The Colorado football program has recently distanced itself from an ambitious and controversial attempt to push the boundaries of name, image, and likeness (NIL) funding. According to a report by Sports Illustrated (SI), former assistant coach Trevor Reilly pursued an extraordinary partnership that has since been abandoned.
Reilly, who served as the special teams coordinator for the Buffaloes, revealed to SI that he made a trip to the Middle East during the past holiday season in an effort to secure funding for the Buffaloes’ NIL program from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). This initiative was part of his broader efforts to raise funds for the program, a responsibility he claimed was added to his duties alongside his coaching role.
Reilly resigned from his position on August 1, expressing his frustrations in a resignation letter addressed to Colorado athletic director Rick George and head coach Deion Sanders. In the letter, which SI reviewed, Reilly shared his dissatisfaction with the lack of support he received from the athletic department in his fundraising endeavors.
“You paid me $90,000 a year and let me handle special teams,” Reilly wrote. “I did all this work in your name and was told to pursue it. I burned through all my contacts in my Mormon community, which is worth about $3 trillion. Now, I can’t get these people to answer my calls because I just found out today that none of my endeavors will happen”, told Fox News.
Reilly also disclosed that he had managed to secure a meeting with Saudi officials, who were interested in exploring business opportunities. He claimed to have email receipts as proof of these discussions but lamented that his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful due to the lack of backing from the athletic department.
Despite these efforts, Reilly stated that he acted independently and “did nothing illegal.” The Colorado athletic department confirmed to Front Office Sports‘ A.J. Perez that Reilly’s actions were taken on his own initiative and that he is no longer employed by the university.
“According to Trevor Reilly himself, he acted on his own accord and is no longer an employee of the university,” a department spokesperson said in an email to Perez.
Blueprint Sports, the company that operates Colorado’s NIL collective, 5430 Alliance, also confirmed that they were unaware of Reilly’s efforts and had no involvement in his outreach to the Saudi sovereign fund, told Front Office Sports.
“We want to clarify that Trevor Reilly has never been authorized or directed to speak or advocate on behalf of 5430 Alliance in Saudi Arabia,” Blueprint Sports said in a statement. “Since our launch in March 2024, all funding and initiatives have been managed solely within domestic channels and are entirely unrelated to Mr. Reilly’s work. Any claims suggesting otherwise are unfounded and patently false.”
While Reilly’s efforts may have been an unusual approach to securing NIL funding, they underscore the broader challenges facing Colorado as it seeks to compete with the top college football programs in the nation. The pursuit of international funding, particularly from a source as controversial as the Saudi Public Investment Fund, raises questions about the future of NIL initiatives and the ethical considerations involved in such partnerships.