Colorado State’s football program is distancing itself from efforts to push the boundaries of name, image and likeness funding in an otherwise exceptional partnership, according to a report from Sports Illustrated.

Former assistant coach Trevor Reilly told SI that he traveled to the Middle East during the past holiday season to try to secure funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) for the Buffaloes’ NIL program.

Reilly resigned as the team’s special teams coordinator on August 1. In his resignation letter to Colorado athletic director Rick George and head coach Deion Sanders, Reilly claimed that he was responsible for NIL operations in addition to his special teams duties and expressed frustration with efforts to raise funds. Ultimately, those efforts failed due to a lack of support from the athletic department.

Reilly further stated that he acted on his own, “did nothing illegal” and was not asked to use these revenue streams for NIL, a statement confirmed by Colorado’s athletic department to AJ Perez of Front Office Sports.

“According to Trevor Reilly himself, he acted on his own initiative and is no longer an employee of the university,” a department spokesperson said in an email to Perez.

Blueprint Sports, which operates Colorado’s NIL collective 5430 Alliance among 26 other schools, told Front Office Sports that it was also unaware of Reilly’s efforts and that they had nothing to do with contacting a sovereign wealth fund.

Although the football staff, athletic department and NIL collective may not have been aware of Reilly’s specific outreach to Saudi Arabia and his Mormon contacts, there was an initiative to find other sources for NIL funding because Colorado cannot rely on supporters, donors, alumni and fans alone to match the revenue of the nation’s top college football programs. Seeking funding outside the country was certainly an unusual — and in this case, controversial — path.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is backed by the government of Saudi Arabia, is perhaps best known in the United States for its funding of LIV Golf. It is also a shareholder in Chelsea and Newcastle United and owns several international professional soccer clubs. The PIF has also made efforts to invest in the PGA Tour, as well as holdings in professional tennis and Formula 1.

These efforts have been criticized by some as “sportswashing,” an attempt to cover up the Saudi government’s human rights abuses with “blood money,” given where the money comes from. Similar accusations have previously been made against China and Russia for hosting the Olympics, and against Qatar for hosting the soccer World Cup.

With a possible partnership with Saudi Arabia being pursued to fund the NIL, reception by fans, media, alumni, supporters and university officials will likely determine whether there will be more offers in the future, whether again from Colorado or from another athletic program looking to narrow the gap on the elite powers in college football.