An agreement Thursday between the NCAA and Power Five conferences opened the door for direct payments to athletes -- another massive-change moment for college sports. This points toward Minnesota and other schools taking control of the NIL process, which would make Schreiner's goal of connecting large companies to NIL funding even more critical for the Gophers.

"It's part of the growth and evolution we will need as an athletics department to best position us for the future," Carter said. "A position like Brett's is going to be relevant and needed no matter where NIL goes."