With 20/20 hindsight, the coincidence is unmistakable.
In late October, Bishop Russell shared an interesting story with Best of Arkansas Sports’ Nate Olson about his son’s maturation during his freshman year with the Razorbacks.
He told Olson he appreciated that Kolby Smith, the Hogs’ running backs coach, had scolded Braylen Russell for buying an expensive Louis Vuitton handbag. “How is that bag going to help you on the field or learn the playbook?” Smith asked Braylen, according to Bishop’s recounting.
“I want [Braylen] to have everything he desires,” Bishop added “but the point of this was to say, ‘Don’t let the glamor of a bag get in the way of what you are focused on.”
Just about a week later, Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman would make waves by referring to the linemen that Ole Miss had gotten out of the transfer portal as “Louis Vuitton” while Arkansas’ counterparts were the kind you’d find marked down on a blue light special.
That distinction remains very much on the minds of Arkansas football fans as the Ole Miss has already picked up three of the more than 20 Razorbacks who have entered the transfer portal in this cycle. On Sunday night, Braylen Russell joined the bunch after a back-and-forth the previous week where he’d hopped in briefly on Tuesday before hopping out again.
While the Russells would likely deny it, it’s hard to imagine that money hasn’t played a role in this frustrating game of hopscotch that Braylen has been playing with the portal.
Razorback fans may say they are finished with Braylen at this point, but there’s no doubt they will be curious to see if he ends up at a place like Ole Miss with a reputation for paying top dollar for their transfers.
Is Braylen Russell a Louis Vuitton Type of Football Player?
Let’s look at basic numbers first. In nine games, the 6’1” 253-pound central Arkansas product ran 47 times for 304 yards (6.5 avg.) with two touchdowns. His most significant work came vs No. 4 Tennessee, which has a very good defense, and Mississippi State, which does not. A hamstring injury cut Russell’s borderline-historic romp against the Bulldogs short.
So, if only considering two games, Russell appears to very much the caliber of his beloved handbag:
When considering the entire scope of the season however, he too often didn’t make the kind of impact that translates into clear “rising star” status. Or even translating into “This guy clearly deserves carries over the starter Ja’Quinden Jackson [who himself missed a few games] or backup Rashad Dubinion,” who just entered the transfer portal on Tuesday.
Bishop Russell, naturally, still thinks very highly of his son. The underwhelming finish to the season after the Mississippi State game doesn’t seem to faze him.
Late last week, he posted this message to Razorback fan sites on Facebook:
While Russell has shown he has the potential to be a “game-changer” in some games, he’s not yet there in most games.
That leads to the question of how much his football skills are worth on the open market. While current NIL deals aren’t publicly available, it’s worth listening to insiders who have a finger on the pulse of the team.
Certainly, DJ Williams, the former Arkansas football star who co-hosts the 4th and 5 podcast, qualifies here. In a recent episode, he said that Russell made in the ballpark of “$70,000 to $90,000” this last season.
But, according to Williams, Russell received some feedback leading him to believe his skills were worth much, much more: “Braylen gets some information saying, ‘Alright, I heard I could get $500,000. Lemme go ahead and hop in this portal [last week] and then go talk to Coach Pittman and say ‘This is what I’m going for.’”
This leads to a few questions, to say the least.
If Braylen Russell’s skills truly deserve half of a million dollars on the open market – which would entail a 550 to 700% jump from the current money Williams said he was making – then why was Russell’s father apparently still representing him when he posted his solicitation on Facebook?
In late October, Bishop Russell told Olson that in the preceding weeks Russell had been getting plenty of attention from NFL agents also representing college players. That led Braylen to making a Facebook post in which he tried to find an agent to replace his dad.
Agents Reaching out to Russells During the Season
Bishop Russell added: “There have been a lot of high-profile agents reaching out to us, and I guess [the post] was just a way to say he is looking for the right agent. I think a lot of people took it out of perspective and say once a kid says that, they are looking for more money or going to another university.”
If Russell was making half a million dollars this season, he would have been at the top of the pecking order in NIL salary for the Razorbacks. It seems like it would make more sense to allow credentialed agents to represent you at that level.
A bigger question for Russell is when potential will translate into production, no matter where he ends up next. At some point, he’ll need to put a string of excellent games together to go from “potential” star to actual one.
There’s some irony here that in order to make this jump, he must nw embrace the very thing his father said he wanted to avoid – new coaches and schemes.
In late October, Bishop Russell warned that if Pittman were to be let go at the end of the season, his son could enter the transfer portal.
With a theoretical Sam Pittman firing “I don’t feel confident Braylen would want to stay,” Bishop Russell said at the time. “He wouldn’t want to deal with a new coach and ideas. In this new college landscape athletes don’t have to suck it up and take it.”
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Tampering and the Razorbacks
National championship coaches like Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney and Kirby Smart have previously brought attention to the problem of tampering, which is defined by the NCAA as “impermissible contact” between a representative of a school and a player in another programs. The decorated coaches have mostly beencalling out opposing coaches for their behind-closed-doors actions.
But the testimony of a current Razorback starter calls attention to a party that has grown in influence in the last few few year – unscrupulous agents smelling blood (and cash) in the water.
More here:
Which running backs could replace Russell on Arkansas’ roster? We break down the candidates here:
More on Braylen Russell and agent tampering starting at 4:30 below:
Might have been even more than $500,000, some believe….
