D’Eriq King signed the first N.I.L. deal in college football at a condo on South Beach at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2021. The deal was worth $20,000 dollars with a moving company founded by University of Miami alums called College H.U.N.K.S. 

King signed the contract, drove the $20,000 cash payment back to his apartment and went to sleep. After all, he had practice early the next morning. King finished practice and meetings, went back home, grabbed the cash and walked to the Chase Bank across the street to deposit the money. His mom and brother flew out to Miami to help the new Hurricane navigate the first day of N.I.L, as he signed multiple deals to christen a new age of college athletics. 

“A lot of us (college football players) come from a home without much, so to get to help out your parents or siblings or just go out for a nice meal as a young man is beneficial,” King said. “(Making money) taught me a lot of valuable lessons. I learned how to manage money and to work with different types of people. I also learned how to market myself and not put my name in a bad light.” 

King is a trailblazer. He famously evolved from eighth string quarterback to record-setting star at Manvel High School who left with over 10,000 passing yards, 3,000 rushing yards, and nearly 200 total touchdowns. He transitioned from starting wide receiver to starting quarterback while at Houston, only to opt out of the 2019 season after four games to preserve his redshirt. 

Until 2018, college football players lost redshirt status after participating in a game. The D1 Council amended that rule to allow for participation in as many as four games before a redshirt was lost. Dana Holgorsen was hired as the Cougars' new head coach ahead of the 2019 season and approached King and four of his senior teammates with an idea: What if King and the other seniors redshirted in Holgorsen’s Year 1 to give the team a better chance to compete in Year 2? Houston was 1-3 at the time. 

UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka made headlines for leaving UNLV after four games due to an NIL dispute. King notes that their situations were different. It wasn’t King’s idea, for one. He also planned to return to the team in 2020. But that was before his life away from football reached a dark time. His father passed away and his mother was sick with cancer. King wanted to escape, and he almost gave up football. 

“I realized that football wasn’t the biggest thing in the world,” King said. “When your mom is sick and your dad passes away, perspective comes at you fast. This is just a game. It was good for me to go get a fresh start in a new place where I had to earn everything. That’s why I ended up transferring.” 

Again, King found himself navigating a new world. Just like he would in N.I.L. The transfer portal was launched in October 2018. King entered after the 2019 season and ended up at Miami to play for head coach Manny Diaz and new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee. King and Lashlee faced off while the two were at Houston and SMU, respectively. King played for four head coaches and six offensive coordinators and says Lashlee was the best communicator he ever played for. 

The two stayed in touch after King left Miami to try his hand at professional football and Lashlee headed back to the Hilltop as head coach of the SMU Mustangs. King signed as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots and was on the Carolina Panthers practice squad in 2022 before joining the DC Defenders in the XFL. He said the experience reignited his love for football. 

“I was hurt in my last season at Miami, and I just wanted to play and finish a full season healthy before I moved into coaching,” King said. “You play in the XFL for the love of the game.” 

King was contacted by his former offensive coordinator with an offer to be an offensive analyst before the 2023 season. When SMU offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer accepted a job to call plays at Duke, Lashlee didn’t need to look far for his next quarterbacks coach. And in the process, that allowed King to blaze yet another trail in his young career. 

There was not a Black quarterback coach at the FBS ranks in Texas in the 2023 season. King is the only one at the 13 FBS schools in 2024. Of the 48 football programs in Texas, only four have a Black quarterback coach. Two of those work at HBCUs. Minority coaches make up roughly 45 percent of FBS staffs across the state in proof of progess, but too few of those are in positions that produce most of the future head coaches such as quarterback and offensive line coach. Of the 26 coordinators at the FBS level in Texas, only two are Black. Nearly 49 percent of FBS football players are Black. 

“It is unfortunate,” King said of the lack of representation. “Hopefully I can do a good job here to help open doors. I think it will. You see all the first-round draft picks and All Pros. There are a lot of African American coaches who can do it, but they don’t get the opportunity. I’m blessed coach Lashlee gave me that opportunity.” 

King is building the SMU quarterback room in his likeness. And blue is the most important color. 

“At SMU, we’re going to recruit blue collar quarterbacks who work hard,” he said. “No pretty boys or prima donnas. Work hard and be a leader of men and everything else will work out.”