A hypothetical social media dare just became college football’s most fascinating experiment. It started with a random reel of what if MrBeast dropped $100 million into East Carolina Pirates football to fund their championship run. And then Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, reposted it with a casual “Should I do this?” question. And now, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt is publicly urging the YouTube megastar to follow through.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Do it. Donate the $100 million.” That was Joel Klatt’s immediate response on the February 16 episode of The Joel Klatt Show. “We’re on YouTube. You should absolutely do this.”
“I think it would be amazing, and we will celebrate that to no end because every program that commits to winning, I’m here for. It makes the sport better. The more programs that are all in, the better for college football.”
But Klatt didn’t just stop at the hype. He zoomed out and asked the uncomfortable question sitting underneath all of it.
“Can you just buy a championship in college football?” Then he walked it back just slightly. “Let’s take it down from a championship just a notch… can you level up? Can you be elite? Can you go to the College Football Playoff if you have invested $100 million into your program? The answer is yes. The answer is yes.”
“You can absolutely become a great program if you invest $100 million in your program. There is no doubt you can build a roster that can compete at the highest level.”
College football barely looks like what it was five years ago. The Texas Tech Red Raiders football team has a billionaire backing. Nike is essentially funding Dan Lanning’s Oregon every year. The USC Trojans are building facilities in Los Angeles that look like NFL headquarters. Texas was projected to roll out the sport’s first $40 million roster in 2025.
NIL cracked everything open in 2021, and suddenly, money is making headlines. So, when MrBeast reposted that reel asking if he should drop $100 million into ECU, it was the logical next step in a sport that’s already heading toward an arms race.
What makes the East Carolina angle captivating is that Jimmy grew up in Greenville. But he never actually went to ECU. He went to Greenville Christian Academy High School, graduated in 2016, and basically soaked up that college-town culture that’s all about ECU.
And then there’s how he’s already shown up. The $2.6 billion social media star has filmed at ECU in his track rental video, a $54,000 temporary hearing aid clinic, and even a $20,000 giveaway to a student in 2023.
So he’s worked with the university before. And on the field, Blake Harrell is definitely building something. The Pirates are 14-5 since he took over in the middle of the 2024 season, with back-to-back Military Bowl wins. But here’s the kicker: money alone doesn’t make the magic happen. We’ve seen it.
Can you buy a championship?
The Indiana Hoosiers provide a compelling counterargument to the “money equals titles” debate. Zero five-star recruits and a talent mix ranked 72nd nationally. They had just one top-100 transfer. An 8% blue-chip ratio in a sport where previous champions had above 50%. And yet, they had a perfect 16-0 season and a national championship. So definitely money can elevate you. But it surely can’t make plays on the field.
That’s where this whole thing circles back to the Pirates and Blake Harrell. Because if Indiana proved anything, it’s that the right coach with the right infrastructure can flip anything.
Harrell’s impact is undeniable. In 2025, the Pirates ranked in the top 25 nationally in 15 different categories, a testament to their balanced play. The offense put up 32.7 points per game, while the defense was the stingiest it’s been since 1999, allowing only 20.1 points per contest. This on-field success has translated to individual accolades, with seventeen players earning All-American Conference selections under his leadership.
But here’s the tension. Veteran players have moved on, leaving holes in the roster. QB Katin Houser transferred to Illinois. Star RB London Montgomery headed to Florida. And there are two First-Team All-Conference players gone. That’s pretty much the reality. You build it, and if you can’t financially reinforce it, someone else will.
Harrell surely has the mindset. The culture is there, too. The board just extended him through 2030 at $1.5 million per year because they believe in the direction. Who else can help the program? MrBeast.
