BYU has thrived in an NIL era that many expected them to falter in, NFL legend Steve Young says

“How is BYU gonna do this, right? How in the world?”That was the concern NFL legend and BYU fantastic Steve Young had when name, image and similarity (NIL) payment changed college football in 2021.This page might consist of affiliate links to legal sports wagering partners. If you register or position a wager, FOX News might be compensated. This material was developed by a group that works individually from the FOX newsroom.Rather? It’s been the reverse. Given that 2021, BYU is connected with Boise State for the ninth-most wins in college football. The Cougars are presently No. 7 in the AP survey and reached No. 2 after beating Notre Dame. With a win over No. 3 Utah in the Holy War on Saturday, BYU has a chance to as soon as again arrive of the surveys.CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake talks with protective deal with Keanu Tanuvasa throughout the very first half of an NCAA college football video game versus Central Florida on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)[ 19659012]THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW– UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!Vorkink stated BYU does not wish to lead the NIL market. The school desires trainees to come for the culture, not mostly for the cash. Young applauded Sitake for constructing such a strong culture in spite of college football being cluttered with gamers who wish to bet leading dollar and absolutely nothing more.”It’s hard to build affinity,” Young informed OutKick in a current interview. “And that’s why I say what Kalani’s done is what is, I think, impossible, nearly, I think he is doing it, so it’s not impossible. He’s doing it in a really complex environment that works away from affinity, works away from spirit of abundance.””Right now, it’s a zero-sum game, right? It’s, I’m a mercenary and just pay me. And, and he’s built something. He’s like, oh, no, we recognize you need to be paid. We recognize that this is part of the system, but can we put that aside, take care of that, and now build something that is unified.”The culture at BYU has actually resonated with a few of its star gamers. Vorkink stated luxury freshman little forward Bruce Branch and star quarterback Bear Bachmeier might have left for more cash however selected to remain.Vorkink stated NIL and the capability to compensate gamers have actually enabled the school to hire professional athletes it may not have actually had the ability to hire previously, consisting of trainees who aren’t members of the faith however discover their method to school and flourish.He discussed 2026 NBA Draft No. 1 total choice AJ Dybantsa as an example of a gamer who pertained to like the university in spite of at first understanding little about it.”AJ didn’t know much about BYU. A lot of that was because (head coach) Kevin Young came from the NBA and he wondered, could Kevin help him prepare to play in the NBA. That got him here. There were other schools who are offering him more compensation than he received here, which is consistent with our philosophy. But he thrived,” Vorkink stated.”He spoke publicly about his love for BYU and how much he enjoyed being here. That helped gets the word out to other people who are like, well, is BYU too weird or not? Can I thrive? And we believe that student athletes, if they understand the mission, accommodate or embrace it, they can have a good experience here.”At BYU, all trainees need to sign an honor code needing them to avoid alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, vaping, cannabis and other restricted compounds, in addition to sexual relations beyond marital relationship in between a male and a female. Young stated the originality and counterproductive nature of the honor code can in fact be an attract recruiting.”It’s counterintuitive in a way, but because you lead with the honor code, you lead with the uniqueness of BYU. By definition, the conversation is different than any other, like a lot of the conversations. And so, when you lead with it, but you lead with it with an openness and an invitation, and you can be your whole self. You don’t have to conform,” Young stated.”There’s certain behaviors that we’re going to ask from you, but as far as who you are, you can express that, and you can be, you can feel, and I think that there’s a lot of players, non-LDS players on the team, and that’s true when I played, that felt like this is awesome being here.”Young offers much of the credit to Sitake for keeping the school’s identity in spite of NIL and the cash that features it threatening to tear it apart.”There’s big money involved. Money is, we all know money is dangerous, man. There’s fits and starts to it too, trying to figure it out. It is the wild west, and it’s not simple,” Young stated.”Why I give Kalani so much credit in, in kind of holding up, like taking the spirit of what was, has always been here. And then applying it to these, and I guess in some ways, that’s the magic, is that with an infrastructure of what I call the law of love, where like, we see you. We want all of you, like the whole self, and we want you to feel welcomed and, and here’s the rules of the road.””We think it’s good for you. We don’t think it’s bad. We don’t think it’s restrictive. We think it’s actually expansive in ways that maybe be counterintuitive, but it’s awesome.”ABSOLUTELY NO BS. SIMPLY DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Bear Bachmeier # 47 of the Brigham Young Cougars heats up before their video game versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at LaVell Edwards Stadium on October 17, 2026 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

Ryan Canfield is a digital production assistant for Fox News Digital.