Urban Meyer thinks the NCAA's use of name, image and likeness rules that allow players to earn money is a way for teams to cheat the system.
In an interview on Don't at Me with Dan Dakich (h/t Mark Harris of OutKick.com), Meyer said his understanding of the rules makes it sound like "collective" is "a fancy word for cheating."
"When I hear that word I kind of cringe right now and I hear the stories behind it that they're going to go to donors and boosters and ask for a lot of money, put them in a big pot and then decide who gets that money based on ability level," he added. "Which, I think it's 1A of the rule of NIL—you can't do that."
Even with NIL rules, there hasn't been a noticeable change in which schools land the top recruits. The 2023 football recruiting rankings from 247Sports has Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio State in the top five.
Kentucky, Duke, USC, Connecticut and Michigan State currently have the top five recruiting classes in basketball, per 247Sports.
There have been instances of wealthy boosters using their money to funnel money to top college athletes in a way that gets around the spirit of the NIL rules.