Saban says coaches have to buy into ‘players being selfish’ in today’s college football

Nick Saban feels college football coaches have to continue to be open to changing with the new world of the sport.

Saban recently revealed that coaches are telling him they have to meet with agents on their BYE weeks in the NIL era. The legendary head coach was asked how he would navigate the new world of college football if he were the Crimson Tide’s head coach on ESPN College GameDay.

“I think the most important thing is, players got to know that you care about them, and you try to get them to develop in terms of what’s going to create value for them and their future,” Saban said. “And stay focused on that and not be what’s happening now, but what’s happening in the future? What kind of investment am I making in my future so that I can have more success in the future and take advantage of opportunities that I have in the future? And I think you gotta do it based on them. They’re gonna be a little selfish, and you gotta buy into how they’re being selfish. Everybody has the right to think for themselves.”

Saban discussed the agent meetings on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“I talked to a college coach this week who has a bye week next week, and all he’s doing is meeting with agents.” Saban said. “It’s the middle of the season. Guys are worried about how much playing time am I getting, what I’m going to do if I don’t get enough playing time. I’m playing well, so how much money am I going to make next year there or someplace else? The reason we’re seeing a lot of these inconsistencies in performance is people are struggling to sustain their intensity week in and week out. Maybe it’s people are more conditionally committed to their team because the circumstances we’re putting these players in. If you can’t sustain intensity, you can’t sustain the level of performance you want to sustain, you can’t play smart, you can’t play with intelligence. It all starts with your mental energy, and that starts with your commitment to your team and to your development as a player.”