Notre Dame's Mike Brey: Coaches Complaining About NIL Should 'Shut Up and Adjust'

Notre Dame men's basketball head coach Mike Brey had some choice words at the ACC's annual spring meetings for coaches who have been complaining about name, image and likeness (NIL) deals.

"[Coaches] have got to stop complaining," Brey said Tuesday.

"This is the world we're in, and last time I checked, we make pretty good money. So everybody should shut up and adjust."

The NCAA adopted an interim NIL policy that went into effect on July 1, allowing college athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness.

Brey's comments come amid a heap of news surrounding NIL of late.

Of note, Johnny McGonigal and Craig Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Pitt wide receiver Jordan Addison, who has entered the transfer portal, is set to receive a multi-million dollar NIL deal if he suits up for USC.

On Monday, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors "issued guidance to schools regarding the intersection between recruiting activities and the name, image and likeness environment."

Some coaches have also offered pointed criticism of the NIL rules, specifically in regard to how a player can enter the transfer portal to go to a school that entices them with an NIL deal.

"Different creates uncertainty, and uncertainty creates doubt. I don't see a lot of positives right now with the [transfer] portal and NIL stuff," Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self told Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports.

Ohio State football coach Ryan Day also shared his thoughts:

"Certainly, the idea of NIL was not to recruit guys from other teams, induce them to come to their schools and pay them money or pay recruits on the front end, that's not what this is about. But that's what this has become. I'm all for players making money off their name, image and likeness. But right now, it's created a lot of unrest because we all feel like there's no rules—or the rules that are there are not being enforced. It creates a lot of jealousy. If you do nothing, you're going to fall behind. If you go extreme, you may put yourself out there to be vulnerable to sanctions down the road."

Ultimately, NIL is the new normal in the NCAA, and if coaches can leave in the middle of the night for new schools and better contracts, then it's only fair for players to have that same privilege. Perhaps some more regulation needs to occur, but NIL was a positive and much-needed step in the right direction for college athletics.