IHSAA to vote on NIL

[Julio]

Just saw that the IHSAA  was going to vote on NIL for next season at their May 4th meeting.  Any thoughts?

[Muda69]

Ughh.   NIL and the Shot Clock at the same meeting? 

I miss the old IHSAA.

 

[First_Backer_Inside]

3 hours ago, Julio said:

Just saw that the IHSAA  was going to vote on NIL for next season at their May 4th meeting.  Any thoughts?

The fact that this is even being talked about is absurd.

[jets]

So they are basically voting on if we can start paying players at the high school level??? 

As I understand it - right now, as is - if a player wants to make $$ of his "brand" and sell some t-shirts with his name - good for you. Or make money being an employee for a company - he/she can do so on their own free will. Right?? 

So the only thing an NIL "rule" would do is change it so SCHOOLS could pay players - that is stupid. 

 

[First_Backer_Inside]

1 minute ago, jets said:

So they are basically voting on if we can start paying players at the high school level??? 

As I understand it - right now, as is - if a player wants to make $$ of his "brand" and sell some t-shirts with his name - good for you. Or make money being an employee for a company - he/she can do so on their own free will. Right?? 

So the only thing an NIL "rule" would do is change it so SCHOOLS could pay players - that is stupid. 

 

I believe this is what they are voting on. It says in what I read that they are to have no connection with the school name, uniform, etc...

 

My question is how are we going to regulate all 412 some schools with multiple sports on this? We already have problems following the rules of limited contact apparently. How are we going to make sure every athlete in the state of Indiana isn't making so many dollars from the school booster club or using the school name, colors, etc to make more money? The answer is there is no way we can, so why even open the door for this to happen? Has the IHSAA learned nothing from what the college level is going through once they opened up this pandora's box that is NIL?

[First_Backer_Inside]

While I'm on my rant, this goes with other threads that have been discussed over the last month or so, but we wonder why we are losing more and more great coaches at the high school level. We wonder why no one wants to stick with a program for 15-20 years, why they get burnt out. It's right here, one more thing for coaches to have to worry about that has nothing to do with the actual game of football itself. It's why coaches lose their passion and love for coaching the sport they grew up loving and playing that they want to pass on to the next generation. 

How long before high school football players are making more money than the guys coaching them? 

[Sparty]

Thankfully my child is out of high school.  

[psaboy]

3 hours ago, First_Backer_Inside said:

While I'm on my rant, this goes with other threads that have been discussed over the last month or so, but we wonder why we are losing more and more great coaches at the high school level. We wonder why no one wants to stick with a program for 15-20 years, why they get burnt out. It's right here, one more thing for coaches to have to worry about that has nothing to do with the actual game of football itself. It's why coaches lose their passion and love for coaching the sport they grew up loving and playing that they want to pass on to the next generation. 

How long before high school football players are making more money than the guys coaching them? 

I give it 2 to 4 years

[Woody_Hayes]

5 hours ago, Muda69 said:

Ughh.   NIL and the Shot Clock at the same meeting? 

I miss the old IHSAA.

 

I miss the old everything. Just part of aging I suppose.

[HSFootballCoach]

18 hours ago, First_Backer_Inside said:

While I'm on my rant, this goes with other threads that have been discussed over the last month or so, but we wonder why we are losing more and more great coaches at the high school level. We wonder why no one wants to stick with a program for 15-20 years, why they get burnt out. It's right here, one more thing for coaches to have to worry about that has nothing to do with the actual game of football itself. It's why coaches lose their passion and love for coaching the sport they grew up loving and playing that they want to pass on to the next generation. 

How long before high school football players are making more money than the guys coaching them? 

A ton of great points in both posts. Absolutely ridiculous and will be impossible to police. 

[Daniel_Bragg]

I think this will be a much bigger issue in basketball than in football.  Small schools already have trouble holding on to talent with open enrollment.  Now, trying to convince kids not to move to larger schools will be near impossible.

[BDGiant93]

I think the issue here is future litigation. The IHSAA was sort of forced into the transfer rules they have now by the threat of the Indiana General Assembly passing legislation to enact changes. I think they are being proactive here. That's my take.

[First_Backer_Inside]

7 minutes ago, BDGiant93 said:

I think the issue here is future litigation. The IHSAA was sort of forced into the transfer rules they have now by the threat of the Indiana General Assembly passing legislation to enact changes. I think they are being proactive here. That's my take.

Fair point

[Coach Nowlin]

13 minutes ago, BDGiant93 said:

I think the issue here is future litigation. The IHSAA was sort of forced into the transfer rules they have now by the threat of the Indiana General Assembly passing legislation to enact changes. I think they are being proactive here. That's my take.

Same way the new summer laws came into effect for football and it was a good thing, but once the tragic death of Cory Stringer happened, then States rules got looked at as it related to heat and Indiana at the time like almost ALL OTHER State did not grade out well, so it was you develop a policy or the Suits in Indy General Assembly does..... that's a hard pass for me and glad the IFCA leadership took it and ran with it instead of the other side of the coin 

[Miner_Pride]

I dislike the whole NIL thing especially in high school level.... imagine the junior high players coming up...  hate it.  

[Muda69]

It does sounds like the co-op program  has a chance this time of passing:  https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/05/01/ihsaa-proposals-high-profile-athletes-could-benefit-from-indiana-high-school-nil-rule-change/89876819007/

 

Quote

...

>>>Cooperative agreements: This proposal would allow a cooperative agreement between two member schools in a sport provided there is a need, which could be insufficient enrollment numbers or absence of a program at one or both of the schools. This rule would only apply to team sports and can only involve a school that has fewer than 300 students. The agreement would be for a two-year period and must be formed with a neighboring school.

“I could see it really being beneficial for some schools that are struggling to offer football,” Neidig said. “A student may be able to stay in their home school with their friends but still be able to play football. This would give students an opportunity.”

Neidig said Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota are among the many Midwest states that have offered co-op programs for years. The benefit could also be a two-school district that might not be able to offer a sport with just one school but could with two. The enrollment for classification purposes would be the two schools’ combined enrollment. A school could not enter a cooperative for one sport with one school and one for another.

The vote at Plainfield was heavily in favor of the cooperative proposal.

Could open the door for students at Rossville (enrollment 279) to finally get to play varsity football.  A co-op arrangement with Clinton Central (239) makes perfect sense. 

 

[Miner_Pride]

45 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

It does sounds like the co-op program  has a chance this time of passing:  https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/05/01/ihsaa-proposals-high-profile-athletes-could-benefit-from-indiana-high-school-nil-rule-change/89876819007/

 

Could open the door for students at Rossville (enrollment 279) to finally get to play varsity football.  A co-op arrangement with Clinton Central (239) makes perfect sense. 

 

I Do like the Co-op plan... always have wondered why Indiana had backed off this?

[Bash Riprock]

On 4/29/2026 at 2:46 PM, First_Backer_Inside said:

The fact that this is even being talked about is absurd.

Amen....the very worst element of youth sports.....adults

[Daniel_Bragg]

On 5/1/2026 at 7:56 AM, Muda69 said:

It does sounds like the co-op program  has a chance this time of passing:  https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/05/01/ihsaa-proposals-high-profile-athletes-could-benefit-from-indiana-high-school-nil-rule-change/89876819007/

 

Could open the door for students at Rossville (enrollment 279) to finally get to play varsity football.  A co-op arrangement with Clinton Central (239) makes perfect sense. 

 

Does Clinton Central really want to venture into 3A football?  I can't imagine that would be fun for anyone.

[Irishman]

NIL approved

 

[Coach Nowlin]

But NO SHOT CLOCK.   

Thank Goodness

 

[HSFootballCoach]

Will be interested to see how they police this

[Muda69]

17 hours ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

Does Clinton Central really want to venture into 3A football?  I can't imagine that would be fun for anyone.

They will be ok.  All those OMG! Athletes from Rossville will make the difference. 

 

[Daniel_Bragg]

35 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

They will be ok.  All those OMG! Athletes from Rossville will make the difference. 

 

It would be interesting to see how many players would come from Rossville.  With them never having high school football, what youth programs do they have available?

[Cheez]

Having spent 3 years coaching in Michigan, I am definitely intrigued to see how co-ops would work in Indiana. Michigan is a different beast because of the sheer number of schools in the State with small enrollments - A scan of the MHSAA website shows that there are ~180 high schools with enrollments between 100 and 250 students. Indiana is in a different situation (see: "Indiana School Reorganization Act of 1959"). Yes, some smaller Indiana schools who don't offer football could co-op with bigger and established schools, but I'm not sure how many schools would be willing to "bump up" a class by taking on what would amount to only a handful of extra bodies. Are 5 extra guys worth going from 2A to 3A? I'm not sure. Rossville forming a co-op with either of the 1A Clinton County schools would result in a combined enrollment that would bump them to 3A for football.

There are a handful of programs that could explore starting a co-op program from scratch. For example, Kouts (219 students) and Washington Township (240 students) are only about 20 minutes away from each other, and would have a combined enrollment (459) that would put them in 2A. Argos (169 students) and Oregon-Davis (130 students) are a half hour apart, and a combined program (299 students) would be in 1A. Obviously there is more to the equation than just counting bodies and mileage - football isn't exactly the cheapest sport to participate in - but it still makes for some fun discussion board conversation.

Edited May 5 by Cheez