Cody Campbell is one of the vocal leaders in the modern college football world when it comes to NIL. He is behind a lot of the success in Lubbock with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. And fresh off a school like Indiana winning a national championship, Campbell believes there is going to be a shift as to who is considered a powerful program.
“The identity of the blue bloods are changing,” Campbell said via Will Cain Country. “So, certain schools that have historically been really good or had a great brand or won national championships in the past won’t anymore. It will be the schools that have the financial resources that will. You’ll start to see Indiana start to show up every year and people will say ‘I’m kind of tired of Indiana’ after a while. You’re just trading one group of one blue bloods for another.”
To follow up, an example was asked for by Cain. If Indiana might be an example of a swapped-out blue blood benefiting from a new-school way of roster building, who might be the one on the wrong side of the equation?
Campbell turned to two SEC powers, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers. Despite the success throughout the 21st century, Campbell says there is not enough capital for either to compete with some other schools out there. This comes between what’s already inside the school and booster associated with them.
“You can look at the transfer portal rankings right now,” Campbell said. “Schools like Alabama and Auburn are struggling. They don’t have the booster support. Nothing against Alabama, I have a ton of respect for that program. But they can’t raise the money like the University of Texas can… They don’t have as much money in the institution itself, they don’t have the donor support.”
To Campbell’s point, Texas Tech is currently crushing the NCAA transfer portal cycle. The Red Raiders are No. 1 in the On3 Industry Team Transfer Portal Rankings. Finding Alabama required a few scrolls, going all the way down to No. 45. Auburn is multiple slots below their in-state rivals at No. 61. Joey McGuire is going to be looking at a significantly better transfer portal class, at least on paper.
Folks in West Texas are hoping the investment can turn into a national championship of their own, sooner rather than later. Campbell believes Texas Tech is heading in the right direction, while others might not have the necessary means to keep up.