Notre Dame is not among the highest top-10 spenders in college football
College football has made a huge evolution over the past few years with the adaptation of Name, Image and Likeness, with more teams opening up the pocketbooks for players, something that Notre Dame has been a bit reluctant to do.
Yes, many of the Irish players have NIL deals, and are getting paid a good amount to play in South Bend, but according to a survey done by On3's Pete Nakos (subscription required), Notre Dame is not near the top of the biggest spenders list in the sport. The highest was Texas, followed by Texas Tech (who has gotten more than a few commitment from players that previously wouldn't have considered them), Ohio State, Oregon and Texas A&M.
The Irish are on the list, but tied for No. 17, meaning they don't spend nearly as much as some of the other schools across the country. Multiple teams in the top-10 didn't even make the College Football Playoff last year, like Texas Tech, the Aggies, Miami, USC, Michigan and Auburn.
It goes to show you that Notre Dame isn't just throwing around NIL funds, they're recruiting players who they believe will utilize everything that the program has to offer, which is clearly more in future earnings than in the present.
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