Legendary Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban attended an NIL-focused round table in Washington D.C. hosted by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday.
Most of the discussions during the round table centered around the current landscape of NIL in college sports as well as the potential for college athletes to become employees. During his speaking portions, Saban had much to say about the current landscape of college football.
Former Alabama Crimson Tide HC Nick Saban says college football is all about money now
Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban was asked about the current college sports landscape by U.S. Senator Ted Manchin. Saban went on to say in his response that college sports have become monetarily focused in an article from On3.
“It’s whoever wants to pay, the most money raised, the most money to buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win,” he said.
Saban went on to say that the current landscape of college sports has changed the importance of the values held by himself throughout his storied career as a college football coach.
“Well, all the things I believed in for all these years of coaching, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics,” the former Alabama head coach said Tuesday.
Saban’s solution to the current landscape of college football involves revenue sharing instead of old-fashioned employment. Despite being against employment, he said that the system set up by the NFL has parity.
“They still have name, image and likeness opportunities,” Nick Saban said. “They can still do name, image and likeness. They still have those opportunities. But it’s not going to be created. It’s going to be something that they all earned.
“In other words, I’m not really for collectives. I respect what these folks over here do. But I think those funds should go to the institution. Not to create opportunities.
“I think the system that we have in the NFL, where players are employees would be better than the system that we have now because at least it creates parity,” Saban said.
A player Saban recruited, cornerback Caleb Downs, left for the Ohio State Buckeyes after Saban retired. His NIL valuation was just under $1 million, and he was part of a reported $10 to $13 million in NIL money spent by the Buckeyes this offseason.
Fans are calling former Alabama Crimson Tide HC Nick Saban a hypocrite for his stance on paying players
Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban has been vocal about the state of college football and NIL since his retirement. Many fans are interpreting Saban’s anti-NIL stance as one that is against paying players at all.
Many fans find this interpretation of Saban’s stance hypocritical as Saban was the highest-paid coach in college football when he retired. His most recent contract, which was signed in August of 2022, was an eight-year contract valued at $93.6 million, according to Tuscaloosa News.
Had he continued to coach through 2030, he would’ve made $12.7 million for the 2029 season. He was the highest-paid coach in college football for 2022 and 2023, and many fans are quick to point that out when discussing his stance on NIL.
Hypocrisy at its finest. When other programs started doing what saban was and paid players he retired and has issues with it now. Oh the irony lol 😆
— Vi$0R (@ViS0rB2B) March 12, 2024
THIS IS RICH COMING FROM NICK SABAN LMAOO
— V͎O͎L͎d͎e͎m͎o͎r͎t͎ (@vo_ldemort) March 12, 2024
“Good for me but not for thee”
— Drew (@drewdamn87) March 12, 2024
He’s so bitter that other teams are able to get good players now days. lol. When they were at their height… he had an NFL team, and everybody else had a college team. It was bad for the sport. In the nfl, they don’t give 1 team 20 1st round picks every draft.
— Dillon (@dgtechllc) March 12, 2024
The round table concluded around noon on Tuesday. The whole thing can be watched on Senator Cruz’s YouTube channel.
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