WVU Football Getting Ahead of Athlete Branding and Every Program Should Take Notice

The NCAA finally opened up their eyes (about ten years too late) and allowed its players to make a profit off their name and likeness. While some are fighting this latest declaration, one program is openly embracing athlete branding.

On Thursday, West Virginia football coach Neal Brown announced that the program has formed a partnership with brand marketing consultant Jeremy Darlow to help their players grow their personal brands well after their collegiate careers.

Brown says that he made the decision to sign Darlow to get ahead of the curve when it comes to athlete branding.

In this new program, student-athletes at West Virginia will watch short video lessons from Darlow that covers one of his brand development philosophies. At the end of the videos, the athlete will then have the option to complete an option in Darlow's book, "The DARLOW Rules." All of this is to help them build their marketing plans with the help of the consultant's teachings.

The NCAA's reversal on student profit didn't necessarily come as a shock. Top basketball prospects have chosen to forgo enrolling in college to instead join the NBA G-League, so they can play for one year before ultimately declaring for the NBA Draft.

A simple connecting of the dots shows why the NCAA reversed course on their stance. Although it's still subject to a vote next January, the expectation is that the NCAA will approve of students making money off their image, starting in the 2021-22 school year.

West Virginia got a head start in creating a program to help its football players build their own brands. All other universities should accept this new reality and follow suit.