Saban recently spoke with The Associated Press about the impact NIL has had on college football. The 70-year-old coach stated that while he supports players earning money, he is concerned about the free-for-all generated by NIL. “I do not believe that what we are doing at the moment is a sustainable approach,” Saban stated.
Saban is not opposed to players earning money through NIL. He wishes to be quite clear about this. What he dislikes is how quickly the original aim of NIL has been lost. “The purpose of name, image, and likeness was to enable players to use their names, images, and likeness to generate possibilities for themselves. Last year, our players certainly earned as much as or more than everyone else in the country.”
Indeed, Alabama has some of the highest-paid NIL athletes in the country. Saban has stated that quarterback Bryce Young was already earning close to seven figures in non-disclosure agreements prior to winning the Heisman Trophy. He is likely to earn more money as a result of winning the prize.
However, as Saban noted, NIL has evolved rapidly from a revenue-generating potential for athletes to a recruitment tool. He feels colleges can now “essentially purchase players,” which he believes is detrimental to college football.
“It is possible to do so in recruitment. That is, if that is what we want college football to be. Additionally, you may entice players to access the transfer site to see whether they can earn more elsewhere than they can at your establishment “‘ he stated.
