Florida 'Needs to be Bigger Than the Bear' in NIL, per AD Scott Stricklin

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Scott Stricklin has an analogy for what he thinks the Florida Gators need to do to be successful athletically in the Name, Image and Likeness-dominated world.

"When you go on a trail hike in a remote area, and your trail guide says, 'Okay, if you see a bear, don't run and don't like ball up. You need to get big. You need to show the bear your teeth and scare the bear.' We need to get bigger than the bear at the University of Florida," he said.

Stricklin is referring to Florida's men's basketball program, which is expected to host one of the most expensive rosters in the country at roughly $25 million, headlined by a trio of returning stars in Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh. Stricklin said this makes the program an outlier for the 2026-27 season.

He is also referring to the football program and its roster, which is also expected to cost roughly $25 million in 2026, making Florida one of the more competitive programs in that area but not an outlier. Stricklin said that department-wide, he guesses that Florida has top-five resources in NIL and revenue share. That does not mean Florida will aimlessly throw money, though.

"I don't think that as an outlier, I don't think there's any sport where we're going to say we're going to money whip our way to a championship," Stricklin said. "As Kentucky basketball, LSU baseball, and several others have proven, that's not necessarily a surefire formula. I think you have to have resources to ante up and to have a seat at the table, and then you've got to make sure you've got the right people and bright coaches, and go try to win a bunch of games. But, for sure, we've got to be as aggressive as possible."

That aggressiveness led to Florida retaining Chinyelu, Condon and Haugh for basketball despite the three garnering NBA Draft interest and retaining notable football players such as Jadan Baugh and Jayden Woods through the coaching change.

Specific to basketball, Stricklin said the possibility of that trio returning presented a "unique opportunity."

"I think it probably compares to what Coach (Billy) Donovan was able to do to bring back the '06 team for '07. You have a team that has a bunch of guys that have earned two No. 1 seeds in a national championship and SEC championship, and the whole core of that group is coming back for another year," he said. "I don't think we anticipated being in this position, but the opportunity in this day and age to have third-party NIL and rev share to be able to offer and help your kids with your athletes with made it possible, and now we gotta take advantage of it."

Head coach Todd Golden and Haugh agree and credited Florida's boosters and its NIL partner Florida Victorious for their efforts this offseason.

"I think the one thing that our main supporters appreciate about our program is that we're efficient with their support, and we don't ask for things that don't equate to wins," Golden said in April. "And we're pretty thoughtful when we use the resources that they give us, and again, like, this is a very unique circumstance."

For new football head coach Jon Sumrall, he spent a portion of the offseason meeting with boosters and other influential people to discuss opportunities in investing in Florida's roster. At last month's SEC Spring Meetings, Sumrall explained that he will never feel like he has to feel sorry for himself because of the current resources at Florida but that he would "like to have the same exact dollar amount as everyone in the (SEC)."

"I don't think we're necessarily last. I'm also fairly confident we're not first," he said. "I would like to find a way to be on par with the top four teams in this league with how we're resourcing our roster. We got some work to do there."

Stricklin echoed those sentiments, saying that there are "three or four outliers" and everyone else that is competitive is "in the same band" in the SEC. He does see a path for Florida to grow its football roster resources.

"I think we're in that band, we're not one of the outliers," he said. "I don't think we're the outliers of any sport, except for men's basketball, this coming year, and that's because of the unique nature of having those guys coming back, and next year I think football will be in an even healthier space. I still don't think we'll be in that water."

Stricklin also noted Florida's ability to take advantage of opportunities with "legit sponsors" with NIL because of UF's brand power, rather than an NIL model that hides pay-for-play. Future opportunities with one of the top rosters in college basketball, a new head football coach and an upcoming stadium renovation that creates advertisement opportunities.

"We'll continue to be as aggressive as possible," he said.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/florida as Florida 'Needs to be Bigger Than the Bear' in NIL, per AD Scott Stricklin.

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 2:30 PM.