You Handle
the Contract.
I Handle
Everything Else.
Darron mentioned there is a business outside of sports. The off the field issues. And more importantly, opportunities.
I'm your guy.
The moment Day 1 named the gap, I knew exactly what I was looking at — because since 2011 I've been looking to build the solution.
You Focus on What
You Do Best.
I Handle the Rest.
Deryk, you've spent 20+ years fighting for your athletes at the contract table. The daily demands of managing a man's life, image, relationships, NIL strategy, and mental state are real — and they pull your attention from the work that actually requires your expertise. That's my role.
Day 1 Sports
Deryk Gilmore — What you do- Playing contract negotiation & legal representation
- Free agency strategy & league compliance
- Trade decisions & roster management
- NIL deal structuring & legal review
- Dispute resolution & athlete advocacy
- Building the relationships that get deals done
Donald Gibson
Outside The Lines — What I handle- Day-to-day athlete life management & support
- Endorsement identification, negotiation & brand campaigns
- NIL brand strategy, content creation & deal alignment
- Purpose coaching, identity work & accountability
- Social media strategy & public image management
- Athlete storytelling — writing their brand narrative
- Charity, appearances & community engagement
- 24/7 availability — the 2am calls nobody plans for
- Winning the families — the real gatekeepers
"The things you don't have time for, or would rather not be doing because you could be doing better things — that's exactly what I'm there for. You handle the contract. I handle off field things to protect the contract."
— Donald GibsonEvery Player Has a Brand.
I Help Them Own It.
NIL changed everything — but most college athletes have no idea how to use it. They don't know how to tell their story, how to show up on social media, or how to attract even the small local and regional deals that can still help bring income. They're leaving money and opportunity on the table every day.
That's where I come in. I don't just work with the five-star prospects. I work with the player with the smaller player — who needs someone to help him shape his narrative, build his brand, and position himself for smaller opportunities that may exist. Or simply build his brand so that when sport is over, he can land a great career after.
Brand Story & Identity First
Before any deal, an athlete needs to know who he is and what he stands for. I use Outside The Lines — grounded in positive psychology and meaning-based coaching — to help college athletes define their values and build an authentic identity that brands actually want to align with.
Social Media as a Portfolio
Social isn't just content — it's a live resume for NIL. I help athletes treat their platforms intentionally: consistent voice, on-brand content, and the kind of storytelling that shows brands exactly who they're aligning with.
The Writing Behind the Brand
As a TV writer and curriculum developer, I know how to shape a narrative. I write the bios, the campaign pitches, commercials, the brand one-pagers — the words that make an athlete's story land with sponsors, brands, and audiences. Most athletes don't have someone in their corner who can actually write. I can.
Small Deals Are Still Deals
A regional restaurant, a local apparel brand, a fitness company — these deals matter. They build the portfolio, the habits, and the relationships that lead to bigger ones. I identify and pursue NIL opportunities at every level, not just the headline-grabbing ones, because I understand that brand alignment and business experience compound over time.
What I Handle
Every Single Day.
Endorsements — Start to Finish
I help identify, vet, pitch, negotiate, and manage endorsement and brand partnership deals. I match athletes to brands that align with their identity and long-term goals — not just the biggest check. I've already built full campaign decks for Red Bull and Nike from scratch.
Brand Campaigns, Content & Social
I've written commercial scripts, built campaign narratives, and developed social media strategies independently. As a TV writer, I bring a storyteller's eye to athlete brand content — I build the story arc that makes an athlete's brand feel real, consistent, and compelling to sponsors.
Purpose Coaching & Identity Work
Certified through the World Coach Institute, Gottman Institute, SYMBIS (Save Your Marriage Before It Starts), and PositivePsychology.com (Mastering Positive Psychology & Meaning and Valued Living Masterclass). I lead athletes through the Outside The Lines curriculum — 12 weeks of structured purpose discovery built on positive psychology frameworks that answer: who are you when the game is over?
Athlete Storytelling & Narrative
Every athlete has a story — most just don't know how to tell it. As a writer, I help athletes shape and communicate their personal narrative across platforms, bios, pitches, and media. A powerful story is the difference between an athlete who attracts brands and one who waits for them.
Athlete Performance Management
Biannual assessments of each athlete's career plan, performance environment, professional network, and personal goals.
24/7 Support & Crisis Prevention
I'm the athlete's first call — available around the clock for personal crises, transitions, relationship challenges, and daily pressure. I come in before the mistake. Before the headline. I'm also there after the headline.
Why This Partnership
Makes Day 1 Stronger.
You Protect the Investment
I'm the infrastructure that keeps your roster's value intact.
You Differentiate the Agency
Offering athletes complete life, identity, and NIL brand management — not just contract work — is a competitive advantage. Elite athletes choose agents who see them as whole people.
Your College Athletes Are Ready for NIL
Most college athletes don't know how to build a brand or attract deals. I get them ready — story, social, and strategy — so when NIL opportunities arrive, Day 1's athletes are already positioned to win them.
You Win the Families
Mothers, fathers, and inner circles are the real gatekeepers. When they see someone who genuinely cares about the athlete as a human being — they choose Day 1, and they stay.
You Get a Writer in the Room
TV writer. Curriculum developer. Brand strategist. I write the pitches, bios, campaign decks, and content strategies that make Day 1's athletes look like the brands they're becoming — not just players looking for deals.
You Build Brands That Outlast Careers
Athletes who know their purpose become assets that compound over time — for your roster, your brand partners, and Day 1's long-term reputation.
I Didn't Wait for a Title
to Start Building.
Every proposal, campaign, and curriculum below was built independently — before anyone hired me. This is the standard I bring to Day 1 on day one.
Outside The Lines — College & Pro Edition
A complete 12-week athlete development program. Purpose discovery, identity coaching, accountability framework, and life design for college and professional athletes.
View Full Proposal →Red Bull Athlete Marketing Proposal
A full campaign proposal — athlete partnership strategy, campaign tagline, commercial script, and brand alignment narrative. Written independently from scratch.
View Full Proposal →Nike Partnership Proposal
A full brand partnership deck — campaign concept, athlete brand alignment, narrative positioning, and creative direction built independently from scratch.
View Full Proposal →Inside My Creative Mind
Commercial scripts, social media campaigns, brand narratives, and athlete storytelling — the full range of creative writing work I bring to athlete brand management.
View Creative Work →Your P.L.A.N. Program & Outside The Lines —
Built for the Same Man.
Day 1's P.L.A.N. program prepares athletes for life after sports. Outside The Lines is the 12-week identity and purpose curriculum that helps that transition stick. These aren't competing programs — they're a continuum.
Day 1's P.L.A.N.
Your post-career transition program- Prepares athletes for life after sports
- Career transition support & planning
- Leadership identity development
- Network building outside the locker room
- Financial literacy & life navigation
Outside The Lines
Donald Gibson's athlete development curriculum- 12-week purpose discovery & identity framework
- Coaching athletes to know who they are beyond sport
- Meaning & value-living work — tools from positive psychology
- Accountability structures & goal architecture
- Brand & narrative building for life beyond the game
- The mindset work that makes P.L.A.N. actually land
OTL is the identity groundwork that helps your P.L.A.N. program stick. You hand a man a plan — I make sure he has the purpose to follow it. Together, we give athletes the complete picture.
Purpose Is the
First Line of Defense.
Most athlete off-field problems don't start with a bad decision. They start with a man who doesn't know who he is without the sport. Remove the structure of a season, the identity of a jersey, the clarity of a game plan — and you have a man who's vulnerable. That's when trouble finds him. We have to make sure he knows who he is so that he clearly knows what is affected by his decisions.
Outside The Lines interrupts that pattern before it starts. Using frameworks from positive psychology — specifically meaning and value-living — athletes discover who they are beyond their sport. When a man knows his purpose, his values, and the life he's building, he has something to protect. He makes different choices. Once engrained in him, he thinks before making the 2am decisions that end up on the front page.
This isn't motivation. This is structured identity work backed by positive psychology training. And it is the single most effective preventative tool a sports agency can offer the men on its roster.
What an Identity Crisis Costs:
- Endorsement deals lost overnight
- Brand equity built over years — erased
- Agency reputation on the line
- Families caught in the fallout
- A player who needed someone paying attention
I'm the one paying attention. Every day.
I Always Wanted to Be
in Athletes' Corners.
Just Not at the Contract Table.
Since high school, I wanted to be in sports management. I had the chance to learn under agents like Bus Cook. But the closer I got, the clearer it became — my calling was never in the contract room. It was in the conversations no one was having.
What troubled me wasn't so much whether athletes were getting paid fairly. It was whether they knew who they were when the lights went off. Whether they had someone in their corner when the cameras stopped. Whether they had purpose beyond the game — because purpose is what keeps a man grounded when pressure tries to break him.
So I spent years building that. Missing The Pieces. Outside The Lines. Four platforms. Five coaching certifications — including two courses from PositivePsychology.com: Mastering Positive Psychology and the Meaning and Valued Living Masterclass. A curriculum that answers the question nobody was asking: who are you outside of sports?
Deryk, Day 1 is the agency where this work belongs. You've built the machine that fights for athletes on the field. I'm the person who fights for them everywhere else. The good thing is, your heart is already there for them outside the lines. Let me aid you in making that impact bigger.
"My goal was never to be the agent in a grimy contract talk. It was to be the agent in the honest conversation — the one that actually changes a life."
— Donald GibsonThe Contracts Are Covered.
Let Me free up your time by taking the rest off your hands.
Day 1 has the contracts. I have everything Outside The Lines. Let's talk.
Email Donald → dg.missingthepieces@gmail.com Donald Gibson · Outside The Lines · Missing The Pieces · Atlanta, GA