Beyond the Field: Brandon Wimbush’s Value-Based Playbook for Athletes

From quarterbacking Notre Dame football to pioneering NIL with MOGL and now spearheading the expansion of wrestling, Brandon Wimbush’s extraordinary journey reveals a powerful truth: values are the blueprint for lasting success.

This article distills Brandon’s one-of-a-kind experience into vital lessons for every current or aspiring college athlete and their families. His insights on strategy, the role of family, loyalty, the importance of humility, and the power of facing reality prepare you for immediate success and a fulfilling life after the game.

Value #1: Strategy and Business Acumen

It’s no surprise that Brandon became a business pioneer. His path is defined by choosing the unconventional, evidenced by tackling a challenging major, accounting, at an elite school. He recalled, “We had freshman orientation and were meeting with all the academic service folks, and they were telling us this is usually the path that all the athletes take. These are usually the paths that athletes don’t take, specifically football players. I said alright let’s go the route that athletes don’t take. And accounting was one of those.”

Brandon’s experience highlights academic importance. He strategically prepared for life after athletics and rejected the mindset that he was at Notre Dame only to play football. When asked how taking academics seriously has benefited him he said, “I think it benefited me because I was able to start thinking about professionalism really early on in my career, and I think for me it was sitting in those rooms with the students who were all top of their class and excelling in academics. You felt like you really had no other choice but to compete and thrive on the same level.”

He shared that it’s probably even more important now for athletes to have these skills with the new landscape of college sports. He explained that a level of business acumen is essential to understand the fundamentals of contracts or how athletes are business assets. So, if you’re an athlete who doesn’t take academics seriously, it might be time to reconsider.

Brandon’s knowledge from his experience on the business side of player brand deals provides an extremely insightful message for athletes: understand your value, think about the long-term, and be organic. When I asked about the biggest differences he’s observed between players’ perception of NIL deals and the reality of how those deals are structured and executed from the business side he explained, “There’s more juice to squeeze and negotiation to be had in the deals.” Additionally, he highlighted the importance of either athletes or a surrounding person understanding the contractual terms, the value of the required efforts, and whether you’re getting the most out of brands.

Further, Brandon pointed out the importance of brand selection. He stated, “If you attach yourself to a brand on a platform . . . that’s gonna last with your personal brand for a really long time and can either enhance or take away from how you’re growing your personal brand, so be smart about it.” Additionally, he mentioned that it’s vital to think broader than just about the payment. He outlined specifics to look for in deals, like campaign budgets, brand values, and potential equity plays. He explained that depending on budget, some brands boost their content on a larger scale, enhancing the reach and deal value. He also advised, “For the top 1-2% athletes look for an equity play. Ask can I be a part of this long term and be a part of the upside? A lot of the brands getting involved are startups. They might have a few hundred or thousand dollar budget for advertising, but they have option/equity pools set aside to give out to strategic advisors and people that have unique perspectives/experiences, which is why they want to engage with athletes in the first place.”

Finally, Brandon explained the importance of having organic content to help naturally align with brands. He said, “The more and more you create content that’s natural and organic to who you are, the easier it is for brands to source and identify you as a talent they want to work with.” A relevant example is Jared McCain’s NIL deal with Sally Hansen, a nail polish brand (Mahadevan 2024). Nail polish was already a natural part of Jared McCain’s brand because he became widely known for wearing it in games, so the NIL partnership was a natural progression for him (Mahadevan 2024). Brandon finds that having brand deals correlating with posts you ordinarily share make your personal brand more identifiable.

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Value #2: Family

“No matter what happens while competing, family is the only thing you can come back to and be your most authentic self,” Brandon shared.

When Brandon talks about his mom, you feel the sincerity and admiration he has for her. I asked about her role in his journey and how she’s impacted him on and off the field. Brandon expressed, “When I think about my mom and back about how she helped me . . . after great games or after bad games it was just a complete even-keeled response and support/love. It didn’t matter what the outcome of the game was or how I performed. I would always relish in that.” College athletics can be taxing mentally, physically, and emotionally. Having your family as a get away from your sport is not only refreshing, it’s necessary.

For parents curious about how they can best support aspiring/current college athletes, Brandon shares some guidance based on his experience, “She [his mom] was a part of every process for me, like going to camps in high school to going on recruiting trips to all star games . . . I think with the change in the college landscape it’s important to have someone like that, who’s there to really just voice their opinion but not assert themselves in your decision-making.” Further, he specified, “Absolutely share your opinion with your child who’s like 17 and has the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but let them make their decision, and let them live with that decision . . . and I think that the other thing right now more than ever is putting the right resources around your kids, and don’t think that you have all the answers.”

Finally, Brandon illustrated how parents can guide their kids using his mom as an example, “My mom is a nurse and has done 30 years of nursing, and if I gave her an influencer contract or onfield contract, I don’t think she would know exactly what to do with it. But I think especially with me coming out of high school, she would have done a good job of identifying the right resources to put around me to help me excel. Be humble and know what you know, and know what you don’t know.”

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Value #3: Loyalty

Currently, loyalty feels lost in college athletics, especially in football. In a world where the transfer portal feels more like free agency, Brandon still sees the value in loyalty to a program.

Applying his pre-NIL career to current times, Brandon uses his situation as an example. He illustrated, “For example, say I went to Notre Dame and they paid me $2,000,000 over four years. I go in and get paid $500,000 as a freshman and don’t play. But I committed to Matt Lafluer, who ended up leaving on signing day to go to the Falcons. So I committed to him basically and he left before I even got there. So I go in my freshman year and don’t play, so my market value goes down . . . and you try to go to another school, typically a lesser school that you end up going to and your value ends up decreasing because the school will have less resources to pay you. But if I stay at Notre Dame based on an NIL package, then that $2,000,000 is respected over the four years.”

He asserts respect and value is earned “because it’s like you’re a part of the process and the program. You sat for a certain purpose and we know why you sat. We wanted you to develop. So I think there’s more loyalty in that, but that’s ultimately not the way college landscape has evolved today. Guys are jumping ship.” Brandon’s example outlines the inherent risk of transferring. He believes in strategic program selection and adopting the program’s path for you.

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Value #4: Humility and Facing Reality

In my final question for Brandon, I asked about a quote by his former teammate, Ian Book, where Ian reflected on their quarterback battle and spoke about Brandon’s humility and leadership despite the situation. Brandon delivered a powerful and candid reflection, encapsulating a mindset that I believe everyone could learn from. He said:

There’s a piece of me that’s very at peace with who I am and my ability to enjoy a good life regardless of what happens to me. There was also a piece of me that I think was mature beyond my age because I knew football wasn’t going to last forever. And the final piece, which a lot of people don’t have, is a level of being realistic with oneself. Are you actually performing at the level that is expected of you to achieve the goals that you’re in the process of achieving? I was realistic with myself, and I thought there’s legitimacy to this decision making. Coach Kelly has been a coach for 30 years . . . You can control what you can control and that was my performance, and I wasn’t living up to the standard of what we needed to win a championship. I realize that, and some people may have not realized that. I think being realistic with yourself is humbling but also peaceful because a lot of people live delusional lives. But I’m very much confident now in my abilities and what I’m doing on a daily basis, so I feel good about that. And I think for future college athletes or now, look at the situation fully. Quarterback is a little different because there’s only one on the field at all times, but I think it’s truly being realistic and asking yourself: ‘Are you doing all the things you need to truly put yourself in the best position to succeed?’ And that stems to things off the field as well. Are you studying enough? Are you a family man? Are you calling your family and the people that matter to you consistently and having those conversations? You know what you need to do in order to succeed and then if you’re not doing it, something needs to change. So for athletes the biggest thing is asking yourself that, and ask: ‘Is this situation going to change if I go somewhere else?’ And a lot of times it’s not. You’re just going to walk in and be the same person you were just in a different environment.

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Brandon’s values encompass who he is as an athlete, professional, and most importantly as a person. His values act as a blueprint for any athlete or person chasing success. His humility is remarkable and it was an honor to interview him.