Over the past decade, the July 4th and post–July 4th stretch has become one of the most important recruiting periods in college football. It now rivals signing day and early December in terms of decisions, movement, and long-term implications. Just this past weekend, several Top 30 prospects announced their commitments, including Top 10 offensive tackle Felix Ojo, who reportedly signed one of the largest NIL–Revenue Sharing deals in the sport to stay in-state at Texas Tech.
Recruiting has changed more than any other part of college football. It is now a 12-month media circus. With NIL, revenue sharing, and social media colliding all at once, what used to be a behind-the-scenes process has become public, expensive, and relentless.
There are massive message boards with thousands of users tracking every cryptic emoji a recruit posts. Social media influencers have turned commitment announcements into a genre. Agents or handlers often shape the information cycle. The recruits themselves are very online, teasing decisions and building hype. Bragging rights, program perception, and actual roster construction now hinge on what happens during these moments, not just the games.
The Rise of On3 and the Shannon Terry Effect
At the forefront of this new ecosystem is On3, the digital headquarters for modern recruiting coverage. And at the center of it all is Shannon Terry.
Terry is not new to this space. In fact, he is the reason it exists in the form we know today. On3 is just his latest project in a 25-year run that includes creating or co-creating every major player in the recruiting media world.
On3 is built for the NIL era. It hosts many of the top recruiting insiders like Steve Wiltfong, Chad Simmons, and Hayes Fawcett. It provides tools like the recruiting prediction machine and NIL valuation trackers. It has message boards with legit insider scoops and fan rumors about what dealership a recruit was spotted at. In every way, it reflects where college sports is today.
Terry’s track record speaks for itself. He co-founded Rivals in the early 2000s, revived it after the dot-com crash, and led it to a nine-figure sale to Yahoo. He followed that by founding 247Sports in 2010, growing it rapidly, and selling it to CBS within five years. Both platforms introduced new standards for rankings, community building, and insider coverage.
Then in 2021, with NIL exploding and college sports being completely reshaped, Terry launched On3. It was not just another recruiting site. It was purpose-built for this new world, where recruiting is not just about stars but about dollars, brands, and digital influence.
On3 includes NIL valuation tools, athlete branding profiles, and direct support for programs navigating this new space. The site’s social presence is enormous, with commitment edits, graphics, and real-time recruiting buzz filling every timeline. As of this spring, On3 officially absorbed Rivals, a full-circle moment for Terry and the empire he has built.
The Media Empire of Recruiting
What Terry created with Rivals and 247Sports was already foundational. But On3 feels different. It is not just reporting on the recruiting world. It is actively shaping it.
The site drives conversations, boosts prospects’ visibility, and even impacts their marketability. Between NIL valuations, commitment videos, fan engagement, and constant buzz, On3 operates as a combined media outlet, data hub, and influencer network.
This isn’t to say it is perfect. It reflects the chaos of modern college football, which is to say it is fragmented, fast-moving, and more transactional than ever. But it is also undeniably the most complete tool fans, recruits, and programs have at their disposal.
Final Thought: The Constant in a Changing Game
From fax machines and local beat writers to NIL collectives and recruiting prediction algorithms, the entire process has been transformed. But the one constant through it all is Shannon Terry.
He did not just ride the wave. He built the surfboard.
In a sport that is changing faster than ever, he remains the person most responsible for how we follow, talk about, and understand college football recruiting in 2025.
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