General consensus is we're behind on the NIL stuff. The Baton Rouge/Louisiana businesses haven't caught on to the new world yet. Most people familiar with Eli Ricks' departure think that not being offered an NIL deal was a big reason why he left.
Probably so, but in his particular case you also have to think he felt bait-and-switched. He signed up to play for a program that had just put together maybe the most incredible season in history. What he got was two years worth of hapless defense, a coach who had lost the locker room and was targeted by the admin, and a program that crumbled in record time. I don't like losing him, but I also can't blame him for wanting to go to Alabama, or Ohio State, or wherever he feels like his career can finish on a brighter note.