When quarterback Caleb Williams left Oklahoma for USC in 2022, he didn’t just change uniforms. He stepped into the new reality of college football: one where elite players can transfer immediately and sign lucrative endorsement deals before ever playing a down in the NFL. Williams reportedly earned several million dollars in NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) opportunities while leading USC.
That story would have been unthinkable ten years ago. Back then, transferring schools meant sitting out a season, and players were barred from making a dime off their own likeness. The rules of the game were simple—and stacked against the athletes.
But everything has changed.
Last week, I introduced four elements that shape every negotiation:
Information gathering tells you what game you’re playing.
Goal prioritization tells you how to win.
Trade-off thinking tells you what moves to make.
Leverage awareness tells you when and how hard to push.
This week, let’s use college football’s NIL and transfer portal revolutions as a case study. The lessons for small and family businesses are closer than you might think.
The Old System: Limited Player Freedom
For decades, players operated in a tightly controlled world:
Transfers required a year on the sidelines.
NIL opportunities were banned, even while schools, TV networks, and conferences built billion-dollar empires on player performance.
Scholarships had value, but the system gave universities and coaches the overwhelming share of leverage.
The New World: NIL and the Transfer Portal
Two reforms have flipped the landscape:
NIL Rights: Players can now earn money from endorsements, social media, appearances, and sponsorships. For stars at big programs, NIL deals can reach six or seven figures.
The Transfer Portal: Players who want a new opportunity can enter a centralized database and become immediately eligible to play elsewhere. It’s essentially free agency, with no mandatory waiting period.
This shift has created an environment where players, schools, and businesses must constantly adapt. Now let’s analyze it through the four negotiation principles.
1. Information Gathering: Know the Game You’re Playing
In the old system, choices were locked in early. A freshman quarterback might regret committing to a school, but transferring meant losing a year. There was little incentive to gather information beyond the initial recruiting decision.
Today, the smart player—or businessperson—treats information as currency. A recruit needs to ask:
Which schools have strong NIL collectives and booster support?
Where is the best mix of exposure, coaching, and financial opportunity?
Which teams develop players for the NFL most effectively?
In business, the same rule applies: you cannot negotiate well without knowing the landscape. Laws change, markets shift, and competitors adapt. Before you commit, understand the rules of today’s game, not yesterday’s.
2. Goal Prioritization: Define What Winning Looks Like
Not every player has the same definition of success.
Some prioritize immediate playing time to showcase talent.
Others chase financial security now, maximizing NIL value.
Still others want a championship pedigree to raise their long-term profile.
Programs also face competing priorities: should they build long-term culture through high school recruits or maximize short-term wins through transfers?
In business, this is the same discipline of setting goals before you enter a deal. Are you negotiating for stability, for growth, or for immediate cash flow? If you do not define your win condition, you risk chasing the wrong outcome.
3. Trade-Off Thinking: Choose Your Moves Wisely
Every choice in this new system carries immediate and long-term trade-offs.
Immediate trade-offs: A player in the transfer portal may accept less NIL money in exchange for guaranteed playing time, or flip that equation by chasing the bigger paycheck. A school may choose to invest heavily in one star, knowing it could limit resources for depth.
Long-term trade-offs: A player who transfers too often may damage their development or reputation with NFL scouts. A school that leans too heavily on transfers may weaken culture and loyalty among recruits.
This is pure trade-off thinking: you cannot maximize every variable at once. In negotiation, the real art is recognizing not just what you gain in the moment, but how today’s choice shapes tomorrow’s opportunities.
4. Leverage Awareness: Know When and How Hard to Push
Perhaps the clearest change in college football is leverage.
In the old system: Coaches and schools held nearly all of it. A player had few options after committing, and sitting out a transfer year discouraged movement.
In the new system: Players—especially quarterbacks—often hold the cards. A starter who enters the portal can trigger bidding wars for both scholarships and NIL deals.
But leverage can be overplayed. Take former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava. After securing one of the biggest NIL packages for a freshman, he reportedly pushed for even more backing from Tennessee boosters. When the school didn’t meet those demands, he transferred to UCLA.
According to ESPN, his deal at UCLA is actually worth less than what he had at Tennessee. And his debut this past weekend wasn’t encouraging—UCLA stumbled badly in its opening game.
That’s a classic negotiation misstep: assuming leverage is unlimited. Nico’s talent gave him power, but by pressing too hard, he ended up with a smaller deal and a shakier start.
For businesses, the lesson is clear: leverage is real, but it’s never permanent. Use it wisely. Push too early or too hard, and you may weaken your own position. Timing and perception matter as much as raw bargaining power.
Lessons for Small and Family Businesses
You may never enter a transfer portal, but the lessons translate directly:
Stay updated: Rules and norms change. What worked ten years ago may be obsolete today.
Set your priorities: Define your “win” before you sit down at the table.
Balance short- and long-term trade-offs: Every deal has costs in the moment and consequences down the line.
Use leverage wisely: Don’t underplay it, but don’t overplay it either. Timing is everything.
College football may look chaotic right now. Some call it unfair, others call it overdue justice. But underneath the headlines, it is a live classroom in how negotiations evolve when information, priorities, trade-offs, and leverage all shift at once.
Your business may not fill a stadium, but the same four questions apply:
Do I know the game?
Do I know what winning looks like?
Have I weighed both my immediate and long-term trade-offs?
Do I understand my leverage—and am I using it wisely?
Answer those, and you’ll walk into every negotiation better prepared than your counterpart.