Up close, as I was Tuesday night during a media scrum after Penn State’s practice, Drew Allar looks every bit the fresh-faced young quarterback.
He just turned 19 last month. It’s hard to tell when his last shave was. (I’m betting it was when he was 18.)
He may stand a near-majestic 6-foot-5 and weigh 242 pounds. At least. And due to enrolling early in January 2022, he’s already into his third semester, and second academic year, at Penn State.
But with heavy curly locks kept under control by a wide blue headband, and rosy red cheeks after an afternoon of what his coach called the best practice of the spring, he looks more prodigy than professional.
(Speaking of the pros: We’ll talk agents and money shortly.)
Allar was a highly-touted five-star coming out of Medina, Ohio, and has been the heir apparent to Sean Clifford since James Franklin named him as Cliff’s backup on Aug. 29, 2022, a few days before the Nittany Lions’ season-opener at Purdue. As it turned out, Allar got plenty of run that game, filling in capably while Cliff was in the locker room for nearly a half-hour.
From that moment on, Allar was a star — and despite Franklin saying as recently as Tuesday night that Allar and Beau Pribula are fighting for the No. 1 spot— he will be Penn State’s starting quarterback when its 2023 season opens Sept. 2 against West Virginia in Beaver Stadium.
YOUTH WILL BE SERVED
He may be the Great Anointed One, but at times Allar himself has to remind everyone he’s still very much a kid. Like on Tuesday, when he was asked about his leadership role on the team and if or when he speaks up. (Mind you, he hasn’t started a game.)
“It’s definitely picking your moments,” Allar admitted. “I mean, I’m a 19-year-old kid still, so it’s definitely like more of picking the right time to speak up, because honestly you have to earn your stripes around here. And I think it just comes along with playing and just doing well in practice and leading.”
On the flip side, Allar doesn’t play the kid card too much, either. I asked him if he has any confidantes or close allies to bounce ideas off of or talk to about challenging circumstances, beyond Pribula or offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
No, he basically said, I got this myself.
“I think I have that inner self belief of confidence, just because I think you have to be confident at this level,” he said. “You’re playing against the best players each day and you’re going to be playing with the best players each day. So, you definitely have to have that self-confidence that you belong here.”
AGENT OF A NEW ERA
It’s the kind of confidence that comes, in the NIL era, when your agent is also the agent for Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills’ quarterback who has already made $85 million and has another $200 million on its way.
Allar isn’t making that kind of money. Or the multi-million dollars that fellow college football quarterbacks like Arch Manning, Caleb Williams, Shedeur Sanders or Bo Nix are pulling in. Yet.
But Allar is driving a Tesla, has been paid to write a children’s book and gets a nice-sized monthly retainer from one of the Penn State-focused NIL collectives. His agent, Patrick Collins, works for industry giant CAA — Creative Artists Agency.
You may have heard of it. It is one of the biggest in the country, and reps folks like Nick Saban and James Franklin, who switched to CAA in the summer of 2021. Franklin signed with CAA super-agent Jimmy Sexton at the time, and the end result was a massive new contract for Franklin. Sexton is co-head of football and head of coaching at CAA. Collins, who is in his mid-30s, works with Sexton.
So yes, the time has come when a firm like CAA handles both Penn State’s head football coach and its next starting quarterback. Franklin and Allar may represent Penn State, but they are represented by CAA.
Collins has a sports management degree from the University of Michigan, where he was a backup wide receiver. He has also an MBA from Tiffin (all NFL agents must have a grad degree). A few years ago, Forbes had Collins on its top 30 Under 30 in Sports list. The last two years, The Athletic has had him on its 40 Under 40 rising (non-playing) stars in the NFL.
In 2021, The Athletic said this about Collins: “In just eight years, Collins has already become an indispensable part of the NFL team at mega-agency CAA. There, he works closely with veteran agents Jimmy Sexton and Tom Condon to represent an impressive list of clients.”
In 2022, it noted that “This is a repeat appearance on this list for Collins, who negotiated a massive new contract for Steelers star T.J. Watt shortly before the start of the 2021 regular season, not long after getting Bills quarterback Josh Allen his extension. And Collins’ profile may continue to climb. His clients include Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie, Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater, Browns cornerback Greg Newsome, Colts defensive lineman Kwity Paye and Jets offensive lineman Alijah-Tucker, all recent first- or second-round picks.”
WHAT DREW SAYS
Collins is Allar’s guy. He has his ear.
You want to do a deal with Allar? Go to where his Twitter page directs you: “Business inquiries: Drewallar.nil@caa.com.”
“I’m represented by an agency, CAA,” is how Allar explained it to me on Tuesday, “so they kind of handle all the NIL stuff for me. That’s really how it goes. It’s definitely a good relationship though.
“I have an email set up for NIL opportunities and (potential business partners) will send that email or they’ll send an offer or contract through that email and the people at CAA will negotiate back and forth for me. They’ll ask for my input. They’ll give me everything straight up, what their opinion is on the deal or whatever. Ultimately, it’s up to me. So definitely a really good relationship that I have with them.”
Collins and Allar are in touch on a regular basis.
“I talk with my agent probably at least once a week. Every other week,” Allar said. “It’s not even always about NIL stuff, either. It’s more like kind of just getting to know me and getting to know him, catching up on him, catching up with him. Just seeing how his guys in the draft are doing and how his guys in the league are doing. It’s definitely kind of like a learning experience for me, for sure.”
On, and off the field.
