COLUMBUS, Ohio — St. Xavier football coach Steve Specht said he has nothing against players profiting off their name, image and likeness (NIL).
“What I am against is pay-to-play,” Specht told the Ohio House Education Committee Tuesday afternoon.
“And I think my biggest concern with NIL in the high school level is where does the money come from. Are we honestly going to be recognizing kids for their name, image and likeness or are we simply going to be paying them to play for an institution? Where does that money come from? If you look at the NCAA and the issues that have occurred because of the legalization of NIL, which has now become pay-to-play. If you look at the problems that followed after that, I’ve seen it firsthand.”
Specht and Mason City Schools Superintendent Jonathan Cooper testified Tuesday afternoon in front of the Ohio House Education Committee in Columbus. Both were named proponents of Ohio House Bill 661 in the House Education Committee.
“If we open up NIL, where are the guardrails?” Specht told the House Education Committee. “Who is going to control the collectives that come into the high school level? Who is going to control the difference between the public schools and the private schools?”
Cooper said the conversation around NIL is complex and can often be polarizing.
“House Bill 661 offers Ohio the opportunity to press pause,” Cooper said. “Not pause on progress or innovation, but it gets us the time to get it right. It allows us to examine the long-term implications on adolescence. To design policy, that balances opportunity with protection. In our district, we have already seen subtle culture shifts. Conversations around personal branding and social media presence are beginning to intersect with team culture and developmental priorities in our district. Our coaches across multiple sports have expressed serious concerns about introducing financial incentives into an environment that is built on shared sacrifice and collective goals.”
Under the proposed House Bill 661 legislation, a student participating in Ohio High School Athletic Association middle or high school interscholastic athletics would be prohibited from earning compensation from NIL.
A student-athlete who earns prohibited compensation would be ineligible to participate in the specific sport tied to that compensation, while remaining eligible to compete in other sports. The bill also requires athletic governing organizations to adopt clear rules for investigating alleged violations and to establish an appeals process for student-athletes seeking reinstatement.
Ohio high school student-athletes have been permitted to profit from NIL after the OHSAA announced in late November that an emergency bylaw referendum passed convincingly by its 815-member high schools. The voting period ended the afternoon of Nov. 21, with the final voting results being 447 schools in favor of the referendum and 121 schools voting against, while 247 schools abstained from voting.
"The OHSAA is aware of the ongoing conversations in the state government regarding House Bill 661," OHSAA spokesman Tim Stried told WCPO 9 Sports Tuesday night. "The OHSAA member schools helped to shape the bylaw that they voted in place, including significant guardrails for a limited version of NIL at the high school level in Ohio. As we have said all along, there are no collectives permitted and there is no pay to play."
State Representative Sean P. Brennan (D-Parma) asked Specht what problems he has with the OHSAA guidelines about NIL.
“Again, I want to be very clear,” Specht said. “I’m not opposed to name, image and likeness. I’m opposed to pay-to-play. So, do I have any opposition to the way it is written? Absolutely not. But the unknown is the problem.”
State Reps. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) and Mike Odioso (R-Green Township) announced the Ohio House Bill 661 legislation during a news conference Feb. 3.
“The OHSAA is aware of the introduction of House Bill 661 and looks forward to continuing to provide information on the process taken to develop the proposal and safeguards that went to our membership for a vote last fall," Stried said Feb. 3. "It is important to note that NIL at the high school level in Ohio is very different than what we see at the college level, and that Ohio is one of 45 states that allows some version of NIL for high school student-athletes.”
Odosio, who taught at St. Xavier High School for 29-plus years and coached football for 16 years, retired from teaching at the end of 2024. He said the passage of NIL in Ohio high school sports in 2025 “shook me in my core.”
“I think high school sports is one of the greatest things Ohio is known for,” Odosio said Feb. 3. “This is something that we are going to fight for, and we don’t want to have ruined.”
