Utah Athletics Director Mark Harlan On Leading Utes Into Big 12, NIL Landscape
Aug 27, 2024, 6:35 PM | Updated: Aug 28, 2024, 11:26 am
Harlan has earned yet another title as he will be an advisor for the Olympic and Paralympic Collegiate Advisory Council starting fall of 2024. (Photo Cred: Utah Athletics)
(Photo Cred: Utah Athletics)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah athletics director Mark Harlan joined the Hans & Scotty G. Show on Tuesday to talk all things Utes. Topics centered on the move to the Big 12, NIL, and the new Ring of Honor.
Harlan joined the program in 2018 and has helped elevate the overall success of athletics at the University of Utah. He now leads the program into the new Big 12 Conference after 13 years in the Pac-12.
Here are the highlights from Harlan’s conversation with Hans & Scotty.
Alex Smith becoming the inaugural Ring of Honor member
“Overall, just really excited to launch the Ring of Honor, it’s something that I noticed back in ’18, that we really didn’t have a display of our greats,” he shared. “The Eccles Football Center we celebrate a lot, but that’s not really a high-traffic area.”
From there, Harlan tasked Jeff Rudy- an Associate Athletics Director, to work with Kyle Whittingham and others on how to bring this to existence.
READ MORE HERE: Utah Great Alex Smith To Be First Inductee In Utah Football Ring Of Honor
The group worked over the years to put together a high bar to be considered for the Ring of Honor. There are some interesting requirements, including owning school records, being a consensus All-American, and playing 10 or more years in the NFL, among others.
“Once that high bar was set, the group that worked around Jeff Rudy on this came forward with the concept of having Alex Smith as our inaugural member,” Harlan shared.
“The fact of the matter is it just made sense. One of the greatest things I’ve been able to do here was place that call to Alex just a few weeks back to let him know. He was really emotional about it, it was awesome to get to talk to him about it. He loves this place just like people love him.” – Mark Harlan on Alex Smith being the inaugural member of the Utah Ring of Honor.
Utah is excited to make Alex Smith the inaugural inductee. Everyone involved, as well as the fans, will be able to celebrate Smith during halftime of Thursday night’s game.
The Utes move to the Big 12 Conference
It’s roughly been one year since Utah announced its move to the Big 12 Conference. In terms of the department’s preparation for the move, Harlan feels confident that Utah will be able to hit the ground running.
“Feel really good about it, I feel like we did the work that was necessary and appropriate to do to be game-ready,” Harland shared. “All of it came together in this moment in August, when we got the official entry date. I feel like we’re a really good match. I feel like our teams are prepared to get in and get after it.”
Utah isn’t unfamiliar with conference changes. It’s been 13 years since they made the move up to the Pac-12 and Power Conference level. That move required a significant financial adjustment for Utah, whereas this one will be on equal footing.
“That was a huge step up in budget, and obviously, we go in with equal shares and we go in with a pretty healthy budget in the Big 12,” Harlan said. “Going from a Power Four to a Power Four doesn’t make it easy, but certainly a whole different level of preparation than what we had to go through 12-plus years ago.”
Utah’s growth in NIL
Utah did not dive into the deep end of NIL. They took a cautious, measured approach in the initial stages of this new era but eventually, Utah’s focus turned to NIL.
“I think what we’ve seen is just our growth, and accelerated growth during the period has enabled us to do what we need to do, and that’s really all that matters,” Harlan explained.
Looking back, it seems Utah’s NIL situation started to gain serious traction sometime around October 15, 2022.
“The football situation has really grown,” he said. “But we had a gigantic gain in men’s basketball this last year, in terms of NIL around the team, which really helped us get this next group of young men in.”
The Crimson Collective played a significant role in getting the ball rolling. It seems though that changes are on the horizon but ones that will put the responsibility on the programs and universities themselves. I’m really proud of everybody’s efforts and the authentic work that’s gone into it.
Rule changes, improved enforcement, will come with NCAA settlement, hopefully
With the NCAA settlement looming, athletes are on the cusp of receiving a share of revenue. Projections suggest Power Conference universities will have about $21-$23 million in potential revenue to distribute in year one.
More importantly, is that there will be stricter guidelines and rules for programs to abide by.
“I think the settlement is going to have some real teeth in terms of enforcement, we’re waiting to see how that plays out,” Harlan shared. “The rules now that we’re seeing, the ones to be taken seriously, are the ones that should be. Significant tampering type allegations, and or NIL contracts that are pay for play i.e. contracts that maybe include how many touchdowns you score, those kinds of things.”
Staying whole as an athletics program
With possible revenue sharing, there is a growing number of people who believe some sports will be cut from the athletics budget and turned into club sports.
Harlan acknowledged that is a possibility for some schools but shared he’s committed to preserving those sports at Utah.
“I suppose it’s how each school elects to handle this settlement. (Revenue sharing) permissive in nature, you don’t have to distribute money,” he shared. “I can’t say for certain what other schools will do but I can say the work we’re doing is to be really smart about how we stay whole and prosper.”
Utah Football Schedule
Utah will kick off the season against Southern Utah on August 29. You can find Utah football’s conference schedule here.
