University of North Carolina made a big statement on Wednesday. For the first time in this writer’s lifetime, they made a serious commitment to football.

The Tar Heels hired Bill Belichick as its next head football coach, while agreeing to commit $20 million towards NIL for the football program. Not included in that is the $20-plus million rev share that goes into effect next summer that the Tar Heels will use on football, as well.

Belichick also went and hired Michael Lombardi to be his general manager, as he plans to run the UNC football program the way he did the NFL’s New England Patriots. It worked well for Belichick in New England, as he led the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles.

All of a sudden, UNC went from a middle of the pack ACC school to a program that is going to be a major player in college football. If you do not believe it will work in Chapel Hill, then go look at what is happening in Colorado.

The Buffaloes are at the end of the second year in the Deion Sanders experiment and so far, it is working out well. Colorado went from 1-11 after 2022 to 5-7 in Deion’s first year to 9-3 this year.

Think about it this way, what is going on in Chapel Hill will be like Colorado on steroids.

Meanwhile, Clemson, outside of the men’s basketball program, is not raising the funds needed to be competitive with many of the elite programs. Yes, IPTAY and the 110 Society are finally working together, but there is a lot of work needed to raise the funds to allow Clemson to compete at the highest level.

When looking at Clemson’s 2025 recruiting class, the Tigers ranked No. 27 in the 247 Sports composite rankings, their lowest recruiting ranking since 2010. In all, Clemson had six players decommit. Why?

It’s simple. It did not have the necessary funds, or use the funds, to lock up some of the country’s top talent. This likely will be the case during the portal season, as well.

There is plenty of blame to go around on why Clemson is struggling on these fronts. Let’s just say the messaging has been fumbled since the beginning.

But there is time to fix it, and it starts now.

If Clemson wants to continue to compete at the highest level in college football it has to start now. It starts with you, the fans.

On October 16, 1931, Clemson suffered a surprising 6-0 loss against The Citadel in a game played in Florence, S.C. After the game, Clemson head coach Jess Neely, Captain Frank Jervey and others met in a car outside the stadium to discuss ways Clemson could help its football program get back on track. The meeting got the ball rolling towards the establishment of the IPTAY Foundation.

On August 20, 1934, IPTAY, the nation’s first scholarship fundraising organization, was founded.

“The purpose (of IPTAY) shall be to provide financial support to the athletic department at Clemson and to assist in every other way possible to regain for Clemson the high athletic standing which rightfully belongs to her,” Dr. Rupert Fike wrote.

Fike’s goal was to have as many supporters as possible, so he asked everyone to give a minimum of $10 per year… hence the acronym “I Pay Ten A Year” (IPTAY). It has grown into the largest booster club organization in the world with more than 22,000 members.

This past year, IPTAY raised a record $79.2 million in contributions… the fifth year it surpassed $70 million. So, the money is there. It is just time for those who give to IPTAY to also give to the 110 Society, Clemson’s NIL arm.

With this in mind, IPTAY recently announced all contributions to the 110 Society made between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 will be eligible to earn IPTAY Priority Points. More information on how this will work will be communicated in the near future, and this is a significant step.

Additionally, an anonymous donor has pledged an initial $3 million contribution to emphasize the IPTAY and 110 Society points program. This incredible generosity is emblematic of the way so many have already stepped up.

So, the opportunities are there, Clemson people need to act on it, and do not stop on June 30. Keep giving for NIL. Clemson will need it.

If the 22,000 IPTAY members gave an average of $1,000 for NIL the Tigers would have $22,000,000 and be ready to compete at the highest level.

NIL is not ever going away, and the more money Clemson has for NIL the better chance it has to compete.

It has been 90 years since Coach Neely, Captain Jervey and Dr. Fike had the vision to see what IPTAY could do for Clemson Athletics. Now it’s time for someone else to step up to keep their vision for Clemson Football and Clemson Athletics alive.

Editor’s note: To support student-athletes at Clemson and to give to the 110 Society, please click on the link.