When we think of NIL, it usually brings to mind college athletes. High school sports rarely enter that conversation, but that is beginning to change. While most 16-year-olds are still chasing their first major scholarship offer or trying to break into a varsity lineup, Ohio State target Jermaine Cobbins of Springfield, Tennessee, has already made history by signing with Nike. The company has partnered with younger athletes in other sports before, but no football player his age has secured a deal with the brand until now.

According to ESPN recruiting reporter Eli Lederman, Cobbins is the youngest football player to sign a Nike NIL deal. Nike said it added 11 high school football players to its NIL roster this week. Cobbins stands out because he is one of only three juniors in the group.

That matters in Columbus. Cobbins already has an Ohio State offer, has visited the campus and has spoken about what stood out to him there. The 6-foot, 180-pound cornerback is ranked No. 25 overall, No. 3 at his position and the top player in Tennessee for 2028 by the 247Sports Composite. He was at Ryan Day’s camp last month.

“I think today was great, getting coached by Coach OG and Coach G,” he said in an interview with Buckeye Sports Bulletin.

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Ohio State extended its first offer to Cobbins on Nov. 19, 2025. That timeline lines up with a program that has worked with Nike for decades. The Buckeyes are one of Nike’s marquee football partners under a $252 million apparel deal that runs through 2033. Other Ohio State players, including receiver Chris Henry Jr., also have Nike NIL deals.

In Nike’s view, players like Cobbins show the direction football is moving.

“Nike’s football roster has always been defined by the athletes who are shaping where the game goes next,” Executive Vice President of global sports marketing Ann Miller said in a statement. “These signings reflect our commitment to serving the best football talent at every level with the support, innovation, and partnership they need to reach their full potential on the field and away from the game.”

Nike is not alone in this space. Adidas has aggressively built a presence in high school sports to counter Nike’s dominance in basketball and football by launching dedicated “High School NIL Classes.”

The company signed Kaleena Smith, a consensus top women’s basketball recruit in the class of 2027, making her the first female high school player to anchor its preps roster.

However, state high school athletic association rules and state laws ultimately determine whether a high school athlete can sign an NIL deal. Unlike college sports, where the NCAA maintains a relatively uniform, though loosely enforced, policy, high school NIL operates under a fragmented patchwork of local regulations. If an athlete signs a deal in a state that prohibits it, they immediately lose their high school eligibility and cannot compete.

As of 2026, more than 35 states and Washington, D.C., explicitly allow high school athletes to sign NIL deals. The remaining states are beginning to shift. Ohio, for example, previously banned such agreements, but a lawsuit and a temporary restraining order in late 2025 blocked the OHSAA from enforcing its longstanding rule against student-athlete endorsements.

In recent years, Nike has also signed high school athletes in soccer and track while they were still in their early teens. For a recruit like Cobbins, it’s hard to ignore that mix of elite coaching, NFL development and one of the strongest brand ties in college football. But the Nike deal didn’t happen just because he is highly ranked. He has the on-field work to back up the hype.

Ohio State sees the potential in Jermaine Cobbins

As a freshman at Springfield, Cobbins recorded 48 tackles, four interceptions, five pass breakups, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. He followed that with another strong sophomore year: 41 tackles, two forced fumbles, one interception and a fumble recovery. He also proved he can impact games on offense, catching 41 passes for 852 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His recruitment has taken off at the same pace. Cobbins went into last season with about 20 scholarship offers. That total has since grown past 40, after a summer that included visits to Texas A&M, LSU, Oregon and Ohio State.

“It’s been a fun summer, but it’s also been a busy and hard summer at the same time,” he said. “Since I’ve got two more years of high school ball left, my main thing was setting my visits on days when I didn’t have practice.”

With this deal, Cobbins steps into a Nike football group that includes Hall of Famers like Jerry Rice and Barry Sanders, plus current NFL stars and top college players. The recruiting race is not close to done. He still has two high school seasons to play before picking a college, and Ohio State will be among the programs pushing hardest to keep him in reach.