COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gary Marcinick has always been a huge Ohio State University fan. He grew up idolizing Archie Griffin and later played wide receiver for OSU in the 1980s. He knows firsthand the grit and sacrifices it takes to be a college athlete.
He’s now an empty-nester and wants to give back to the university that gave him so much. With support from some big-name community leaders like Gary Nicklaus, Robert H. Schottenstein and Adam Griffin, he founded the Cohesion Foundation the week of OSU's spring game.
The nonprofit is the newest player in the name, image and likeness (NIL) space, acting as a conduit for connecting athletes to support local charities. This will provide charities with free marketing regarding their mission, purposes and events, and athletes will be paid by Cohesion for these services.
“It allows us to educate the students on the importance of giving back," Marcinick said. "Yes, they're being paid for their efforts. But at the same standpoint, it's ingraining habits, great habits and bringing awareness to them. They are in one way in such an enviable position that people really truly look up to them as role models. So if they can be a role model on the field, we would like to groom them to be role models in the community.”
In 2021, NCAA college student-athletes became eligible to monetize their brand. It’s one of the largest changes in 100 years in college sports. According to ncsasports.org, name, image and likeness are the three elements that make up “right of publicity," a legal concept used to prevent or allow the use of an individual to promote a product or service.
Since then NIL collectives have been popping up around the country. In Columbus, the Cohesion Foundation and THE Foundation are working to keep Ohio State competitive in the NIL race.
OSU football left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. said the NIL space allows him to use his brand for good and be a positive influence in the community.
“With great power comes great responsibility,” Johnson Jr. said. "I want to be that person that gives back and touches somebody else's life. I just wanted to be able to, I guess, spread positive influence, like, I feel like, my purpose here, honestly, is to use football, to be able to spread the word and the love of God.”
The NIL space is a new landscape. Marcinick wants Cohesion Foundation to be a leader in the NIL space and make OSU the gold standard of collectives around the United States. The nonprofit is not affiliated with Ohio State University but is a new official sponsor of the Buckeyes. They partnered with LEARFIELD, or Ohio State Sports Properties, meaning they can use Ohio State assets. Marcinick said they’re committed to being a transparent, compliant nonprofit in the NIL space.
And Cohesion doesn’t just support the notable. Their goal is to reach all athletes across all sports at OSU. By helping athletes, he wants to help charities and by helping the charities, he hopes to help the entire Columbus community.
"We're trying to create a buzz, a national buzz really that hey, if you, if you enroll at Ohio State, if you become an Ohio State student-athlete, there's going to be a lot of opportunities to do a lot of good work for local charities in the community as a whole,” Marcinick said.
Cohesion Foundation is a convergence of Marcinick’s passion for sports, Ohio State and volunteering. The Ohio State University has a lot going for it already. It’s a big college town with a lot of opportunities. Marcinick said the university already excels in many areas and he wants to build on that standard. His ultimate goal is to help OSU bring in excellence to keep the Buckeyes on top.
“I think we're all chasing the same thing and that's excellence, championships, pride, all of those things that bring good feelings,” Marcinick said. "Ohio State University is such an extraordinary place that does such exceptional work for so many people. At the end of the day we want to stay number 1, we want to compete for number 1. [We want] to keep Ohio State in very enviable positions to other universities across the country.”
Cohesion Foundation takes donations from individuals and corporations. For more information, you can visit here.