USC coach Lincoln Riley didn't need any time to gather his thoughts on the matter when he was asked about the impact of Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) on recruiting, during his Saturday morning Zoom call with local reporters.

It was clear that it's a matter Riley has spent plenty of time thinking about already.

"It's completely changed it. I mean, it doesn't even resemble what we used to do before NIL. I mean, in every sense of the word it's different," Riley said. "The reality is it's made what's gone on at certain places for a long time, it's kind of just put it out in the open. So maybe some positives there. I'm a fan of guys being able to capitalize off their NIL. There was no doubt it was going to seep into recruiting at some point. I think anybody that cares about college football is not real pleased with that because that wasn't the intention, we all get that.

"A lot of people voiced concerns when NIL came up that there had to be a plan for that, and instead we instituted NIL without any plan for that, so that's why we're at where we're at."

Indeed, after fighting against college athletes' ability to make money off their NIL for so long, the NCAA basically threw its hands in the air once it became clear it was losing the battle, with many states preparing their own legislations opening the door for college athletes to cash in on their value.

Instead of crafting clear rules governing NIL in college sports, the NCAA basically told its member institutions it was on them to figure out a plan and self-govern, which everybody knew would open the floodgates to a range of loopholes to be utilized in turning NIL into a recruiting tool -- the one aspect the many coaches and administrators wanted to guard against.

"I'm sure at some point there's going to be a market correction, if you will, with recruiting. Hopefully there will be because in a perfect world they stay separate," Riley continued. "High school kid, his family, their state, whatever, they have an NIL opportunity, that's great. College athletes, if they have an NIL opportunity, fantastic. We want them to do super well. It shouldn't cross over. But unfortunately with the way the rules are set up, it has crossed over and it's crossing over a lot right now and it's totally changed recruiting."

Riley was then asked for his thoughts on reports that an unnamed 2023 QB prospect had received an NIL deal from a school potentially worth $8 million overall.

Again, Riley didn't shy away from the question.

"Well, I mean, I think anybody can realize that's not good for this game," Riley said. "College football is such a great thing and that's certainly not what anybody's after. So, it is what it is. It was going to happen, and honestly, probably good that something that outrageous happened as soon as it did because I think it shines a pretty bright light on, we've got something here we need to take a look at. I think we've got enough people out there where we can figure out a better, smoother path that can separate the two.

"Again, fully supportive of guys being able to make money off their Name, Image and Likeness. Fully supportive of that, no matter where they're at, but it should not be a part of recruiting. They ought to know what opportunities are there that the current players are getting, sure, absolutely -- yeah, you want to know that. But these promises that are made when guys are in high school, man, it's just not good for the game. So hopefully we can find some ways to address it and keep the two separate."