(Editor’s note: This is the third installment of a multi-part series by MTN Sports on the current state of college athletics. For Part 1, click here. For Part 2, click here.)
BOZEMAN — Student-athletes have never been more empowered than they are in this current era of collegiate athletics.
With name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities, looser academic eligibility requirements and next to no transfer restrictions, collegiate athletes have more options and can earn as much as someone is willing to pay them. While the effects of the new rules — or lack thereof — are felt in all sports, football is one of the largest drivers of change.
“I think college football’s almost turning into a huge free agency type of landscape, and then there’s good in that and there’s bad in that,” Montana State receiver and return specialist Taco Dowler told MTN Sports. “Having a little bit of extra cash obviously helps. I mean, everyone wants a little bit of extra cash, but we don’t have the amounts that are going to change your life, necessarily, at this level.
“So, learning how to budget, learning how to save, just with a little bit of extra cash, I think is huge. For the (offensive) linemen, I know it’s big for grocery bills. For me, it’s nice to take my girlfriend out on a nice date once a week or whatever that may be.
“And, you just can’t go wrong. You have to be smart with the money that you do have. And I think that us not getting a bunch of money is nice, but us having a little bit of buffer is also good to learn.”
Dowler, a Billings native who has become an All-American punt returner for the Bobcats, is a fan favorite in Bozeman. Fans can be seen wearing “Taco Tuesday on a Saturday” baseball caps or foam tacos on their heads or holding “Taco Time” signs.
After games, including MSU’s Sonny Holland Classic that concluded the Bobcats’ slate of spring practices in April, the affable athlete is often swarmed by kids wanting photos and signatures.
“I feel like I’m a normal guy until people come up and want to take a picture with me, and I’m like, oh, I guess they think I’m cooler than I actually am,” he deadpanned. “But, it’s really an honor, and it’s really cool that I’ve been put in a position where I can be a role model for kids and show them what to do and how to do it the right way — and that ages all the way up to freshmen that come in here to play with us. And it really is a huge blessing more than anything.”
Dowler is happy to acquiesce and pose for photos as long as fans are lining up, but the small-town fame has also provided him with a platform to benefit. As a marketable star on one of the biggest brands in FCS football, Dowler has earned plenty of NIL offers.
He — like former Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott, who was recently selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2025 NFL Draft — has turned down some NIL deals that focused solely on him so more members of the team could get a share of the pot.
“(Football is) the best team-sport game you could possibly do, and I think just the closer you are, the more you love your brothers on the team, the better you’re going to perform,” said Dowler.
“I don’t think there’s any, like, jealousy or anything. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, that’s sweet, dude,’” Bobcats defensive tackle Alec Eckert said. “I mean, we’re all on the same team, we’re all trying to win games and stuff, and if one of your friends gets a cool deal, you feel like you’re part of it, too.”
If Dowler is a poster child demonstrating the potential good of NIL, Eckert is just as strong of an advocate for the transfer portal. After spending three years at Washington State, the Lewiston, Idaho, native transferred to Montana State prior to last season.
“I think, for me, it was a little bit different just because there was no bad blood or anything (at Washington State). It wasn’t like I was leaving with a bad attitude or anything. It was just that school was getting expensive,” said Eckert, who was a walk-on at Washington State. “And I talked to my coach there, and he was pretty good friends with (Montana State head coach Brent Vigen), and he called coach Vigen up for me, and he helped me get recruited here.”
“It’s been the best decision I’ve ever made,” Eckert added. “I mean, I’ve made friends for life and brothers for life on this team and couldn’t be happier with the community and being in Bozeman and being a Montanan.”
Eckert is one of only eight transfers currently featured on Montana State’s online roster (which does not yet list quarterback Justin Lamson, who is joining MSU from Stanford). On the other hand, the Bobcats lost at least 14 players to the transfer portal after last season’s run to the FCS national championship game.
All-Big Sky Conference performers Scottre Humphrey, Conner Moore, Rohan Jones and Andrew Powdrell left Bozeman for FBS programs New Mexico, Michigan State, Arkansas and UNLV, respectively.
Eckert didn’t criticize any of his former teammates and said the ability to transfer and profit off NIL earnings is generally a good thing but admitted “there’s some disadvantages, too.”
“You see a lot of selfishness and guys, I think, maybe leaving for the wrong reasons and making decisions based solely off finances when they don’t realize that maybe they had a better thing where they were,” Eckert said. “They might not have been making as much money, but they were on a better football team, or they were with better people, and people actually cared about them.”
NIL deals at major college football programs can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. The market is even higher for quarterbacks — around $4 million for the top players, according to CBS Sports — and former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava somewhat infamously had a reported NIL dispute with the Volunteers that ultimately led to his transfer to UCLA.
FCS athletes aren’t earning near that ballpark, but, according to a source involved in the NIL marketplace, there’s a “big four” of Montana State, Montana, North Dakota State and South Dakota State that are playing at a different level than their contemporaries.
“None of us are getting $250,000 or $2 million like Nico or whatever,” Dowler said. “It’s just different. It’s hard to grasp how much money that actually is.
“And there’s offers obviously coming in for some people that decide to stay here, and I think that says a lot about your character and your morals.”
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