Now It's Legal with Jim Cavale

In Part Two of Now It’s Legal ’s conversation with DeMaurice Smith, the focus shifts from the NFL to college athletics and the structural failures now playing out in real time. Drawing on his experience leading the NFLPA through multiple collective bargaining agreements, Smith explains why college sports are facing unprecedented instability: a lack of accountability, no collective bargaining frame...

In the 2026 season premiere of Now It’s Legal, host Jim Cavale and Athletes.org co-founder Brandon Copeland sit down with former NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice “De” Smith, who led the NFLPA from 2009–2023. The conversation traces Smith’s unexpected path to union leadership, the motivations behind his book Turf Wars and the existential battle between NFL players and league own...

In this week’s episode of Now It’s Legal, Jim Cavale sits down with Chris Ogden, General Manager of Texas Men’s Basketball, to unpack the complexities of building a competitive roster in the modern era of college sports. Ogden shares how his role as part recruiter, part negotiator, part strategist, has rapidly evolved amidst a chaotic landscape of NIL, the transfer portal and the House settlement....

In this episode of Now It’s Legal, Jim Cavale sits down with UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham to discuss the future of college athletics amid growing legal, economic and structural challenges. Cunningham shares insights on his planned transition from the AD role and the strategic decision to bring in Steve Newmark, a professional with broad business experience. The conversation dives deep in...

Mark Byington is currently the head coach of the Vanderbilt University men’s basketball team. Prior to this role, he was the head coach at James Madison University, leading the team to its most successful four-season run in more than 30 years. From 2013-2020, Mark was the head coach at Georgia Southern, achieving three-consecutive 20-win seasons. Before becoming a head coach, he was an assistant c...

Andy Kennedy is currently the head coach of the University of Alabama Birmingham men’s basketball team, leading them to two March Madness appearances. His coaching career began as an assistant at the University of South Alabama from 1994-1995. Andy was also an assistant coach at UAB and the University of Cincinnati before becoming Cincinnati’s interim head coach. From 2006-2018, Andy was the head...

Josh Pastner is currently the head coach of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas men’s basketball team. He played on the 1997 National Championship team at the University of Arizona before becoming their assistant coach from 2002-2008. During the 2008-2009 season, Josh was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Memphis before taking the role of head coach of the men’s ba...

John Talty is an award-winning national college sports reporter for CBS Sports. He is the Wall Street Journal best-selling author of his book, "The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban: How Alabama's Coach Became the Greatest Ever." Armen Keteyian is an 11-time Emmy award-winning television journalist, previously a CBS News correspondent and a Sports Illustrated writer-reporter. John and Armen are co-...

Diego Pavia is currently a quarterback for the Vanderbilt University Commodores. He previously played for New Mexico State, leading them to a 10-5 record which included beating Auburn. In December 2023, Diego entered the transfer portal before transferring to Vanderbilt in January 2024. He led the Commodores to the Birmingham Bowl, their first bowl game since 2018, where he was named MVP. Diego al...

Johnny Manziel is a former NFL quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Out of high school, he was nationally recruited as a redshirt freshman for Texas A&M. He broke numerous NCAA Division I FBS and SEC records, including being the first freshman and fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in one season, and was the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy,...

Gloria Nevarez is the second commissioner in the history of the Mountain West Conference, with almost 30 years of experience in college athletics. Previously, she had been the fourth full-time commissioner of the West Coast Conference and is the first Hispanic American to become a commissioner of an NCAA Division I conference. Prior to her WCC commissioner role, Gloria was an administrator at the...

Tim Pernetti is the commissioner of the American Athletic Conference and former director of intercollegiate athletics at Rutgers University. From 1994 to 2003, Tim worked for ABC Sports and held several media positions, and from 2001 to 2009, he was a football analyst for Rutgers Football and Sports USA Radio’s NFL coverage. In 2009, Tim became the youngest director of intercollegiate athletics in...

Malcolm Jenkins is a former NFL player and Super Bowl champion. After earning All-American honors during his college football career at Ohio State University, and winning the Jim Thorpe Award, he was a first round draft pick for the New Orleans Saints in 2009. From 2014 - 2019, Malcolm played for the Philadelphia Eagles, winning a Super Bowl ring in 2018. He returned to New Orleans in 2020 before...

Sandy Barbour is a former athletic director who served at the Pennsylvania State University, the University of California, Berkeley and Tulane University. In 2020, Sandy was on Sports Illustrated’s "The Unrelenting" list of powerful, influential and outstanding women in sports, and has been recognized by Forbes as one of the top executives in sports. Sandy is a member of the NCAA Football Oversigh...

Jack Swarbrick is the former athletic director at the University of Notre Dame. During Jack’s 28 years of practicing law, he was a partner at Baker & Daniels and represented USA gymnastics as general counsel. He then served as Notre Dame’s athletic director from 2008 through 2024, experiencing many on-and off-the-field athletic achievements. He was also a member of the 2023 Senate Judiciary Co...

Matt Barnes is a former NBA player and current basketball analyst. He played college basketball at UCLA, where he was an All-Pacific-10 Honorable Mention selection in 2001, before being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft. In his final season of a 14-season career, he won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2017. Matt is currently a basketba...

Episode 3 of Now It's Legal takes place in Wellin Hall at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. On Monday, September 9, 2024, Jim joined Jeremy Foley, University of Florida’s Athletic Director, and Amy Perko, CEO of Knight Commission On Intercollegiate Athletics, in a conversation focused on the uncertain future of college sports. As the model shifts from amateurism to pay-for-play, there are questions...

Tommy Tuberville is an Alabama Senator and former college athlete, head football coach and sports broadcaster. Before beginning his political career, Tommy was the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (1995-1998), Auburn University (1999-2008), Texas Tech University (2010-2012) and the University of Cincinnati (2013-2016). In 2004, after Auburn's 13-0 season, he won five national C...

Jeffrey Kessler is Co-Executive Chairman of Winston & Strawn and one of the world’s leading sports law, antitrust and trial lawyers. He's litigated some of the most high-profile sports-antitrust cases, including securing a unanimous victory for classes of Division I college football and basketball athletes in their antitrust litigation against the NCAA's compensation restrictions. Jeffrey's be...

Joe Moglia is the former Chairman/CEO of TD Ameritrade, former Head Football Coach at Coastal Carolina University, and is the current Executive Advisor to the President of Coastal Carolina University. He has written two books: The Perimeter Attack Offense and Coach Yourself to Success: Winning the Investment Game . According to Forbes, Joe has one of the most "unique resumes in modern business." J...

Neal Brown is a former college football player and is now serving his sixth year as Head Coach of West Virginia University's football team. From 2015 - 2018, he was the Head Coach at Troy University and has previously been the Offensive Coordinator at Troy, Texas Tech University and the University of Kentucky.   Neal joins Now It’s Legal to discuss West Virginia University’s current recruitin...

Welcome to "Now It's Legal" with Jim Cavale. In this episode, Jim delves into the current state and future of college athletics, highlighting the need for change in revenue sharing and athlete involvement. With landmark legal battles like House vs. NCAA underway, Jim emphasizes the crucial role athletes play in shaping the new norms. He urges athletes and parents to get informed and demand a seat...

Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim is the former Head Coach of Syracuse University’s men’s basketball team and current Special Assistant to the Athletic Director at Syracuse. For 47 years, he was the Head Coach of the Orange who he led to 10 Big East Conference regular season championships, five Big East tournament championships and 34 NCAA tournament appearances — including five Final Four appearances. In...

Brandon Copeland is a former NFL linebacker who was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2013, after playing college football at the University of Pennsylvania. He played across 6 teams for 10 seasons in the NFL, including the Tennessee Titans, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.  Brandon joins Now It's Legal to discuss the importanc...

On this episode of Now It's Legal, we recap AO's visit to UAB's football team to discuss the future of college athletics and their impact on its future. UAB is now the first Division I football team to join the players' association with every member of the team signed up for Athletes.org. AO's Jim Cavale & UAB Head Football Coach Trent Dilfer  discussed the values (knowledge, access, prot...