John Cougar Mellencamp’s music echoes through the Whitney Auditorium as 79 students enter, greeted by a teaching team, school administrators, and U-M’s men’s lacrosse coach, John Paul. All don red and white, symbolizing Indiana University’s spirit.
The occasion is “Hoosiers on the Brink,” a dynamic simulation crafted by lecturer Greg Dooley for his class “NIL: Education and Equity in Name, Image, and Likeness.”
Dooley’s course explores the evolving world of college athlete compensation. In this simulation, 16 student groups embody key college athletics stakeholders, strategizing to solve a fictional financial crisis at IU.
“I can’t emphasize enough how surprised I was at how much students got into it,” shared Maddy Denny, a graduate student instructor and second-year master’s student in higher education. “They were fully in character standing for what this individual role believed in.”
NIL, standing for Name, Image, and Likeness, allows college athletes to earn from personal brand sponsorships. The 2021 NCAA policy change and 2025 House v. NCAA decision now let schools share athletic revenue directly with athletes.
Staying current with this shift is Dooley’s main challenge.
“What I taught last semester is a completely different focus from what I’m teaching this semester,” Dooley noted. “In 2023 we were talking about conceptually if the schools could actually share the revenue and should they? Now they can.”
While other universities offer NIL courses, Dooley’s class stands out in the School of Education, allowing a broader range of content. The University of Texas offers it in communications, while Duke University places it in business.
“Being in the School of Education gives me the freedom to view this as an academic approach,” Dooley explained. “My class is unlike any other offered anywhere.”
Danielle Dimcheff, Marsal’s marketing and communications director, stated the NIL class aligns with the School of Education’s broader mission, extending beyond future K-12 teachers.
“Education touches everything,” Dimcheff emphasized. “We want to help people understand the enormous breadth of education.”
The course idea emerged from dialogues between Dooley and Marsal staff, including Dean Elizabeth Moje.
“She approached me with the idea of a broad-based class around all the challenges around the current state of college athletics and sports,” Dooley recalled.
Initially doubtful about the content volume, Dooley trialed the course with six students in spring 2023.
“At the conclusion of that term, I thought, we really have something here,” he said. “It’s really taken off from there.”
A former IT executive with an MBA from Indiana University, Dooley joined U-M in 2022. He now instructs three sought-after courses — “History of College Athletics,” “Coaching and Leadership,” and “NIL: Education and Equity in Name, Image, and Likeness” — forming the Coaching and Leadership minor.
A key debate topic is NIL’s interaction with Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal funds.
“Title IX is incredibly important; it’s way more important than sports,” Dooley stated. “Are we losing sight of that as all this money gets thrown around?”
Though a football enthusiast, Dooley urges students to consider other sports.
“A lot of students come in really focused on football and men’s basketball,” Denny observed. “Dooley always pushes them to think about non-revenue sports, and especially about women’s sports.”
About one-third of the current class are athletes, coming from various disciplines, including robotics engineering major James Oosterhouse.
“His classes have really impacted me as a person,” Oosterhouse said. “I think I’m able to approach my other classes much more effectively.”
Dooley values his graduate instructors for their educational expertise. “My graduate instructors amazingly have shaped and made this class better,” he said.
First-year GSI Joy Hewitt-Murdolo finds the collaboration invigorating. “Dooley is so fun to learn from,” she said. “It’s cool that he’s not a typical Ph.D. professor — he does it because he loves it.”
Dooley’s classes are known for high-profile guest speakers, including President Domenico Grasso and women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico.
“An exciting thing we had this semester was to have Justice Haynes, the star running back for the football team. He’s a perfect case study,” Dooley said.
For Denny, such figures humanize athletes as peers.
“It’s a fun thing when this football star is still also just a student and you have a chance to realize that,” Denny said.
Students often enter the course with strong NIL opinions, sparking lively debates encouraged by Dooley.
“Some have strong opinions,” Dooley noted. “I’d like students to come up with their own viewpoints, even if they’re not popular.”
Beyond the classroom, Dooley shares class highlights on LinkedIn and Instagram.
“I care deeply about what I do every day,” he stated. “I want students to know about my classes, be motivated, and check one out.”
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