‘Build a plane while flying it,’ how A&P Sports Agency, a big-time firm with Houston roots, pioneers NIL world

HOUSTON – In the ever-changing and fast-paced college sports business world of Name, Image and Likeness, in the chaotic transfer portal defined by high-level negotiations, an ability to adapt on the fly has emerged as more than an asset.

It’s an absolute necessity.

Flexibility.

Understanding the marketplace along with the scope and landscape of how athletes have become commodities that rise and fall in a manner akin to the stock market.

Being able to move and shift strategies in real-time.

In minutes and seconds, not days. That’s what it takes.

For A&P Sports Agency, an Austin-based firm with Houston roots that’s an emerging major player in this space as the largest full-service NIL agency in college football history, it’s all about being able to execute the right move at the right time to service their growing roster of clients.

They have negotiated over $22 million worth of business since they were founded in 2021. They have closed over 2,000 NIL marketing deals. They have negotiated with over 60 collectives from Power Five athletic conferences across the nation.

“There’s no playbook for this,” said co-founder and CEO Jacob Piasecki, a Katy Taylor and Texas A&M alum. “We’re not like a traditional agency. We work entirely as a team. Each player has our team around them representing their interests. We treat these guys like family.”

“We play the best hand,” said co-founder and president Stefan Aguilera, a Westside graduate and former tennis player who created a magazine and large social media following while in College Station. “Build a plane while flying it.”

That analogy of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants mentality, perfectly encapsulates how to find opportunity within the rapidly changing NIL world.

In any business situation, there are multiple interests.

There’s the athlete, which are primarily college football players represented by A&P. And their families.

There’s the agents from A&P.

And there are the recruiters from multiple college football programs, each with different budgets, philosophies and styles of conducting business.

“I think it changes all the time,” Aguilera said in a telephone interview. “It changes every single day. There’s always some sort of new thing that comes out. What me and Jacob have done really well is, knowing that it’s very fluid, is we adapt to the market. We play the best hand we can play. You have your hand, and it changes all the time. That’s what has made us very successful for us and for our clients putting our athletes at the forefront of the conversation and understanding what the ultimate end goal is and making sure we’re compliant and staying competitive.

“It’s all about thinking about the opportunity and seeing beyond what most people would see as limiting. There’s always laws that come into play like the House of Representatives settlement and cap. A lot of things have happened in NIL as soon as it became a thing. It’s all about marketing. Collectives started popping up. Now, we’re negotiating with schools directly. We see the opportunity and try to help the client as much as possible. We’re being opportunistic. What’s made us the best agency in the country is being able to see the writing on the wall and adapt very fast and be nimble.”

Among the multitude of deals executed by A&P: the transfer of All-Big 12 Conference safety A.J. Haulcy from the University of Houston. After intercepting five passes last season for the University of Houston, Haulcy decided to enter the transfer portal. LSU won a highly-contested recruiting battle for the Thurgood Marshall and Missouri City native as the Tigers beat out Miami for his services.

“The biggest factor in making my decision was God, I gave everything to Him, asked Him to lead and guide me down the righteous path, and this is the outcome,” Haulcy told KPRC 2. “I was looking for a place where I can play on the biggest stage, compete for a national championship, and continue growing as both a player and a man.”

Haulcy, a rising NFL draft prospect and former freshman All-American at New Mexico, has 27 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and one passes defensed since switching to the Southeastern Conference. His NIL deal and recruiting process: all guided by A&P.

“I am proud that we are the biggest in the business,” said Tony Buzbee, a Houston-based attorney and partner backing the firm who’s one of the best known and most successful litigators in the nation and a former Texas A&M member of the Board of Regents. “I am more proud that we are the best in the business!”

The partnership with Buzbee grew through Aguilera and the attorney and Aggies power broker having an existing relationship through mutual friends and connections in College Station through the university. Their communication increased quickly and the idea of working together rapidly formulated.

“As we progressed in the landscape of NIL, we knew we needed someone with a strong legal background,” said Piasecki, who has significant experience in crypto currency and social networks. “We needed a good partner with a legal background. We had a meeting and he would be the legal counsel for the agency and, in exchange, be a partner. How the whole arrangement formed is a long story, but he’s been our backbone of support, legally speaking for our clients.

“It means a lot. We’re in this stage of NIL right now where the schools are now paying the athletes. They have enormous budgets. They have really good legal counsel. These schools are anticipating about liquidating damages. You see these buyouts. You see this portal. It’s a lot of guys that are going to jump.”

Added Aguilera: “It’s not like the NFL where it’s cookie-cutter contracts. There are a lot of contrasts in college football.”

Among the brands and businesses, A&P has secured deals with: Johnny Dang, Powerade, Champion, Sp5der and Supreme, Fanatics and Leaf.

The deal with Dang, a legendary Houston-based jeweler with celebrity clients across music and professional athletics, allows A&P to help athletes get the stylish, trending bling they prefer at a fair price.

“I always ask myself what brands, products, or services my athletes are already spending their own money on,” Aguilera said. “I pay close attention to what they value, and that guides the partnerships we pursue. We’ve even collaborated with Wiz Khalifa, from promoting his music to having our athletes appear in movies. Our goal is to help athletes turn the things they already love and invest in into real business opportunities

“We have consistently scouted, signed and retained the top talent in college football. Many would say we have built one of the strongest pipelines to the next level. Our ability to secure the most lucrative contracts for our athletes, supported by nationwide relationships with programs and unmatched marketing partnerships, has cemented us as the premier agency in this space.”

A&P also helps athletes with financial guidance for how to save and invest their money and comply with tax requirements.

“For young people dealing with businesses, we help them with financial education,” Piasecki said. “We can help with cars and jewelry, seeing things up, paying their taxes. We tell them tomorrow is never guaranteed.”

A&P represents athletes across the country, including Rutgers wide receiver DT Sheffield, who has caught 20 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns already this season after catching 66 passes for 822 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

Among the deals Sheffield has secured through A&P: Champion, Hyde Park, Johnny Dang, Sp5der and Topps.

“A&P has done a great job with athletes with NIL,” Sheffield told KPRC 2. “I knew A&P was a great fit for me when they constantly reached out to me not only about NIL but my outside of sports life. Everything they talked me about was true and straight forward. I thank them everyday for the relationship I have built with them. A&P have put me in the position to make constant income and also help me represent brands.

“They help me get noticed and get opportunities to build my brand with different businesses. I didn’t know a lot about NIL until I met A&P they done a great job with creating opportunities for me and my family. They stay in contact with their guys to make sure we are set in the long run.”

Emmanuel Henderson Jr. is a Kansas wide receiver and A&P client who has caught 23 passes for 435 yards and four touchdowns this season in a breakout year.

“Just the connection and the relationship I’ve built with the team have been amazing,” Henderson told KPRC 2. “Finding brands that fits me and the brands that will help grow my own brand, the NIL experience has been great. The biggest guidance and all about saving and investing your money!”

LSU senior defensive lineman Bernard Gooden, a South Florida transfer and A&P client, has forced one fumble this season. He recorded 35 tackles last season and recovered two fumbles.

“A&P welcomed me as a family member instead of a business partner and that means a lot in this day and age,” Gooden told KPRC 2. “A&P has unlimited resources ranging from getting you help with a LLC, taxes, and the best NIL deals. They just educated me on all aspects of the business that goes in football.

“I would describe it as a wonderful experience from the communication aspect to even getting you involved and telling you what colleges like and don’t like. Just, overall, getting the hard questions answered, which makes your life easier as a student-athlete.”

In the last NCAA college football transfer portal cycle, A&P secured over $17 million collectively for its clients.

There’s a personal touch, though, to all of the business conducted.

The athletes are all treated as people, not just a number on the back of a jersey, or how much value they have in the boardroom and on the field.

“Relationships are everything in this business,” Aguilera said. “The No. 1 thing is listening to the client. If you can’t listen to the client and don’t know what they need or their goals are, you don’t have anything. The main thing is listening. Our job as an agency once you know where they want to go, is to get them there. It’s an obvious thing, a step everyone should do, but it’s easy to assume.

“Each athlete is unique. Once you understand that, getting them from point A to point Z becomes a lot easier. That goes with the brand partnerships, their contracts, every aspect of NIL. Some things might not be as important to some athletes. Some might be very interested in another category of the business. All have unique situations. Our job is to get them to where they want to go.”

How does A&P figure out what an athlete is worth to particular colleges?

How does A&P determine what is the best situation for an athlete in the transfer portal?

How does A&P, essentially, know the shot, and then apply that information?

“Absolutely right,” said Piasecki, who graduated from Texas A&M with a physics degree. “We do have a data-driven approach on the portal. Over the last several years, we’ve accumulated data on the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, FCS on what they should make as a starter, a backup, a rotation guy. We use that to guide our guys. We use that to help guide our clients. Once we go through data and social media and explore options and market value, we use the relationships to determine what school is best fit. what marketing is the best fit. We’ve talked to a lot of CEOs. We’ve talked to a lot of general managers. We’ve talked to a lot of head coaches like Lane Kiffin and Jon Sumrall.

“I think they appreciate how we do business. The worst thing for a GM is dealing with someone with no context to the space. When it comes to our relationships we’ve established in this space, we look at the offers and we’re able to dissect it all. All of our guys want to go to the NFL. We don’t sign guys who don’t want to go to the NFL. We want to sign the best athletes in college and maximize their value and fulfill their dreams.”

In the NIL space, A&P has roughly 150 clients. The majority of them are college football players. The rest are in basketball, volleyball, golf and coaching.

The ties to Houston are strong, including A&P director of scouting Will Scott, a Sugar Land native who majored in broadcasting at Syracuse and has a Master’s degree from Arizona State. Scott is an NFLPA-certified agent.

Jason Bloom is a University of Miami law school graduate who’s an acquisition and negotiating specialist and agent for the firm, which has 55 starters on its roster with 105 Power Four conference players. Among the deals he helped navigate: Georgia Tech strong safety Clayton Powell-Lee as he considered his options as a potential transfer before deciding to remain in Atlanta for an increase in pay.

“It’s a strong book of business,” Aguilera said.

What are the next steps for A&P?

They’re contemplating getting into NFL athlete representation.

“We definitely are considering it,” Aguilera said. “The way we got into NIL is because these college athletes came to me and Jacob asking for our assistance. That’s how the company got started is because we had relationships with college athletes, especially at Texas A&M. We always put the athletes at the forefront. It does make a lot of sense for us to make that jump. Our main focus is to maximize opportunities.

“What we have always visualized is being able to see, 20, 30 years from now that they’re financially stable and things are going good from a life standpoint. Now, we’re in a position where a lot of clients are asking us to represent them at the next level. That’s not off the table. We’re listening to our clients. Less than two percent of college athletes make it to the NFL. That’s why we don’t represent Average Joes. We represent the best college athletes in the country who have a higher chance than two percent. For them asking us to take that jump, we’re definitely considering it.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com