Chuck Martin details a few ways you know you've developed a good brand in modern college football

Since NIL and the portal, Chuck Martin has seen more than his fair share of guys leave Oxford for other opportunities.

Back in August of 2024, during training camp, Martin went viral for his response during an interview about losing their kicker in the off season by sharing, "We didn't lose him. He's at Alabama. We know exactly where he's at. They illegally recruited our kicker and stole him from us. That's a fact."

The MAC has continued to develop high quality players the last several years, many of which get opportunities in the Power conferences in what has become the new norm of college football.

But Martin's perspective on the portal seems to have a new vantage point. As coaches continue to sell their brand on the recruiting trail, it's the players who have chosen to transfer away from Miami (OH) that have proven to be some of the strongest voices of support to the current roster for Martin's program.

"The best thing about our brand is I've got kids that left my program, got paid, went to a higher profile school, and are telling our kids that are here, 'Don't do it,' and that's when you know you've got a good brand. They're saying don't do it because the program isn't the same. It's not as much fun to come to work, and it's a job. Don't do it because the grass isn't always greener."

"But if you're doing really good at a place, and it's a really good school like Miami, you're probably risking more than you're going to get to pass up the degree and to pass up the opportunity when you had wild success here, stick with the place you had wild success."

"Then I'm getting calls from other people, and getting text from players in our league, 'Hey coach, I'd love to talk.' So I have my guy look in the recruiting portal and they're not even in the portal."

"For the right, from the right family, it's a pretty easy choice to come play for our staff and go to this university." 

Earlier on in his response, Martin notes how college football is a microcosm of the real world.

"You're not going to get paid that much boys and girls. Yes, there's a 1% for every profession in the world that is different. It's like that saying that 95% of the wealth is in 5% of the people. It's no different in sports."

Martin, who has coached at the Division III and Division II levels in addition to time at a blue-blood program like Notre Dame, concedes that there are certainly Arch Manning's and Bryce Underwood's out there that are making a mint as college football players, but players on that level making multiple millions are the minority, and that's easy for even the most ardent fans of college football to lose sight of.

"That's very few people. The other 95% of people, your degree is still going to matter. That's what the idiots in this world don't realize. They all think they're going to get $10 million. They're not going to get $10 million."

"But that [NCAA] commercial that most kids are going to go pro in something other than sports? That's still going to be true. Those percentages aren't changing because of NIL or because of the transfer portal."

Hear his full response in the clip.