. And I read where you were intimately involved in helping craft that program.

Garrett Klassy:

That is correct. Yeah, it's something that we... Oh, go ahead.

Jon Pfeiffer:

I was just going to ask, how did it come to be? Where'd you get the idea?

Garrett Klassy:

Absolutely. This is something that we talk about quite frequently in our senior staff meetings is that, the unique thing about name, image, and likeness, we've been hearing about this for months and months, and almost a year now. And we just wanted to make sure that we as an athletic department, and (B), our 650 student athletes are prepared when and if this legislation takes place.

And as we looked deeper into it, we realized that even if name, image, and likeness doesn't get passed, and it looks like it's going to be, we felt like putting resources towards this would be part of our life skills programming.

Because these are traits, and I would say experiences that all of our student athletes will need at some point in their life, whether it's if they own their own business, or they become doctors, lawyers, or go on and play professional sports. We felt like there would be great value in partnering with Opendorse and create the Ready Now Program, with or without name, image, and likeness legislation.

Jon Pfeiffer:

And you said life skills training, I think is how you put it, or life skills education? What does that encompass?

Garrett Klassy:

Really everything. We have three core pillars here at Nebraska athletics. We want to make sure (A) you receive a world-class education; (B) you're prepared for life after Nebraska; and (C) we give you the resources, allow you the resources to compete for championships. So obviously this is a big part of preparing you for life after Nebraska.

And so, our life skills really contains programming throughout the year, or throughout a student athlete's four-plus years here on campus, whether that helps them, classes on how to network properly for your job interviews; how to create a resume; how do you handle certain situations. Obviously, this programming through name, image, and likeness. We have all kinds of, how to properly conduct yourselves at dinners, a business meeting.

So anything that would help our student athletes become more employable, and help them become more successful in life is what we consider life skills here at Nebraska.

Jon Pfeiffer:

So I saw a quote from Scott Frost, Nebraska's head football coach, where he said, "We believe social media is the core of the next frontier for player development," which is a perfect transition into the Ready Now Program.

I want to set the scene. And my listeners have heard me talk about this before, but in case this is a new, thanks to the podcast. First, is there a rule at the University of Nebraska that would preclude a non-athlete from monetizing social media?

Garrett Klassy:

A non-athlete, no. Any student in America, outside of student athletes in my understanding, is able to monetize their social media.

Jon Pfeiffer:

But the NCAA, on the other hand, at current at least, athletes may not monetize their social media.

Garrett Klassy:

That's correct.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Okay. Now, it looks like that's going to change, and you hinted it and we'll get to that in a second. According to a Nebraska press release, the Ready Now Program provides education and assessment tools they need to navigate the complexities of social media, and maximize their brand in the digital world. So, let's unpack that.

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, absolutely.

Jon Pfeiffer:

What is the Ready Now? In just an overview, what is the Ready Now Program?

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, as you mentioned, Jon, it's the two pillars of assessment and education. And so first, Opendorse went through all of our student athletes' social media accounts, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and really looked at how they conduct themselves. How do they make themselves look better on social media? And it went this deep, and they all got letter grades, A, B, C, D, F, on how they were currently using their social media.

And it looked at everything from, what's your username? If a student athlete has a username of Dave2Cool, versus my name is Dave Robinson, that makes you harder to find by the public. So how do you gain followers if you're impossible to find by doing a basic search. It looks at what kind of content that you put on social media? When do you put it on social media?

And then the education piece is after they received their grade, they each went through an educational session on when you should be posting, what you should be posting. How do you get more followers? How do you get not just more followers, more engagement meaty posts, because that's the key. Not just posting nonsense.

If you post the most items, it doesn't mean you get the most clicks. You've got to have smart content. And so, to help our student athletes navigate that system has been incredibly helpful. We want to make sure they're prepared if name, image, and likeness does start beginning on August 1st.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Even if it doesn't start, once they graduate, it's still going to be part of their DNA, almost, at this point.

Garrett Klassy:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And every student in America, every kid in America, I guess, from age 17 to 21, they're on social media. So they should know best practices, and they should know the impact, good and bad, on how to use it.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Well, I got to correct you there. It's probably like five years old and up.

Garrett Klassy:

Yep, exactly.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Yeah.

Garrett Klassy:

That's exactly right. But when it pertains to our college students-

Jon Pfeiffer:

Right, right, right, right, right.

Garrett Klassy:

And I've been in college athletics almost 25 years. The old-school way of educating student athletes on social media was your compliance staff going in, talking to every team, saying, "You should not be posting after this hour. And you should be doing this, and you shouldn't be doing that." And it was what you weren't supposed to do.

Now it's more education on how you're supposed to post, and where do you post, how do you post? And so, now we're enabling you with the tools to be successful in social media, rather than scaring you on the bad thing that's going to happen if you don't do it right.

Jon Pfeiffer:

So of the 650 athletes, were there any that were not on social media?

Garrett Klassy:

Yes, there were. There was a small percentage. It was out of our 650 student athletes, there's about 4% that weren't on any social media.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Are they now on social media after they've gone through this?

Garrett Klassy:

I have not gone back and verified, but I would hope so, absolutely.

Jon Pfeiffer:

And then, what percentage of the 650 had an incredible presence, and just were all over on social media?

Garrett Klassy:

I think it's hard to define what an incredible presence is. As you know growing up Nebraska, it's a very unique state. There's no professional teams here. The Nebraska Cornhuskers, they're it. There's not a Nebraska State. We're one of three division one programs, but the only division one program with football in the state.

And so, our fan base is as passionate and as engaged as anyone. And we're unique. We're one of those schools where our volleyball team, we have some girls on the volleyball team that have more followers than a lot of our football players, or a lot of our basketball players.

And so, I would say, anyone that has over 3000 followers on any platform would be a high level. And I would say, out of those 650, we have about 110 kids that have more than 3000 followers.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Did they just focus on, you said Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Did they look at Snapchat or YouTube?

Garrett Klassy:

Well, YouTube is part of it. And then part of the education, which I failed to mention earlier, is really educating our student athletes that they should have their own YouTube channel. There's more engagement. More professional athletes are receiving sponsorship dollars from being on YouTube than any other platforms. So they should be automatically posting their videos on their own YouTube channel.

And most of our student athletes did not have YouTube. Snapchat, not as much of a focus. I think Opendorse views that more from peer to peer, and not more towards the greater good or a larger audience. So we haven't looked at Snapchat in our discussions.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Okay, so they were rated at A to F.

Garrett Klassy:

Yes.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Without naming names, can you give me the bell curve of the As versus the Bs versus the Cs versus the Ds?

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, absolutely. It really went from an A would be someone that's doing everything at a top level. You're easy to find, you're posting good content. And by good content, that means that potential companies down the road will know what your interests are. They know what you do, they know what you're about. You've created your own personal brand, which is so important. And then you're posting during the right times. And you're getting actually likes, and engagement, and views, depending on what platform you're on.

So that's an A. An F is probably the person that isn't even on social media. And D is being on social media and not many followers, you have a lot of room to grow. You got to be easier to find, you got to change your content. You can't be posting at 3:00 AM when there aren't very many people online. And posting not controversial items, but items that aren't going to help you grow your personal brand.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Lose the red cups.

Garrett Klassy:

Excuse me?

Jon Pfeiffer:

Lose the standing with the red cups.

Garrett Klassy:

Yes. Well, as we talk about it, we're here to help you look good. We want you to look good, and that's what it's about. It's not necessarily always be the best athlete, the person that scores the most touchdowns or scores the most points in basketball, or has the most kills in volleyball. It's about creating your personal brand.

And that's why we implemented this for all student athletes, not just football and basketball. Our bowling student athletes, our rifle student athletes, our gymnasts, our soccer players have the same opportunity as any of our other student athletes.

Jon Pfeiffer:

You had mentioned the right time versus the wrong time. Does the right time differ for a student athlete versus just somebody who's posting as an influencer?

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, absolutely. And the right time has a lot of different meanings, and Opendorse really has incredible data that shows when you should be posting. But I think most importantly, as it pertains to sporting events, social media's timely. You need to post good content right after your sporting events, because that's when fans are online. That's when fans are looking for information and want to have your personal feelings on what happened in the game, or what your thoughts are, and appraising teammates, coaching, whatever.

And so, there is a right time and a wrong time. And it's not just, "Hey, post between the hours of 10:00 to 6:00, that's when the most people are online." It's, "What just happened in these current events, and how do you handle those situations?"

Jon Pfeiffer:

This game just finished, and now let's talk about it.

Garrett Klassy:

Exactly.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Does Opendorse help them post, or is that the student athlete's job?

Garrett Klassy:

Well, based on current NCAA rules, they're not allowed to physically post for them or create content. So we're creating all that content in house for our student athletes. So that's very particular.

But no, they just give you the tools. More of an educational assessment, as you said. They can't post for us. But their platform is pretty unique. To see what they're doing with professional athletes, all of these companies that they've partnered with, and I believe it's well into the thousands. They have a list of athletes, what their interests are.

And then a company will send them, in their Opendorse app, they'll send them, "Hey, this company wants to give you $3,000 if you post this." Just click a green button, or a red button, and boom, it's done just like that. It's incredible how turnkey it is.

Jon Pfeiffer:

You had mentioned in-house programs. And I had read where you do have an in-house program where it includes creating logos for players, doing highlight videos for players. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Garrett Klassy:

Absolutely. Our creative teams in football, basketball, athletic department overall are pretty incredible. And that's part of creating your own personal brand. I think you saw that a lot for football signing day this year, there were schools that created a logo for each one of their signees. And we're doing that, not for all of our student athletes because we have a limited staff, but for ones that have strong followers, we want to help them create their own personal brand.

And we even have a football student athlete, Wan'Dale Robinson, that we wanted to enable him. He has a strong interest in music. We helped him with the resources to record his own song. So anything that they have interest in.

We've also on the website, we've made sure we posted their Instagram, Facebook, Twitter handles, so they're easy to find and follow. We're going to take that a step further down the road and really list what all their interests are, so if potential companies are looking for someone that can push a certain product, or have certain interests, we want to make sure that we're prepared for that.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Do the logos, do they have the N in it, or does it have any trademark material, or is it unique to that individual?

Garrett Klassy:

It's unique to that individual. And based on the way it looks like legislation's going to go, you're not going to be able to incorporate the Nebraska logo, and they're not going to be able to push the Nebraska logo. And so, these are all hundred percent solely for the student athlete.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Which that's a great transition, because I have some questions about that. And this is by way of background. I want to talk about the NIL, the name, image, and likeness legislation, and the NCAA rules. So foundationally, what is the difference? What is pay for play?

Garrett Klassy:

Well, pay for play is the professional model. Anytime that you suit up, or play a sport that you're getting some kind of fee in return.

Jon Pfeiffer:

And to state the obvious, it is illegal to pay a college player.

Garrett Klassy:

Correct, to keep your amateur status. Correct.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Right. Although there are some Southern institutions we could talk about.

Garrett Klassy:

No comment. I don't know about that.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Okay. And again, this is just for the listeners who haven't heard the prior episodes on this. On September 30th, 2019, California passed a bill called the Fair Pay to Play Act, and it was signed by Governor Newsom. It includes the name, image, and identity, because California is a little broader than name, image, and likeness, but name, image, and identity.

Before he signed the bill, the NCAA reached out and sent him a letter and said, "That bill is unconstitutional." But he signed it. And I don't think it was, but he signed it anyway. Nebraska passed a similar bill this summer. And I read where you appeared before one of the committees to testify?

Garrett Klassy:

Correct.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Can you tell me about that?

Garrett Klassy:

Sure. As a university, we had no part in the drafting of the bill. We knew that the bill was moving forward. I believe it was Senator Megan Hunt was very adamant about pushing a bill forward. And we officially as a university took the neutral stance, because we see both sides of it. We see that we want to protect the amateur status, but we also don't want to limit opportunities for our student athletes.

And I just testified about, I think there's been a huge, huge... What's the best way to say it? It's not really well-reported, Jon, on all the resources these young men and women get when they come to an institution like Nebraska. What we spend on, whether it's Adidas merchandise, what we spend on training table to fuel their nutritional needs, what we spend on academic support, that they're receiving a stipend for full cost of attendance.

So, one of the things I wanted to get across is that, yes, we do not want to limit their opportunities. But we also, we provide a lot of resources to these young men and women, and we feel like we do it better than almost anyone else. Any student athlete that graduates from here, we give them a post-eligibility opportunity scholarship of $8,000 that they can use to study abroad, towards an internship.

And so, we really, we have always been in the forefront of student athlete experience and wanted to make that known. As we spoke there, we're still strongly in favor of a national solution. Nebraska by no means want to operate on an island. At least, that's how we feel here at the University of Nebraska. It just, it's important, whether it's from a recruiting standpoint, whether it's from an equity standpoint, we just felt very strongly that we needed to state our case, and that we feel strongly that a national solution would be best.

Jon Pfeiffer:

I'll weigh in on that. The odds of that are pretty remote, because there's no national right of publicity law.

Garrett Klassy:

Right.

Jon Pfeiffer:

They've been pushing that forever.

Garrett Klassy:

Sure, absolutely.

Jon Pfeiffer:

That's neither here nor there. So, after the NCAA then did a complete about face, they formed, they called it a working group. And on April 17th of this year, they issued a quote final report and recommendations. And everybody anticipates that a vote will be had on that in January 2021.

And I've read the report. And there is legal speak, and there is NCAA speak. We'll get into more depth. But the name, image, and likeness changes must be accompanied, and this is a quote, by guard rails. Nevermind, here are the rules. They must be accompanied by guard rails.

Garrett Klassy:

We've heard that term guard rails a lot. That was probably the most prevalent term in that document.

Jon Pfeiffer:

It was there a lot. It talked about schools may play no role in the name, image, and likeness activities. That they can't use... This was one of their broad statements, we'll get down in the weeds in a second. They said you can't use name, image, and likeness opportunities as recruiting inducements. I think everybody's going to use it as an inducement, but let's get into the weeds what it says.

On page 22. I actually did read this thing. On page 22 of the report, it lists two categories that can be monetized. Category one is essentially brand deals. NCAA calls it compensation for third-party endorsement. If you're representing influencers, it's called a brand deal.

And then they gave some examples. They said that it would be permissible for a student athlete to be paid to endorse a commercial product. But then it went on to say that you can't use the university's intellectual property in the post. So as I read it, and I'd like your take, that means that they certainly couldn't be wearing a Nebraska hat.

Garrett Klassy:

Right.

Jon Pfeiffer:

They couldn't be in uniform, whatever the uniform is, whether a track uniform, or a volleyball uniform. But they could, and this is where I think whoever was helping them didn't really understand social media is, I didn't see a prohibition from having a post where you're in full uniform, not advertising for a product. Next post is, you're endorsing a product. Third post is, you're back in full uniform.

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Okay, so you read it the same way I did?

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah. And that's how it is. We have a database of whatever, it's a video clip of their great plays or great pictures that they're allowed to grab and post at any time. So that is my interpretation, as well. As you're endorsing a product, you can't use the Nebraska intellectual property. But you can still post on your account wearing the uniform, going to class, whatever you want to put on there.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Yeah. Okay, that's the way I read it, and I'm thinking-

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, absolutely.

Jon Pfeiffer:

... "Okay, why even have the prohibition in the post?" But that's... I get it.

Garrett Klassy:

I will say, each member institution had the ability to fill out a questionnaire and a survey based on what route you'd like to take. And at Nebraska, we were in favor of the student athletes using our intellectual property with approval from us prior. Because we just feel like, whether it's our current sponsors that we currently have, that would make our sponsorship deals that much more lucrative. It would make our student athletes more marketable.

So we didn't feel like there was any need, as long as they have proper approval. Like any company needs proper approval to use our intellectual property. That if we had those guardrails in place, that we were okay with our student athletes using our logos.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Yeah. And Adidas would be pretty happy about it, too, I would think.

Garrett Klassy:

Absolutely, for sure.

Jon Pfeiffer:

The second category was work product or business activities. So, they gave several examples that you can now have... Now, assuming it's approved. You could run a sports camp. I'm curious, I didn't realize you couldn't run a sports camp before. What was the idea behind that?

Garrett Klassy:

You can work sports camps. You can't necessarily run your own sports camp and use your name advertising it as the Jon Pfeiffer Long Snapping Camp, or the Jon Pfeiffer Shooting Camp. So now they can run their own camps. And we're excited about that, because even if you're a walk-on on the football team and you're from, let's say, Beatrice, Nebraska, you're from a smaller town, you still have a huge following. And I think these young men and women as they go back to their home towns, regardless where they're from, but especially in Nebraska, because this fan base is so special and unique, they're going to be able to run their own camps.

And we've actually partnered with the business school here and the entrepreneurship program here where we're not just using Opendorse to work on the social media piece. We're educating our student athletes on how to start their own business, the financial literacy piece, what attributes you have. We work with Gallup and the CliftonStrengths program on what business you'd be best at running. And so, we definitely want to make sure that what we do with name, image, and likeness is a 360, not just addressing the social media piece.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Right. Because then they give other examples of personal appearances, including autograph signings.

Garrett Klassy:

Correct.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Now, I've never paid for an autograph, but I have friends who have.

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:

And there are lines, there's money to be made. And especially Nebraska.

Garrett Klassy:

Absolutely. And even if you're not accepting money per autograph, the ability to be able to go to a business as a sponsor, or reasons to get people to come to a business to get your autograph, I think that's going to be an area where our student athletes are going to be able to take advantage if legislation gets passed.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Right. And then they go on, after they had the two areas that you can potentially use, they go on to identify some more guard rails. They recommend certain categories of promotional activities, including alcohol, tobacco, and sports gambling be excluded.

Garrett Klassy:

Yep.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Which I get, because it would send the wrong message to young kids. But then, in my view, it goes on to say athletic shoe and apparel companies should also be excluded, because quote, "Their history of encouraging or facilitating recruiting or other rules infractions." And it's like, "Well, that's where the money's to be made."

Garrett Klassy:

Well, yeah, not necessarily only in those areas. But that's one of the many areas, absolutely.

Jon Pfeiffer:

It's not like Luke McCaffrey's going to get a State Farm deal like Aaron Rodgers. Those kind of deals-

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, it's going to be more regionally or locally-based in Nebraska, for sure.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Yeah. But they then say that they are allowed to engage and consult with professional service providers. And then they said, giving example of subject matter experts. So presumably, a Heisman Trophy candidate, if someone were at that level, could engage a videographer to follow them around. Could engage a manager to go get brand deals for them. And have somebody to post for them.

Because the whole joke, at least when I went, was that there are three things about college. You can be a student athlete, you can go to class and study, or you can party. Pick two. And now we're adding a fourth one, and that is create social content.

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, I agree with that. But the social content piece is I think where a majority of these student athletes will be able to take advantage of it, and enhance their brand. Because as you know, in your industry, and I had a small business at some point, and that takes a lot of time, resources, and help from other people to be able to even run a camp. There's tax implementations, there's registration.

So I think that's where these student athletes are going to be able to really create their personal brand and take advantage of it. And that's key. As we talked about earlier, YouTube is where most companies look for their influencers. And so, that's the video content site that's where...

Jon Pfeiffer:

Because they'll want the YouTube, and then there'll be the Instagram posts that support the YouTube video. And depending on the demographic, maybe a Facebook post.

Garrett Klassy:

Yep. Absolutely.

Jon Pfeiffer:

So I want to shift gears. This is all raising, or will raise, compliance issues. And I'm sure you've given it a lot of thought. But first, just foundationally, Nebraska has a compliance department, correct?

Garrett Klassy:

Absolutely. Yeah, every place-

Jon Pfeiffer:

Every university does. But I'm sure there's some of my listeners who are not sports fans, so I ask that. What does a compliance department do?

Garrett Klassy:

They really make sure that we are following all the NCAA rules. And not just for a name, image, and likeness obviously, but all the rules, whether it's eligibility, certification, recruiting, across the board. So they're making sure that we are compliant with all of NCAA's legislations, rules, and regulations.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Some universities, and not Nebraska, but some universities have gotten in trouble with boosters giving money to the athletes, say football players. First, what's a booster, and how do you identify a booster?

Garrett Klassy:

A booster's really anyone that buys tickets, donates to the program. Anyone that is associated really with the program, it's a broad definition, is considered a booster to the program.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Have you... and I'm sure you have. What kind of compliance issues are going to be raised by somebody that would be identified as a booster, but given that Lincoln is not Los Angeles in a sense of size, but owns a car dealership? So he's a football fan, owns a car dealership, and now wants Aaron Martinez to do a spot for him to help promote his car dealership. Will the compliance department have to look at each of those contracts to see that they're financially in line?

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, I believe this is what the NCAA is focusing on before this legislation is put in place, is that, what does the clearing house look like? How do we streamline this? What is the current market value? What a car dealer pays in Lincoln might be different than what they pay in Southern California, just based on the going market.

And so, I think that's the piece that everyone needs to overcome. Schools are preparing. I know they've partnered with some third-party resources. I know Opendorse has created a tool that's brand new that we don't even use yet that we will utilize, that really is going to monitor the activity of these student athletes.

But yeah, nothing is off the table for us to remain compliant. Adding staff, adding a specialist just that knows name, image, and likeness. Those are things that are going to be important to discuss moving forward.

Jon Pfeiffer:

I want you to put on your predictions hat. Do you predict this will pass in January?

Garrett Klassy:

I don't think there's any doubt, to be honest with you. I think we're so far down the path. There's been enough pressure, whether it's from legislators, individual states, whatnot, that we're going to see some kind of ability for our student athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness by August 1st.

Jon Pfeiffer:

So, now put on your predictions hat for in two years, where do you see this?

Garrett Klassy:

I think it's going to be a positive, I really do. If every student athlete are able to monetize their own personal brand, why shouldn't student athletes? I think it's something that is long overdue. I'm bullish on it just because I think any student athlete that comes to the University of Nebraska, knowing how important anyone that wears that N on their uniform or chest means to them, that it's really going to be something that's going to help them.

And a lot of these student athletes come from backgrounds where they may not be households that have very much money, and they have some out-of-pocket expenses. So I'm hopeful that we're able to implement this and maintain our amateur status. Meaning, I hope pay-for-play isn't next.

Because these student athletes, even... My previous job, I was athletic director at a small division one school in Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago. And even though those student athletes aren't getting the same things that the student athletes in Nebraska are getting, we still gave them a great student athlete experience, whether it came from academic support, or nutrition, or food, or how we travel, things like that.

And so, I think it is important to maintain the amateur status. But at the same time, this is going to be a positive overall. I think our fans want to be able to utilize and have more access to our student athletes. We just hope that we can do it in a safe, responsible, and really a fair manner across all of the member institutions.

Jon Pfeiffer:

You just summed it up. Especially for a fan base like Nebraska, that's the thing is just access, in the sense of you could follow somebody on Instagram and get what the World-Herald or the Journal Star doesn't cover.

Garrett Klassy:

Yeah, absolutely. And we've started that. We started our own storytelling micro-site on our webpage, it's called N Your Voice. And it's really set up to be a player's tribune for our student athletes. And we're only about 10 articles into it, but anything that we can do to help them create their brand is going to help them once legislation is introduced.

Jon Pfeiffer:

Well, I thank you very much. I'll come back to you once we stop recording, but thank you for being on the podcast. I appreciate it.

Garrett Klassy:

Jon, thanks for having me. It was a pleasure to meet another fellow Nebraska fan, and thank you for your good work. And I really appreciate the time.