Shawn O’Dare never got a chance to catch a pass as a Miami Hurricane. In his limited opportunities to get into games, he mostly was able to run down the field on kickoff coverage. The best part, really, was the fact he got to put on the uniform, run through the smoke and build long-lasting friendships with many of the players who were on scholarship.

Advertisement

“That’s not something a lot of people can say they did,” said O’Dare, a former high school quarterback at Vero Beach (Fla.) High who joined the Hurricanes as a preferred walk-on receiver in Randy Shannon’s final season as coach in 2010 and was the roommate of quarterback Stephen Morris for three years.

“That adrenaline rush after ‘In the Air’ tonight plays inside the stadium, there’s no other feeling like it,” O’Dare continued. “There’s no brotherhood like the University of Miami.”

O’Dare’s career highlight as a player, he said, was being asked by interim coach Jeff Stoutland to dress for the 2010 Sun Bowl. Miami lost to Notre Dame 33-17 in the snow. O’Dare, now 31, never got to play in the game, but he still managed to make the front page of the local newspaper because he was standing next to running back Mike James on the sideline.

“It’s a pretty iconic photo where we’re all in front of a big heated fan,” O’Dare said. “I was the only one with a full ninja hood on.”

That bowl game was the only one O’Dare played in during his four years with the program. Miami self-imposed bowl bans in 2011 and 2012 following the scandal with Nevin Shapiro, the convicted Ponzi-schemer who allegedly provided impermissible benefits to 72 Hurricanes players from 2002 to 2010.

A decade later, O’Dare, who graduated from Miami in 2013 and earned his master’s degree there, is helping Hurricanes players get paid legally. He has been a certified NFL agent going on seven years and one of several working for Rosenhaus Sports, founded by fellow Miami grad Drew Rosenhaus, one of the most recognized names in the business who has represented hundreds of former Hurricanes and NFL stars.

Early in his post-playing career, O’Dare did marketing for Hurricanes all-time leading rusher Duke Johnson. Now, O’Dare reps 10 players, including Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, receiver Xavier Restrepo, tight end Elijah Arroyo and defensive ends Jahfari Harvey and Cyrus Moss in name, image and likeness deals.

Advertisement

“The goal is to be in the green room with Drew every year,” O’Dare said of his career aspirations. “Hopefully, we have a Heisman winner and a first overall pick next year.”

Van Dyke was the first player O’Dare signed to an NIL deal last year. It was for him to serve as an ambassador for the “Orange Bowl Boys” podcast. The latest deal: Van Dyke will be filming a commercial for College Hunks moving company next week.

With O’Dare set to host his first youth football camp in his hometown, The Athletic caught up with him to discuss the good and bad of NIL over the past year, and the latest with Van Dyke, the reigning ACC rookie of the year who has the most NIL deals of any Hurricane.

What aspect of NIL has improved the most since it began a year ago?

It’s getting a little more organized. The first few months were very wild, wild west. Since then, collectives are taking shape. Group licensing is too. Guys are going to be able to get their jerseys sold, make money off trading cards and collect on the (EA Sports) video game next year, hopefully. I feel like companies are also starting to get a little more comfortable seeing a return on investment in some respects. But I would just say organizationally it’s getting better.

What’s still something that’s a headache when it comes to NIL?

It’s no one’s fault, but if we do a deal where we have a guy who has to make an appearance or has to be on a flyer, we have to make sure not only The U logo is scrubbed, but the Adidas logo is scrubbed, too. You’re not allowed to use the stripes on the helmet, the jersey or the pants. So, making sure there’s no Miami logos whatsoever on any promo-related things has been the biggest headache. Other than that, every deal we do we have to submit to compliance and make sure there’s a contract involved.

Advertisement

Has anybody not been paid or has a company or individual been late with a payment?

Everyone’s been pretty on point thus far. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx us. It’s still a learning experience for everybody involved. It’s brand new, it’s a year out. Companies are kind of dipping their toe in and experimenting with it, but I think they’re starting to see some good returns. Not just in football, but other sports as well.

Are quarterbacks still far and away landing the biggest NIL deals?

I think you can say that for the NFL as well. Obviously, it’s a lot easier when guys are performing well on the field. Tyler, being the ACC rookie of the year, coming back with the excitement around the program, it’s not a very hard sell for us. From trading cards to appearances to the BMW he got as part of a NIL deal, he’s probably done close to 30 NIL deals at this point.

Are players being responsible paying taxes and keeping their finances in order?

As agents we’re not at all involved as financial advisors or on the tax side of things, but we let them know they have to pay taxes. With Tyler, his parents are very helpful, making sure all of that’s handled. But I think it’s a good precursor to guys having to deal with it as professionals, and they’re starting to get a good sense of it in college now. Just because you’re making $5,000 on something doesn’t mean you’re getting the whole $5,000. At the end of the day, I think it’s a good learning lesson, and it’ll prepare them even more for when they’re making it as professionals.

Would you have been able to land yourself a NIL deal as a player? What might NIL have looked like 10-15 years ago?

I wouldn’t have cashed in much. I might have got a free slice of pizza or something. But a lot of my other teammates would have done very well. I think it’s just great to be able to establish relationships with these players while they’re in school and help them monetize and grow their brand before they’re professionals. It’s long overdue. They should have been able to make money a long time ago. But you can’t really look at the past. Just be thankful that they’re able to do it now. A lot of these guys are cashing in and really setting themselves up nicely for their future. Even if they don’t play professionally, they have a head start on life and they can attribute that to NIL.

Miami billionaire booster John Ruiz and his company LifeWallet have signed a lot of Hurricanes to NIL deals. Where would Miami be without him?

John’s been huge for Miami. You credit him for taking the biggest step (in terms of compensation). Dan Lambert (of American Top Team) is another guy that made sure every guy on the team got a NIL deal. John kind of stepped in and took it to another level. Every guy that we represent has an NIL deal with John Ruiz, and the good thing about John is he does it the correct way. He’s very compliant with it. No guy has ever missed a payment. So, every guy has gotten their payments, gotten them on time. And these guys have to work for it. They have to post (on social media). They have to go into his office and shoot commercials. They have to do a certain amount of appearances (to get paid). John is doing everything the right way and we applaud him for that. It’s been a really beneficial relationship.

Are there any NIL deals you turn down because they’re troublesome or may not be good for the player’s image?

I wouldn’t say because they’re troublesome, but there’s some deals that we turned down just because it doesn’t make sense financially or contractually. We don’t want to do too many deals where we’re watering down these guys’ brands or too many autograph signings where their signature doesn’t retain the value when they’re professional. There are certainly situations where we’ve turned down deals. It has to make sense for both parties, and it has to be a win for the client at the end of the day.

Tyler Van Dyke is being put into mock drafts as a first-round pick in 2023. Who else among your clients is drawing some strong NFL chatter?

Jahfari Harvey is a guy that’s getting a lot of interest. He was actually the 16th overall ranked defensive end in Phil Steele’s college football preview magazine. He’s going to ACC media days. He’s a guy that’s drawing interest from teams and just his physicality, his speed off the edge, his bend — he should be a very high prospect. And you can talk to (defensive coordinator Kevin) Steele. He was just raving about him during the spring. So, he’s one of the team leaders and I think another guy that’s going to draw a lot of interest in this draft coming up.

Advertisement

What was attending the Manning Academy like for Van Dyke? And is it a forgone conclusion he will end up being a first-round pick after this season?

Tyler said the Manning Academy was a great experience. He said it was good to compete and meet guys like Eli, Peyton and Archie and compete with some of the best quarterbacks in the country out there. Right now, what he’s done in college is a small sample size. He knows he has to prove it again. He’s had a lot of positive feedback, a lot of good things going. But every team has a different evaluation. We don’t really go by these mock drafts, and he doesn’t really care about any of it either. He just puts his head down and works hard. In the end, he doesn’t have to come out this year. He’ll make a decision based on this year, and go from there.

(Photo: Courtesy of Shawn O’Dare)