The world of recruiting has a lot to dowith money. This reads like an obvious statement, except most universities, coaches, and recruits act as if it doesn't when it comes to their own programs and choices. Then it's all about fit, playing style, culture, and so on. One recruit's decision was leaked, and guess what? It was all about the money. Texas doubled the NIL offer over Georgia and Oregon to haul in 5-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson.
Texas offered double the NIL money than#Georgiaand Oregon to lock down 5-star LB Tyler Atkinson, per Keegan Pope. 😳
— Dawg Recruiting (@DawggRecruiting)July 26, 2025
Atkinson’s recruitment ultimately came down to Georgia and Texas in the end.pic.twitter.com/ZWV3C96BB9
Texas had to double Georgia and Oregon's offer to get Tyler Atkinson to commit
According toRivals analyst Keegan Pope, Atkinson was looking to go with Georgia, his home state school, and known for producing NFL linebackers, before the Longhorns swooped in with more money. That's the nature of the NIL and revenue share world we live in today.
It's rich for Texas to do this when coach Steve Sarkisian has been acting all high and mighty about how players are choosing Texas for other reasons. He's been shouting about how money is the last thingTexas talks about.
"We don't talk about NIL, or revenue sharing, or publicity rights until the very end, and that may hurt us on some kids. But if the kid is coming to Texas for that reason, we don't want him anyway."Steve Sarkisian
He was criticized for this comment shortly after videos leaked of how he welcomes recruits to campus, with a line ofLamborghinis waiting as they arrive. So, now with this recruiting deal leaked, it's time for Sark to get off the soapbox and just admit that a major part of recruiting is paying players more than other places are willing to pay players.
If Texas saw a huge value in adding Atkinson as one of the next great linebackers, they were willing to put down cash to make it happen; good for them. That's perfectly fine, but don't act like money wasn't a major factor in the decision.
Money apparently talks pretty loud for this recruit but really, let's be honest, for many recruits.
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