Saban: NIL lets teams “buy players”
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. » Nick Saban’s willingness to adapt and often be a catalyst for change in college football, both on the field and off, has propelled Alabama to six national championships in 13 seasons.
The 70-year-old coach is confident his program will continue to thrive during this new era of college athletics, with players having more opportunities to earn money than ever before and more power to determine where they play.
But the current state of college football has Saban concerned.
“I don’t think what we’re doing right now is a sustainable model,” Saban told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
That’s a common theme among coaches these days, with Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Southern California’s Lincoln Riley among the most prominent who have echoed Saban’s sentiments. The combination of empowered athletes and easily accessible paydays is changing the way coaches go about their business.
The uncertainty comes with the NCAA in a weakened state following last year’s Supreme Court loss and in the midst of a dramatic restructuring. Schools and the NCAA itself would prefer federal legislation to regulate how athletes are compensated for their names, images and likenesses, but when that might come and in what form is unknown.
That has led to concerns about vast sums of money flowing in and around college athletics, including brazen entities called collectives put together by well-heeled donors whose donations have traditionally funded everything from lavish facilities to multimillion-dollar buyouts of fired coaches around Power Five conferences.
“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.”
Paying a player to attend a particular school is still a violation of NCAA rules, but NIL deals have quickly become intertwined with recruiting — both high school prospects and the growing number of college transfers.
“But that creates a situation where you can basically buy players,” Saban said. “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.”
Riley told reporters last week NIL has “completely changed” recruiting.
“I think that anybody that cares about college football is not real pleased with that because that wasn’t the intention,” said Riley, who is in his first season at Southern California after five years at Oklahoma. “And I’m sure, at some point, there is going to be a market correction if you will, with recruiting.”