Engel Angle

Emmanuel Acho predicted the expensive state of college sports | Engel Angle

December 16, 2025 21:33

Emmanuel Acho discusses how NIL and player compensation in college sports have evolved since the NCAA's legal defeats around 2020-2021. Acho predicts the market will grow increasingly robust over time as companies refine their return on investment strategies, while acknowledging short-term locker room tensions between highly-paid stars and supporting players. He highlights Allstate's initiative to distribute a million dollars across 22 college athletes who excel in community service work.

About this episode

Key takeaways

  • Acho believes NIL spending will increase over time as companies assess ROI, contrary to expectations of an initial spike followed by decline
  • Locker room friction between unequally compensated players will likely occur over the next 3-5 years until all players have known only an NIL environment
  • The value of a college scholarship extends beyond degree attainment to irreplaceable four years of diverse life experiences and social exposure
  • Allstate's good works initiative supports student-athletes excelling in community service, not just star quarterbacks and running backs

Q&A

What was Acho's experience with under-the-table payments as a college player?

Acho, a first-team all-Big 12 player and all-American, states he did not receive payments. He attributes this partly to coach Mack Brown not tolerating such arrangements at the University of Texas.

How does Acho expect the NIL market to develop?

Acho predicts an inverse trajectory to initial assumptions: spending will start lower but increase over time as companies refine their cost-benefit analysis and market assessment.

What is Acho's view on the monetary value of a college degree?

Acho argues the four-year degree's monetary worth varies by field, but the four years of experience navigating diverse social groups and backgrounds is invaluable and cannot be replicated elsewhere.

Episode notes

Mac pulls out “an oldie” for this episode. In 2022, he interviewed former Texas Longhorns linebacker and Philadelphia Eagle player Emmanuel Acho about a variety of topics, including the changes that were coming in major college sports.
Acho’s forecast was accurate. Acho has made a nice career for himself as a broadcaster, among other talents.
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Read Transcript

went to a restaurant the other day and they offered fried chicken and asked the waitress I said by any chance do you have it available baked and she said honey why would anybody eat chicken any other way than fried mac and old footwork start telegram angle podcast here on the sunset lounge going to call this a macro podcast I've heard that's like a thing or it's shorter than normal podcasts I don't know what the length is I've realized there's there's like details about podcasting I'm getting wrong one I don't wear like a hat I need to wear like a baseball hat I need to look a little bit more disheveled that would be more of a appropriate look for podcasting I think so I'm learning these things so I stumbled across this interview that I did several years ago and the reason why I'm bringing it back out one I didn't even know I had I didn't know I still had it into the other reason why I'm bringing it out is because it's relevant to what's going on right now in major college sports and that is this whole idea of paying players and NIL and revenue sharing and an independent third party called Deloitte that reviews these contracts for players to be paid on top of the revenue sharing they're already being paid by athletic departments and all this stuff so now this is all very much a part of the vernacular of major college athletics we're used to it now we're numb to it now I don't say not everybody's crazy about it but it is part of the fabric of major college sports and a big distinguisher that needs to be applied here is major college sports most of college sports the vast majority does not operate in an NIL world it's about 130 or so ish the ones that play FBS football in CAA football bowl subdivision football they're the ones worrying about NIL money and really you can cut that number in about half and that's where the real money is because that's where people those those are the teams people are paying to watch on television and paying big money to go see college football games the rest those are scholarship of scholarship opportunities those are opportunities for a young person to continue to play sports until inevitably their career will end probably about the time they're 21 or 22 years old although now we're seeing that number go up a little bit so this all started in around 19 pardon me 2019 2020 2021 when the NCA proceeded to get its ass handed to them in court and specifically the Supreme Court and then we started to see the introduction and the expansion of paying players NIL money and a transfer portal which is why you're seeing young people now transfer to as many as four colleges and four seasons in an effort to continue to play high major athletics before they were to turn professional if they were to be that good to make it that far most of them are not so when this all started we all had people who've followed college sports forever and ever had their ideas about how this was all gonna look and change and how this was all gonna play out and around that time I'm not sure when this interview was I think it was about 2020 all state reached out to me and they said would you like to interview a manual at show yes absolutely I'd love to talk to a manual at show manual at show is from Dallas he played he was a very good defensive player for the University of Texas he went on to the NFL he was the sixth round draft pick and mostly his career was I would say sign line somewhat because he had injuries he did play for the Philadelphia Eagles got into games in 2013 in 2014 he bounced around with some other teams giants and the Browns but mostly his NFL time was as an eagle and then unfortunately like I said he suffered a lot of injuries and he had to retire his brother Sam Samacho also played at the University of Texas and like a manual has gone on to have a successful career as a college football and football analyst a manual separated himself back in about 2020 when he started this I guess online series called an uncomfortable conversations with a black man and this was at the height of the George Floyd tragedy and the ensuing fallout from that whole saga in the summer of 2020 in case you forgot and a manual really created an identity and a name for himself not only delving into race relations and talking about that as well as certainly his expertise and his analytical work with football college football and the NFL he's also this was a unique one he hosted a season of the bachelor he won an Emmy not for that work but for sports broadcasting and currently he's done some other a lot of work for Fox sports and Fox sports one and he currently hosts a show on YouTube titled speak easy with former NFL running back Lashon McCoy which is an odd mix because Lashon will say anything and it's kind of just totally out of left field of this takes whereas a manual is a little bit more reasoned and thoughtful you can find them on social media is a bright guy and he's really interesting to talk to so where I thought this this interview would be interesting is to go back and see what we were talking about as a related not just to NIO but college sports his time as a broadcaster and how his relationship with University of Texas has changed and even some thoughts about the Cowboys and how that all played out so again this isn't only but a good he please welcome mr. Emmanuel at show where are you living these days I'm in LA now man I'm Los Angeles Beverly Hills wow you left us you're a big time or now all the pretty people I had to but I come back I come back back well I've got a handful of things I want to talk to you about obviously the stuff that with the Allstate and your initiative in this in this endeavor but I want to start at a different point because I think where I want to begin this is this idea that NIO and pain college football players and how we got there and I think there was this perception amongst media amongst fans is that high-end college athletes football men's basketball players those guys were getting paid and compensated under the table you played you were part of that culture not to name names is that perception was it accurate or is it just an exaggerated hyperpolic version of the truth I think we've exaggerated you know you you see some movies you see some TV shows maybe if some programs maybe some players obviously I know your boy ain't getting no money um and I was a first team all big 12 player who got drafted I had an all-american both third team all-american AP so your boy wasn't sorry and I ain't getting no checks um so to me exaggeration right and also Mac Brown was our head coach and Mac didn't really play that there wasn't like a ton of funny business tolerated at the University of Texas when I was there um exaggeration and I I believe and I've been fighting for this college athletes should have been paid I have a picture on my phone my brother and I sitting in the University of Texas co-op and there's a 18 and an 81 Jersey at the co-op and my brother were number 81 and I were number 18 in college and I'm sitting there like yo you can't say this is not about Sam and Emmanuel Acho because why in the world else would you have an 18 and 81 Jersey side by side and my brother and I both played together for those who will listen reading what not the dog know um and we're not getting paid for it and it just it it was so mind bogging so I love that the NIL is now in existence I've had this impression that what we'll see initially and tell me if I'm wrong or you he disagreed that we'll see an initial explosion of money and opportunity for college student athletes and then it'll settle down into something that is maybe a little bit more um I can't think of a better word realistic do you agree or disagree with that you know what crazy bro I actually think there will be an inverse to the graph that you just paint really you paint the graph that will start here and we'll do this I actually think we'll start here and we'll go upward if you're a company right now you have to assess what is the cost benefit analysis if you will if you're a local Austin cookie company and you want the quarterback Casey Thompson to be a brand endorser you having yet seen the return on that investment right I think after companies start to assess what the ROI is they'll now be like oh you know what let's give a little more here a little more here a little more here a little less there so right now it's just throwing stuff against the wall seeing what sticks but I actually think over time the market's only going to become more robust and I actually think we'll see more money get into the industry do you think at all because I think one of the counter arguments to to this has been well it's going to be difficult in college football locker rooms whereas a pro locker room a guy's making minimums for 50 they understand how this works a college locker room got a quarterback maybe a quarterback who hasn't done anything yet like to know how to state and he's making a lot of money and now you got a junior offensive one and he's pretty good and he's not getting anything do you think that actually will happen and be be a problem yes particularly for the next three and a half years until you flush out the kids who know the difference right five years from now every freshman in college and senior in college would have been a part of the NIL but if I'm a junior and I'm a offensive lineman and I've been protected my quarterback and neither of us have been making any money now all of a sudden I still been protecting the same dude but he just made $500,000 this year and I made $5,000 oh we gonna have issues particularly when I know he's not making that money without me why do you think in the NFL you see guys like that press guy gift his whole offensive line you know $15,000 tractors stuff like that because you know you've got to take care of those that help feed you so we'll see issues in the interim I don't think it'll actually materialize in anything or there's probably a fight happening inside a locker room right now that we'll never hear about because some kid is like that's why you still broke and you know what I mean like there's probably that going on but it won't materialize do me a favor what got you tell me about your initiative and what you're hoping to achieve with this program so what all state is doing is they're capitalizing off the beauty of what NIL has to offer well they're saying they're 22 players across all divisions on the all state good work seem and they're giving a million dollars to these 22 players collectively for the individual and also for the individual's organization all state good works as honoring stew nathletes that excel and work off of the field food banks it might be it might be children's hospitals it might be food trailers and so I was a part of the good works team I remember Robert Griffin was one of my close friends coming out he was a part of the good works team when we were both coming out of college as well and all state is being a beacon of light like I just told you Matt it's a lot of confusion in the industry right now but all state getting ahead of things and saying hey we're going to honor the players that aren't the star quarterbacks it's not the star running backs you might be the star quarterback but we're not supporting you because of that so many other companies are only supporting the stars because they're stars all state is deposing though supporting those who are doing star things off you you're a bright guy you're well educated uh one thing we've seen is rhetoric in the last year plus including from the Supreme Court is it the value of an education of a scholarship just doesn't worth that much if you if you sort of interpret that way especially with Rep Kavanaugh said and manual what's a four-year degree worth and oh it's a good question um well that's a great question here's what's interesting I don't know that a four-year degree is worth all that much but I do think four years of experiences are worth a time let that say in anything well we've said four years of experience in college on a campus or just in anything in general birth off in anything in general if anybody's bred outliers by Malcolm Gladwell you've heard about the 10,000-hour principle which he made famous in order to become an expert at anything you got to spend 10,000 hours I think four years of experience dealing with strangers I grew up going to an all-white school called St. Mark's in Dallas, Texas Mac I'm sure you're familiar you're not all white but predominantly white then I go from St.

Mark's and I go to university of Texas and the majority of the players on a football team are black but they're black from the country black from the hood black went to pride fiscal black from the city uh some white caps from the country that is that it's invaluable to me it's priceless because now when you're in the real world you're dealing with white dudes from the country white dudes from the city black dudes that are rich black dudes that are poor white dudes that are poor white dudes that are rich you can't get that anywhere else so a four-year degree I think it depends on the degree but those experiences is this priceless hello it's my grinder of your dark companion here let me ask you are you looking for something to fill the long dead air hours of your day well join the Sunset Lounge DFW and your dark companion on patreon.com youtube and wherever you get your podcasts replace those sad slow hours with sports pop culture music woven into interesting conversations so step inside the green door have a seat at the bar and get in the groove with those shows and so very much more when you look back at your time at UT I know from talking to friends of mine you'll say anything which is great as far as I'm concerned but I know there's some friends of mine who are big UT fans when they hear a manual actually like oh my god because you'll be critical uh do you feel still welcome when you go back to Austin and in the UT circles because of what you'll say on air has it costed you in any way? nah man here's what you got to remember a lot of people dislike me I've never met one person that dislikes me to my face a lot of people dislike me at least if instagram or twitter were to tell you but in person at the end of the day everything I say comes from a place of love and a place of logic and so if I say that like Oklahoma currently runs the big 12 come from a place of logic they currently run the big 12 uh you know what I mean like if I say that you know um Hudson card doesn't need to start after his Arkansas performance a Hudson card was a starter has been replaced by Casey Thompson for those who don't know um it comes from a place of logic and a place of love so I also understand that I'm hyper critical of Texas because I care about them most you know you're you're critical of that what you care about are you buying the Steve Sartesian I am and and if I'll be honest I say this fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me if you would not live a place card for uh Casey Thompson I would have had an issue but Steve Sartesian went to Texas and only saw them to practice you can't count a game that you weren't a part of Casey Thompson through four touchdowns in the bowl game I get that but Cubs and Clarks and everything I've heard based on my sources about a practice player but now Sark is like wait a second now it's the difference between practicing these games now he's moved forward with Thompson I'm not even mad at the fact that they lost Arkansas I count Chuck that one up to you one had coach now go from there um a couple more questions and let you go can you explain to me now TCUs in my backyard how TCU has managed to have because they play next week how TCUs managed to have so much success against Texas these last seven eight nine ten years man I say hungry dog got to eat now I mean a hungry dog we got to eat and uh TCU they're hungry Texas in my mind like the Dallas Cowboys like uh USC Trojans like now let's go with those three um you arrive on the campus a little bit full and you arrive a little bit full based upon the meals that were served years before you let's talk USC first Reggie Matt etc Matt line at Reggie Bush you go to USC you're already at USC Trojan you that dude you play for the Cowboys you have hundreds of thousands of followers because of what Emmett Smith and Troy Ackman and Michael Irvin and Larry Allen did you're already that dude you are the textist well because of what Vince did you already that dude man you out of TCU you got to work for everything like nobody is nobody takes you who isn't like oh man you remember that the yesterday boy with tank Carter and went ah I get you nobody worried about that like respectfully and so TCU has been a hungrier program um than the likes of Texas as of late and that's why they'd have the number uh you mentioned the Dallas Cowboys I could ask you a thousand things you mentioned the Dallas Cowboys um you know you grew up in Dallas so I would imagine you followed him as a kid what you make overall of that franchise in manual I mean it's the most viable franchise in sports but they haven't they haven't advanced to an NFC tunnel game since 1996 so even though they've got some players your player what do you think of it um I think that there's a tough dichotomy that Jerry Jones is in between making money and winning super balls Jerry Jones is the best in the business of making money but the dichotomy is let's just talk this really quickly but the Cure Elliott he is a star super star ninety million dollars he's also not the best running back on the Cowboys roster but because you're paying him a superstar ninety million dollars you got to pay him since 2019 when Tony followed came into the league Tony followed his fifth in the NFL in yards per carry Zika's 31st in the NFL in yards per carry this season Tony followed his first in the NFL in yards per carry Zika's 29th in the NFL in yards per carry you can just look at the running back situation and see the issue of the Cowboys the dollars don't make sense pun intended the spending of the dollars it don't make no sense um and so unfortunately I think that's the biggest rub all right I gotta I'm gonna say this but I cover the Cowboys Bill Parcells mentioned that's there's certain guys you cannot give the ball that much too he was talking about Julie's Johns he was and and I think that applies to Tony power the Tony power if you go over a certain number his his effectiveness is going to go down greater this year uh I agree with that for every running back except their Henry and maybe Nick Chubb I mean look at look at Christian McAfry he had gone over 300 all-purpose yards through the first two games given the ball too much he gets hurt so I think that's any running back in the NFL except I would literally say Derek Henry I would say Nick Chubb uh maybe Karim Hunt maybe maybe how about Barclay well he partly got a proof to me he's back okay you feel me like say you got a proof that he's back um you could go with the lower name guy like David Montgomery not a lot of guys know him Chicago Bears running back um that's not me and that's like not many only like nine running back for 4,000 yards last year there's not many so and here's my other thing now here's all and I'll be quiet after this make Tony Paula prove it to me prove to me that you're going to get worse over time but I'm not just gonna yes that you're gonna get worse over time so I'm not gonna run you know prove to me that you are and then I'll stop this is a stolen water media production uh

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