Now and in the future, can TROY football keep its best players?
I started thinking about great Troy players who’ve already transferred to other schools and then started thinking about great kick returners who’ve played for Troy
Note: A story on the new Auburn football stadium jumbotron (see below) might kind of tie-in to today’s topic.
Update: An in-depth analysis of Troy’s great kick returners and “all-around” players is now posted at The Troy Citizen. (See link here).
It’s funny how my mind works.
Below, I publish a story from the Troy Sports Information staff about a new NIL program Troy University will use to try to stay competitive in the new NIL/Transfer Portal college landscape.
This story got me thinking about what a challenge it must be for Troy athletics to compete with the new “free agent” spending frenzy that is producing thousands of transfers in all sports.
This made me think of some of the “difference-maker” athletes TROY athletics (especially football) have lost to larger schools in recent years.
In thinking about this subject, I immediately thought of former defensive back/kick returner Marcus Jones who transferred to the University of Houston after two spectacular seasons at Troy.
I started researching Jones (who is from Enterprise) and learned Jones actually transferred to Houston after the 2018 football season - before the rules had been changed to allow transfers to immediately play at their new school (and before NIL payments).
That is, Jones had to sit out one year before he became eligible to play at Houston in 2020.
In researching Jones, I was reminded of what an incredible talent this athlete was.
The superlatives - how this young player almost single-handedly won games - are eye-opening and worthy of a story.
Jones, a great defensive back, is better known as a phenomenal kick returner, who is dangerous returning kickoffs, punts (and also interceptions).
This made me think of the other great kick returners who have played for Troy and made me think that Troy might have had more exceptional kick returners than just about any other program.
This led me to research the statistics of past Trojan kick returners who, like Jones, were in a league of their own. These former exceptional Troy football players include:
Leodis McKelvin
Jerrell Jernigan
Virgil Seay
Perry Griggs.
So I ended up combing through Internet archives, finding game stories and stats on all five players.
Tomorrow I am going to publish a story that chronicles some of the game, season and career statistics of these athletes, all members of The Troy Sport Hall of Fame.
It’s hard to say who was the best kick returner ever to play for TROY because all five put up amazing numbers.
Except for Perry Griggs, I got to watch all five in person. (You didn’t want to go to the concession stand before an opponent kicked the ball to one of these guys).
After starring at Troy for two years and then Houston for two years, Jones is now a star player for the New England Patriots, where in his rookie year he scored touchdowns on a punt return, kick return and as a receiver. Jones has also scored a TD for the Patriots on an interception return; in other words, he’s doing exactly what he did as a star player at Enterprise High School, Troy and Houston.
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As a Troy fan, my question is how is Troy going to keep electric play-makers (players who can make plays that win big games) … when schools that can pay these type players six and seven-figure NIL packages might make these athletes an offer they can’t refuse?
Troy once prospered by identifying fantastic high school players that bigger programs, for some reason, passed on and didn’t offer scholarships.
Leodis McKelvin, who was the 11th overall draft choice in the NFL draft after his senior year, is one example and so is Eufaula’s Jerrell Jernigan, who had a four-year NFL career. Both McKelvin and Jernigan (and Demarcus Ware) spent four years at Troy.
As Troy fans, all we can hope is that Troy’s NIL program is attractive enough to its top athletes that we might get to watch these players for more than one or two years.
While some of us are not sold that the NIL/Transfer Portal college world is going to be a net benefit to college sports in the years and decades to come, it looks like it’s here to stay.
Which is a verbose introduction to this piece of news, which is probably more significant than we might think.
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Troy Athletics Selects TheLinkU to Maximize NIL Opportunities for Trojan Student-Athletes
TheLinkU, the premier NIL platform focused on simplifying and enhancing opportunities for college athletes and institutions, has announced a new partnership with Trojans Together Collective and Troy University.
The partnership will help maximize Troy’s NIL opportunities for student-athletes across all 16 sports programs. Troy Athletics will have complete access to TheLinkU’s full suite of services, including national brand partnerships that provide tremendous cost savings, general manager and revenue sharing modeling software, NIL marketplace, personalized merchandise shop, tools to help student-athletes build and grow their personal brands, and financial seminars and wealth advisors, among other resources.
Troy Athletics is grateful to co-founders Chuck Carson and Jason Jones for establishing the Trojans Together Collective to support Troy University student-athletes. For the past two and a half years, Trojans Together has truly embodied their mission to Build Communities, Empower Players and Win Together. This partnership will allow for all aspects of the Trojans Together collective and its operations to be run by TheLinkU.
“I’m very excited about this milestone in NIL at Troy University,” Chuck Carson, co-founder and president of Trojans Together Collective, said. “It’s been an honor to be involved with the founding and operating of Trojans Together Collective and I know this new partnership is the right next step. I look forward to supporting the Collective and our new partnership with TheLinkU as we seek to lead the way in NIL in the Sun Belt Conference and beyond.”
“It makes us feel great knowing that we are transitioning our operations to experienced and capable leaders with LinkU,” Jason Jones, co-founder and vice president of Trojans Together Collective, said.
TheLinkU also fosters sustainable revenue generation for universities through more than 30 strategic business partnerships, including the recently announced Victory Campus initiative from Victory Snacks.
With these partnerships, TheLinkU significantly decreases the need for donor contributions (emphasis added by Bill Rice, Jr.) and creates long-term financial opportunities, enabling athletic departments to achieve NIL success while maintaining financial stability.
“As a former student-athlete, it’s my goal, and the goal of TheLinkU, to equip student-athletes and athletic departments with the tools they need to maximize success,” Austin Elrod, founder and president of TheLinkU, said. “I have been in the shoes of these student-athletes, and I have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with numerous athletic directors across the country to help build championship-level NIL programs. That is why we can offer solutions that no one else can within the NIL space."
“We are proud to partner with TheLinkU and view them as a key piece in The Trojans Together Collective’s future success in revenue generation and NIL opportunities,” Troy Athletics Director Brent Jones said. “With TheLinkU’s offering, we are prepared to support our teams in their pursuit of championships.”
“With TheLinkU’s help, our student-athletes will be able to maximize their personal brands, and we will be able to amplify and diversify the NIL offerings available to them,” Troy Football head coach Gerad Parker said. “This helps create an edge for us in recruiting. By creating an environment that’s attractive to high school recruits and possible transfer students, we can compete with anyone, anywhere.”
TheLinkU works with colleges and athletic programs nationwide to simplify the NIL space while protecting the interests of athletes, institutions, and the business community. To learn more, visit www.thelinku.com
For more information, visit www.thelinku.com
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Auburn finishing up $25.7 million Jumbotron
Note: Troy Citizen subscriber and former Troy resident Louis Loving posted this photo at his Facebook site recently.
I think this photo and story ties in with other dramatic changes occurring in college sports.
It seems to me that athletic directors might be worried about possible dwindling attendance at games. To maximize the “fan experience” at stadiums - and compete with high-def TVs in fans’ dens - athletic directors want to add as many game-day amenities as possible.
Auburn was ahead of the curve in installing a massive Jumbotron at its stadium decades ago. Now Auburn has torn down that north end zone Jumbotron and is replacing it with an ever finer one.
If Auburn - or any school - is going to be able to fund payment programs for athletes in 16 sports, the schools will still need to be able to sell as many season tickets as possible.
That is, TV networks can’t provide all the money necessary to fund athletic programs, which now need to fund much more than coaches salaries, stadium improvements or plush new football facilities. Schools and boosters, or “marketing partners,” must also fund the NIL programs, where some college football players are already making $1 million/year.
I asked my new friend, Google AI, to give me the basics on the new Jumbotron and learned the following …
Auburn is scheduled to complete construction of a new north end zone jumbotron in Jordan-Hare Stadium in time for the 2025 football season. The new videoboard will replace the current scoreboard that was installed in 1987. The project is estimated to cost $25.7 million.
Project Timeline: Construction began in the summer of 2024 and is expected to be completed by the start of the 2025 football season.
Purpose:The new videoboard is intended to modernize the north end zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Design: The videoboard and supporting structure are designed to stand alone behind the existing seating bowl, allowing for future north end zone improvements.
Additional Benefits:The concrete base structure is also expected to provide an expanded north end zone concourse, offering additional food and beverage options and improving fan flow.
When someone like Marcus Jones returns a punt 80 yards for a TD, the replays on the Jumbotron will be fantastic!
Author “tips” …
Griggs was exceptional.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/247sports.com/longformarticle/college-footballs-top-50-programs-ranked-by-nil-efforts-235181311/amp/