Legendary college football coach Nick Saban retired in January, leaving behind one of the greatest legacies and résumés in the sport's history. But since retiring, the former Alabama football head coach has consistently spoken out about his distaste for the state of college football.
Over the past two months, Saban has explained that he retired, in part, because of the takeover of name, image, and likeness (NIL) in the sport, saying that many players now only care about how much they can make. During a roundtable today hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz, which also included Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, among others, Saban touched on his NIL position once again.
“This isn't a secret at this point, but when Nick Saban was asked what role NIL and the current climate played in his retirement, he said: ‘All the things I believed in for all these years of coaching, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics,'” the Washington Post's Jesse Dougherty tweeted.
Ted Cruz is hosting a roundtable on college sports this morning, which will include Nick Saban, Alabama AD Greg Byrne, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, Haley and Hanna Cavinder, NIL lawyer Darren Heitner and Russell White, president of The Collective Association.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) March 12, 2024
During the same discussion, Saban said his wife had also raised concerns about the attitude of players in this era of NIL.
“Nick Saban said his wife, Terry, came to him before his retirement and told him, ‘Why are we doing this?' She told him that the players now only care about how much money they are making,” Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger tweeted.
Opposing NIL or the way it is currently applied is not unique to Saban; numerous coaches and media members have similarly voiced concerns since it became legal under NCAA rules in 2021. However, proponents of NIL argue that coaches, including Saban, who signed an eight-year, $93.6 million extension with Alabama in 2022, have long benefited from the lucrative nature of college athletics and that the athletes are more than deserving of making considerable money as well.
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