Since the new legislation and implementation of name, image and likeness in college football, Alabama football has been amongst the largest beneficiaries in the new age of player compensation. But despite the highly-rated recruiting classes and College Football Playoff appearances, Nick Saban is still concerned over the current state of the game.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, the seven-time national champion said, “I don’t think what we’re doing right now is a sustainable model.”
The 70-year-old elaborated that programs can essentially buy players with the current setup of name, image and likeness with its loose regulations.
“The concept of name, image and likeness was for players to be able to use their name, image and likeness to create opportunities for themselves. That’s what it was,” Saban said. “So last year on our team, our guys probably made as much or more than anybody in the country. But that creates a situation where you can basically buy players. You can do it in recruiting. I mean, if that’s what we want college football to be, I don’t know. And you can also get players to get in the transfer portal to see if they can get more someplace else than they can get at your place.”
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling last year allowing student-athletes to be compensated, the NCAA and universities are said to be awaiting more legislation to follow from SCOTUS, but the timetable on such matters is unknown.
Saban is not alone in his concerns as other high-profile head coaches such as Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Southern California’s Lincoln Riley and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin have all recently shared similar concerns.
A new third-party collective named High Tide Traditions was recently launched as a new avenue to help connect student-athletes to businesses and create deals involving players’ names, images and likenesses. Such collectives have become borderline requirements to remain competitive in college football which has ignited another one of Saban’s fears which is that the programs with the highest paying collectives will have greater advantages.
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“So there’s going to have to be some changes implemented, some kind of way to still create a level playing field,” Saban said. “And there is no salary cap. So whatever school decides they want to pay the most, they have the best chance to have the best team. And that’s never been college football, either.”
One way Saban believes can help balance the scales in college football is to offer every player the same base amount of compensation.
“We give everybody the same medical care, academic support, food service. Same scholarship,” Saban said. “So if we’re going to do this, then everybody is going to benefit equally. I’m not going to create a caste system on our team.”
Despite his concerns over college football as a whole and its future, Saban is more than content with what he has at Alabama. Coming off another national championship appearance while seeing his last two star players take home the Heisman Trophy, Saban believes the program’s stability will speak for itself for years to come.
“I know we have to adapt to that,” Saban said. “You’re going to have kids out there that say, ‘Well, I can get a better deal going someplace else,’ and they’ll go there. But you’re also going to have people that see the light and say, ‘Yeah, they’ve got a good history of developing players.
“They got a good history of developing people, they got a great graduation rate and that value is more important. And they’re distributing money to everybody in the organization.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
