Patrick Kinahan: Shiny trucks latest road to success in college football

SALT LAKE CITY — College football stadiums across the country should renovate all scoreboards, adding specific numbers that rank in terms of importance right with the score of the actual game.

They belong in the most prominent place on the jumbotron, immediately and undeniably drawing all eyes to them. Adding incentive for those with deep pockets, change the numbers to reflect the most recent tallies, sort of like a tote board for telethons.

The new rage in the game is known as the collective — the catchy term that refers to the amount of money raised to pay the players, who in turn will lend their names to community service. Welcome to the new world of so-called amateur athletics, where cash is king.

Put the collective figures right there on the scoreboard for the world to see. Short of passing around a hat during games, list the increasing dollar amount to impress all the tender high school recruits and any would-be transfers.

Gone are the days when players got most excited about shiny new helmets. Turns out, as we saw this week at Rice-Eccles Stadium, shiny new trucks matter just a tad more.

As part of Utah's Crimson Collective, all 85 scholarship players will get access to leased 2024 Ram 1500 Big Horn trucks. The players got the news during an event at the stadium designed to rally Crimson Club members and anybody else to donate money to the collective.

As expected, the Utes were excited to learn of their new lease on life as they paraded around the trucks parked in the south end zone. Think of the old Oprah Winfrey show, during which the ladies in the audience go berserk when Oprah screamed "you get a car!" multiple times.

Utah NIL collective gives every football player on scholarship Ram truck

Former Utah linebacker Steven Sylvester delivered the news to the team, announcing that every player on scholarship would be getting their own truck.

Those in attendance were ushered into the open room underneath the remodeled Ken Garff Red Zone south stands where administrators made the umpteenth plea to fork over more money to drive up the collective. The message, which programs around the country are making, is clear: Pay to win.

"This is the priority of the athletic department to have the Crimson Collective at a level these guys deserve, because everybody loves a top 10 program, right?" said athletic director Mark Harlan.

For the record, the Utes have finished ranked in the top 10 four times (1994, 2004, 2008 and last season). Utah was 10th in the 2022 final poll, earning the highest position of any of the eight teams with four losses.

Listening to the speakers, who included coach Kyle Whittingham and president Taylor Randall, the collective goes hand-in-hand with recruiting. Gobs of cash leads to better recruits.

"This is huge for our players," Whittingham said of the trucks that retail at about $60,000. "It's huge for recruiting, no doubt about it. It's going to get national attention and give us a real leg up in recruiting, which is what it's all about."

For all the glee, Utah and most other programs are still playing catch-up to the bluebloods of the sport. Estimates are some programs have collectives upward of $25 million ready to hand out.

Speaking at the ceremony, board chairman Matt Garff said the collective has raised $3.25 million since starting six months ago. He stated the figure has "got to get to $6 million by December."

Garff called on those in attendance to pony up whatever they can, citing a range from $5,000 to $100,000. Any who donated right then got a gift basket as a measure of appreciation.

"The only way that we succeed here is by rallying our town behind our team," Garff said. "This is so important, so that part of the challenge is also to go out and get your friends, so go out and get our town to get behind our team. The challenge for all of you is to give and to get."

The collective also includes a streaming service, FTW360, that features content about the players.

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