Ohio State has held a job fair for its football players since 2013, but over the past couple of years, that event has also evolved into an opportunity for players to explore potential NIL deals.
This year’s Career Fair and NIL Expo was held Tuesday night at the Covelli Center, where representatives from more than 40 companies – ranging from major national corporations like Amazon, McDonald’s and Microsoft to local organizations like Boren Brothers (led by former Ohio State football players Zach and Justin Boren) and the nonprofit NIL collective Cohesion Foundation – were on hand to talk to the Buckeyes about jobs, internships and/or NIL opportunities available with their respective companies.
Over 40 companies were in attendance for yesterdays Career & NIL Expo #GoBucks | #RLW pic.twitter.com/EvJmg0iqgM
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 5, 2023
Ryan Day believes the annual event, which was started under the leadership of former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and has continued to be a staple of OSU’s Real Life Wednesdays program, provides a valuable platform for his players to learn about opportunities available to them outside of football – especially now that they can make money off of their name, image and likeness while still playing collegiately.
“In recruiting, we talk a lot about everything that surrounds the player, the circle of care, and a big part of it is life after football,” Day said. “And I think for a lot of our guys, one of their goals is to play in the NFL. But when you think about all the guys who have been in the NFL who even have long careers, they're still doing something, right? I mean, Deion Sanders, probably one of the best corners to ever play, he’s coaching. Greg Olsen, one of the best tight ends, he's on Fox. Shaquille O'Neal made hundreds of millions, I think, playing in the NBA, he's working every day for TNT.
“So you have to figure out what's coming next in your career, and you never know when football is going to be over. So this is just a part of it. Networking, meeting people, but also just getting exposure to different companies, what's out there. Because our guys kind of know the Woody, they know the classroom, they know their apartment. But getting exposure to people like this is great.”
JT Tuimoloau was among the players who took full advantage of the opportunity, taking the time to speak with representatives from numerous organizations as he looks to set himself up for life after football even though he’s projected as a potential first-round NFL draft pick next year.
“I heard someone say, I never thought about it, but you have to have a plan A before your plan B. And it kind of made me think about, you know, football is your plan B but you have to make sure your plan A is set,” Tuimoloau said. “So when plan B is over, you already had your plan A. So coming to something like this, it kind of helps me know, even if I don't have an idea (of exactly what he wants to do after football), I kind of have a picture of what I want to do after.”
Ohio State director of name, image and likeness Logan Hittle, who says events like the career fair were “an integral part” of preparing him for life after football while he was playing for the Buckeyes, believes events like Tuesday’s expo highlight the positives of NIL and how Ohio State players can benefit from it.
“Getting in front of a marketing executive or a CEO or founder of a company to tell your story, doing something like that at 17 to 22 years old is really empowering. And I think that's something that people don't think about enough,” said Hittle, who was a walk-on linebacker for the Buckeyes in 2018 and 2019. “A lot of our student-athletes are able to mitigate student loan debt through NIL opportunities. Some of our student-athletes that are on full scholarship are able to have opportunities to do that and have financial income to be able to send it back to their family. So I think there's, you don't hear all the time, a lot of the positives of NIL, but I think that we try to do the best we can of storytelling and making sure that it's portrayed in a way that people really understand the positives that are happening, and we're really, really proud of that.”
One of the challenges Ohio State has faced, Hittle said, is that some businesses remain hesitant to make NIL deals with athletes because of the gray areas that surround what’s allowed and what isn’t nearly two years after the NCAA removed its ban on NIL benefits. But both Hittle and Day believe events like Tuesday can go a long way toward normalizing the process of companies working with Ohio State to arrange NIL deals.
“There's a lot of folks here who have gotten involved with NIL and it's been great,” Day said. “We're trying to normalize it the best we can, certainly here in Columbus. It's not a big bad thing, it's something that is going to be something that's going to be here, it's not going anywhere. It’s something that is going to be critical to our success moving forward. So the more and more events we can do around NIL, talk to folks about NIL and how important it's going to be to our future, the better.”
the future is now pic.twitter.com/7xuEvvMder
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 4, 2023
Hittle said one of his top priorities in his position has been to make the process of arranging NIL deals with Ohio State athletes more efficient for interested businesses. The turnout from national and local businesses who made the trip to Ohio State on Tuesday to meet OSU’s football players – and other OSU athletes, who were also invited to attend the expo – was evidence of that work paying dividends.
“It's really, really empowering to see the support behind us,” Hittle said. “And our student-athletes, you'll see a lot of (former Ohio State) student-athletes behind the booths here. So I think that that's really cool to see, you know, maybe their opportunity here actually turned into a full-time opportunity to where now they're giving back to our current student-athletes by being the representative for their company. So we can't thank the local community enough for the support, and obviously, this is a space that is going to continue to grow. So want to continue to encourage people to ask questions and be engaged. And I think that we're doing a great job of providing a good platform for athletes.”
Zach Boren returned to Ohio State on Tuesday to represent Boren Brothers at OSU’s Career and NIL Expo.
The amount of connections Ohio State has with corporations both inside and outside of Columbus has been a big part of Ohio State’s recruiting pitch to top prospects as far as both NIL and post-football career opportunities are concerned, and that pitch was front and center on Tuesday for prospects like Ohio State cornerback commit Jontae Gilbert and four-star 2025 running back Tory Blaylock, who were both in attendance for the event and spent time speaking with company representatives alongside Ohio State coaches.
Jontae Gilbert made the rounds at Ohio State’s Career and NIL Expo as part of his visit to Ohio State this week.
Even the players who have already been at Ohio State were impressed by the opportunities presented to them at Tuesday’s event.
“I didn't really recognize how many people were here until I came here, especially on my visit (as a recruit), knowing how many companies were out here,” Tuimoloau said. “And seeing it today, it's just like a select few, but it's great, knowing all the companies around here and the connections we have as being not only being at Ohio State, but being an Ohio State football player.”
