Nick Saban is no stranger to Capitol Hill, so his attendance at a roundtable organized by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was almost expected.
The retiring Alabama football coach joined Crimson Tide athletics director Greg Byrne for a conversation on the future of collegiate athletics. It is part of an ongoing fruitless effort to enact a national law governing athlete compensation and name, image, and likeness regulations.
This multiyear endeavor has yet to result in a measure that has reached the floor of Congress. It’s been framed as an existential issue for collegiate athletics as schools and athletes navigate an increasingly unregulated market.
While there were other panelists, including ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, NIL attorney Darren Heitner, and the president of a collective bargaining group, Saban appeared to receive the majority of the questions.
His responses, for the most part, were consistent with earlier pronouncements on these topics. Saban is not against NIL, but he is opposed to how collectives have altered the game.
“The whole idea of boosters being able to donate to collectives, which basically establishes a pay-for-play mentality,” Saban stated while sitting next to Byrne, who was wearing a button with the emblem of Alabama’s official collective on his suit jacket. “I don’t believe it is in the best interests of collegiate athletics in the future, nor of the participants—the student-athletes themselves. It does not help them create value for their future, as we have all worked hard to achieve for many years.
Cruz, a leading member of the Senate Commerce Committee, came right out and asked Saban the subject that has dominated the discourse since his retirement on January 10.
Did the current chaos in collegiate athletics influence his decision to stand down?
“All of the things I believed in during my 50 years of coaching are no longer there in college athletics. So the goal was always to develop guys. It was always about helping others achieve greater success in life.
“My wife even told me that we had all of the recruits over on Sunday, and she would always meet with the mothers to discuss how she was going to help impact their sons and ensure that they were well cared for. She approached me just before I retired and said, “Why are we doing this?” I responded, “What do you mean?” She said, “All they worry about is how much you’re going to pay them.” They don’t care how much you plan to grow them, as we have always done. So, why are we doing this?
“To me, that was a red flag that we are creating an environment here that is detrimental to the growth of young people. That is why I have always done what I did. My father did that. I did it. So that’s why I preferred collegiate sports over the NFL.”
Saban first denied that the current situation of the sport played a role in his retirement, but last week told ESPN that it did. He stated that 70 to 80% of returning players needed assurances of playing time next year and/or how much they will be paid to return.
Saban also discussed competitive balance in relation to collectives making aggressive moves in the transfer and recruiting market.
“Whoever is willing to pay the most money, raise the most money, and buy the greatest players will have the best chance of winning,” Saban stated. “I don’t believe that is the spirit of collegiate athletics. I don’t believe that has ever been the spirit of what we want college sports to be.
That is my biggest worry. The mix of pay-for-play and free agency, and how they affect development.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) also questioned Saban on the NCAA’s regulatory issues regarding NIL.
“I don’t believe there’s any question that the NCAA has had a rough run here, particularly in the last five or six years,” Saban said. “They were unable to enforce their own rules due to litigation. That put them in a difficult situation, and I don’t believe they managed it very well, therefore I don’t disagree with some of the comments you made about how they handled the problem.
“But I also believe they have been placed in a difficult position because they have been unable to enforce their own laws due to a large amount of litigation that has arisen through the legal system, making it impossible for them to do so.”
