Former college football superstar throws shade at Nick Saban
Former USC running back/Heisman Trophy winner (late vacated) Reggie Bush threw some major shade at former Alabama head coach Nick Saban on Friday. Bush suggested that Saban didn't have what it takes to be great in the NIL/transfer portal era and that's why he's hanging it up at 72 years old. “NIL ran him away, […]
Former USC running back/Heisman Trophy winner (late vacated) Reggie Bush threw some major shade at former Alabama head coach Nick Saban on Friday.
Bush suggested that Saban didn't have what it takes to be great in the NIL/transfer portal era and that's why he's hanging it up at 72 years old.
“NIL ran him away, he has no more control over 5 star recruits,” said Bush in an Instagram comment. “The playing field is level and he can’t handle that.”
There's no doubt that coaching styles have evolved over the years. And the NIL/transfer portal era has further changed the way coaches interact with players. If players don't like the way a coach is talking to them, they can simply transfer elsewhere.
But I don't think that was a big issue at Alabama. Saban, and all of the elite programs, are recruiting players that want to be coached hard. And for the most part, those are the only players that are going to go on to have successful NFL careers. If a program loses a player because they felt the coaching was too hard, the head coach probably isn't too upset about it.
A far bigger issue is the difficulties of managing a roster in the current environment. It's a 24/7/365 job with recruiting, transfers, and NIL deals. And it's leveled the playing field across college football. It no longer takes three years of recruiting classes to build a program. A savvy approach to the portal can lead to incredibly quick turnarounds.
While Bush is probably right that Saban's had to alter his approach with players a bit later in his career, let's not forget that he took Alabama to the College Football Playoff in his final season as a head coach. It's not like he was going 8-5 every year in his later years. He was still at the top of the sport.
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