Nick Saban has been in the college game for quite some time now. He's won seven National Championships and has lived through tons of changes including the addition of the College Football Playoffs and the transfer portal.
However, the legendary coach says the current state of the sport is 'unsustainable' in large part due to the transfer portal and NIL rules, which according to Saban, creates a situation where you can basically "buy" players to come to your school.
During an interview with the Associated Press, Saban said the lack of rules and supervision surrounding the ways athletes can make money through endorsements has created a sort of "free agency" in college football.
Saban is of course referencing the Name, Image, and Likeness rule which allows college athletes to sign endorsement deals with different companies for profit. The NCAA finally acquiesced after a number of states passed laws that would have allowed college athletes to earn money from sponsorships
The 70-year-old coach claims the new rule is the main reason more and more players are transferring at a record clip to see where they can make the most money at.
"The concept of name, image and likeness was for players to be able to use their name, image and likeness to create opportunities for themselves. That’s what it was,” Saban said. “So last year on our team, our guys probably made as much or more than anybody in the country.”
“But that creates a situation where you can basically buy players. You can do it in recruiting. I mean, if that’s what we want college football to be, I don’t know. And you can also get players to get in the transfer portal to see if they can get more someplace else than they can get at your place.”
Although Saban's remarks indicate that he is against NIL deals, he did mention how his program benefited from it directly, noting that Alabama players likely made more money than any other program in the country.
Saban is not the first coach to critic the current landscape of college football. Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fischer went on a viral tirade following signing day, ripping the media for claiming NIL deals played a large role in the Aggies earning the No. 1 recruiting class for 2022.
“There is no $30 million fund. There is no $5 million. There is no $10 million. This is garbage, OK? It pisses me off,” Fisher said in his signing day news conference in February. “It comes from a site called ‘Bro Bible’ by a guy named ‘SlicedBread’ and then everybody runs with it. So it’s written on the internet and it’s gospel. How irresponsible is that?”
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Coaches' concerns seem legitimate since the way they've been recruiting for years was overhauled in a single summer. However, these same college coaches have had the freedom of movement and ability to peruse opportunities and deals with companies, which makes some of their complaints very ironic.
Changes are already being discussed with NCAA President Mark Emmert calling on Congress to "find a single legal model by which NIL and other relationships with student-athletes can be regulated" due to different states having different NIL laws. So now only time will tell when the new wild west atmosphere of college football is finally regulated to even the playing field between the have and have nots.
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Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
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