“The number one thing right now is legitimately your NIL payroll”: Rick Pitino’s son Richard talks about how coaching “profession has changed”

Rick Pitino's son Richard Pitino will embark on a new challenge in 2025-26 after he accepted the coaching job at Xavier. The former New Mexico coach spoke about the evolution of coaching in an interview with college basketball analyst Matt McCall in Monday's episode of "Off the Carousel" on "The Field of 68" media network.

McCall asked Pitino about the biggest difference from the first time he took over as coach at FIU and Minnesota to now heading the basketball program of Big East powerhouse Xavier. Pitino gave a candid reply, explaining that money rules nowadays.

"The profession has changed and what makes a job good or bad has changed," Pitino said (Timestamp 1:31). "The number one thing right now is legitimately your NIL payroll."

Richard Pitino recalled what coaches deemed important in the past and how things have changed in the present time.

"Where I think when we first started in this profession, or as a head coach I should say, the buzzwords were practice facility, chartered flights. Then it became along the journey - nutrition, mental health therapists, massage stuff - whatever it may be from there."

"And now it's NIL. It's what the kids are deciding [their] schools on. Will that change? I don't know. It's just the goalposts have been moved. It is what it is. But I think the profession has changed drastically."

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Comparing Rick Pitino and Richard Pitino's key transfer portal additions ahead of the 2025-26 NCAA season

Rick Pitino and Richard Pitino are navigating the NIL era of NCAA college basketball the best they can, bolstering their respective teams with key additions through the transfer portal ahead of the 2025-26 NCAA season.

Coach Richard Pitino at a press conference in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 22. Photo: Imagn

Rick Pitino's St. John's Red Storm have been busy adding new players following their successful campaign in the 2024-25 NCAA season, securing the commitments of Ian Jackson, Dylan Darling, Oziyah Sellers, Dillon Mitchell, Bryce Hopkins, Joson Sanon, and Handje Tamba.

The Xavier Musketeers have also strengthened Richard Pitino's lineup, adding Gabriel Pozzato, Malik Moore, Tre Carroll, Pape N'Diaye, Jovan Milicevic, Anthony Robinson, All Wright, and Filip Borovicanin. Pozzato impressed during his freshman season with the Evansville Purple Aces, averaging 14.9 points, 4.4 boards, and 1.3 dimes through 24 games.