To put things plainly, Nick Saban and Texas A&M brass have been contentious when it comes to the topic of name, image and likeness. Saban ignited a public controversy last year when he brought up the Aggies when discussing the amounts of money programs spend on its players which resulted in a feud between the seven-time national champion and Jimbo Fisher.
Although it’s in the past, Saban once again brought up Texas A&M and it’s spending this week when discussing compensation for student-athletes during the SEC’s spring meetings.
“The way Southern Cal, Texas and Texas A&M are spending money… (it’s) what are you willing to spend?” Saban said per the Houston Chronicle.
This resulted in Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork responding to Saban’s comments from this week.
“We said in the beginning we’re going to embrace all of it,” Bjork said. “We’re going to embrace fundraising, ticket sales, sponsorship and NIL supporting our student-athletes. We have not been able to be (directly) involved in (NIL) based on the Texas state law, and that law is now going to change. … It will allow institutions to support the athletes even more, so we can be more involved in it.
“When somebody makes a comment, it’s hearsay, they don’t have any data. We have the data and we know what our athletes have earned the past two years.”
It’s far from the drama-filled exchange from a year ago, but NIL spending is something that’s still on the forefront of Saban’s mind which is why he is one part of an SEC contingent headed to Washington next week to discuss NIL.
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