Here's why BYU's Mark Pope believes NIL is 'probably the most important thing we do'

PROVO — A new era of athlete empowerment has arrived in college sports, and BYU coach Mark Pope isn't standing in the way of it.

The fifth-year coach of the Cougars sat down with media Thursday afternoon following BYU's first midweek bye of its first season in the Big 12. But before Pope could dig into the specifics of Saturday's east-coast tip at West Virginia (4 p.m. MST, ESPN+), he was asked about a bigger picture in college athletics.

The era of name, image and likeness has overtaken the industry, where athletes are no longer forbidden from profiting off their right to sell their NIL for monetary value.

The genie isn't going back in the bottle, either, and it is having a massive effect on college basketball — including being used as an argument in a lawsuit that caused a West Virginia judge to issue a restraining order against the NCAA permitting athletes who have transferred multiple times to play immediately during the 2023-24 season.

But Pope isn't a contrarian to NIL; quite the opposite. In the new era of college sports, it's "probably the most important thing we do," he said in response to a question posed by the Provo Daily Herald.

"That's just the job that has been created for us the last couple of years, and it's probably the most important thing we do," he added. "It probably should take up the most time, and it probably does. But now that's all about building the best relationship you can with your players; if you can deliver on NIL, then that is the building block of a relationship with players where they feel like you are working for them."

Pope realizes that athletes are no longer simply players, and even more than students — roll your eyes if you must — but also self-made brands, whose value is determined by a market that sees them equally as standout basketball players and pitchmen (and women) for products, goods, services — and yes, even collectives.

Through social media and traditional advertising, they're allowed to receive money in exchange for the use of their name, image and likeness, a form of fundraising that no longer violates amateur status enforced by the NCAA and its member universities — who were the only ones previously employed to profit on such likenesses.

The association generated nearly $1.3 billion in revenue during the 2022-23 fiscal year, and more than half of it was distributed back to the Division I member schools, according to financial statements released by the NCAA Thursday. As per usual, the bulk of the revenue — roughly $945 million, according to the Associated Press — came from media rights and marketing deals tied to collegiate championship events.

Of that revenue, 69% came from the men's basketball tournament, including $669 million distributed to the more than 363 Division I schools.

But Pope isn't sure that allowing athletes to profit off their NIL is the ultimate goal of athletes in the multi-million dollar enterprise that is collegiate athletics.

"It's messy, and I wish we had done it differently," Pope admitted candidly. "We made a catastrophe of the whole thing. At the end of the day, this is never going to be equitable until we get to profit sharing, and that's the equitable and the right way to do it. But with everything that happens (along the way), it's going to be messy and we're going to get dragged kicking and screaming until we finally get there. But I think if you do this NIL right and this every-year, free-agency thing right, it's going to force you to be a better coach in the ways that actually matter."

But does that take away from Pope's full-time job, which is coaching his team and preparing them for conference games, championships and NCAA Tournament bids? Not at all, he argues.

Helping a player maximize their NIL value helps build trust, in a coach, a staff and a system. And that, in many ways, is the ultimate job of a coach.

Pope cited an anecdote he learned from former Florida coach Billy Donovan wherein he told Pope of the days he spent crafting "the most meticulously orchestrated practice in the history of basketball" that didn't help his teams grow and win games.

Instead of adding more practice time, Donovan invited players into his office every morning to talk, study, talk basketball or just "shoot the breeze" — and he started having great practices and winning national championships," Pope said hyperbolically of the three-time SEC coach of the year and two-time national champion with the Gators.

That may explain, in large part, why Pope's role as a coach has been about more than X's and O's. The job of a BYU coach has often been about more than coaching and recruiting — there's also been an educational and a religious component hoisted upon athletic leaders at the institution sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It's why Pope has used his weekly coaches show on BYUtv not only for question-and-answer segments and meet-and-greets with fans for himself; but also to showcase Spencer Johnson's real estate license, Aly Khalifa's journey from his native Egypt to Australia to the United States to play college basketball, and Trey Stewart's startup Default Happiness.

So, no, NIL isn't taking away from Pope's primary job as a coach.

"I don't think it's taking away from coaching; it's just redefining a part of what coaching is," Pope said of NIL. "Coaching is always about players, and should always be about getting your players ready to practice, and not getting your practice ready for players. I really believe in that.

"I think what NIL and the transfer portal has really done is challenge us in a new way. It's stretching us to the nth degree to try to become great at coaching. I dig it, actually; I think it's an incredible challenge, but I think anything that brings you closer to players and focusing on their growth and their needs and building their opportunities is the most important part of coaching."

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