Watch: Alabama's Nick Saban proves to be a hypocrite while calling out SEC rival over NIL deals
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is not handling the NIL era very well. In fact, this is the first time I think I've seen the legendary head coach in panic mode. Saban made an appearance on Wednesday night in Birmingham, AL to speak to over a hundred local business leaders. And it didn't […]
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is not handling the NIL era very well.
In fact, this is the first time I think I've seen the legendary head coach in panic mode.
Saban made an appearance on Wednesday night in Birmingham, AL to speak to over a hundred local business leaders. And it didn't take long for Saban to get on the topic of NIL deals.
"You read about it, you know who they are," said Saban. "We were second in recruiting last year. [Texas] A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image, and likeness."
“We didn’t buy one player. Aight? But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough.”
“We have a rule right now that said you cannot use name, image, and likeness to entice a player to come to your school," added Saban. "Hell, read about it in the paper. I mean, Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school. It was in the paper and they bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it.”
Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders quickly fired back at Saban.
Last summer, Saban was bragging about how much Alabama quarterback Bryce Young was earning in NIL deals. But now that other programs are using NIL to their advantage, Saban suddenly seems to have a problem with it.
Sure, Saban wasn't saying that Alabama paid Young to come to Tuscaloosa. But if Young wasn't earning a significant amount of cash from NIL deals at Alabama, there's a decent chance he'd hit the portal and go somewhere that paid him seven figures.
It's clear that Saban is concerned about NIL deals. And it's all because these NIL deals level the playing field in recruiting — something that's ultimately a good thing for college football.
The biggest threat to college football isn't players getting paid or the transfer portal, it's the lack of parity in the sport. The College Football Playoff is one of the most boring post-season events in sports. Most playoff games — which usually include Alabama or Ohio State — end up being non-watchable blowouts. NIL deals can help ensure that talent is distributed more evenly throughout college football.
Saban doesn't want to see that. He doesn't like that other programs can publicly funnel money to players, even though major programs have secretly been doing it for years.
I'm not sure I've seen a more arrogant display of ego than what we saw from Saban on Wednesday night in Birmingham. He sounds like a man who thinks he's above the sport and can control what other programs do.
Saban might be the best coach to ever stalk the sidelines in college football, but he's not above the sport. His hypocritical comments, combined with his pompous attempt to halt NIL deals from happening, are ultimately bad for the sport.
Featured image via Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
