| FTBL Nick Saban believes current state of NCAA football is not ‘sustainable’

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With the changing transfer portal rules and a developing NIL landscape, college football finds itself in a new era which has kicked off what many call “free agency.” Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who has been one of the most willing to adapt throughout the years, weighed in on the future of the sport.

During a recent interview with the Associated Press, Nick Saban criticized college football and called for leaders to make swift changes.

“I don’t think what we’re doing right now is a sustainable model,” Saban said. “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. 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.”

The sentiment of Nick Saban has been echoed by Ole Miss head coach and former Alabama assistant Lane Kiffin, who compared the state of college football to the NFL. His former boss now repeats the comparison.

“We now have an NFL model with no contracts, but everybody has free agency,” said Saban. “It’s fine for players to get money. I’m all for that. I’m not against that. But there also has to be some responsibility on both ends, which you could call a contract. So that you have an opportunity to develop people in a way that’s going to help them be successful.”

Nick Saban on college football​

In response to the changing NIL legislation across the country on a state level, many schools have established “collectives,” which help players find NIL opportunities and create a more uniform value across the roster.

However, these collectives also provide boosters the opportunity to channel payments that used to be an NCAA violation into a new channel that could still impact players’ decisions.

“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.

“We give everybody the same medical care, academic support, food service. Same scholarship. 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 all his heavy criticism, Saban was also sure to make clear his intention to adapt like he has to every twist and turn over the past 30 years of college football.

“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.”
 
The message at its core is similar. The difference is found where Dabo has said things that were just weird, off the wall stuff. Saban has been more, "if this is the way you want it to be, so be it."

I definitely feel Saban is simply warning folks. That if you want to play that way, we already beat you, but we'll definitely beat you when you allow us to truly flex our muscles. Already showing it with the transfer portal, now we gonna show you what our support system is really capable of.
 
Maybe, what, 10% of college football programs run a profit on the year & another 10-15% has pretty much uncapped booster donations that have been going to facilities, coaches, & under the table player payments. That's been the broad formula for years.

What I don't get is why folks don't think the rich will just get richer with the NIL. The NIL just allows boosters to flex their cash flow more & also get more back in return with player endorsements. Those 10%, elite programs will just continue to widen their gap from the rest.

As far as eliminating player caste systems... I agree with this in a team setting. For the most part anyways. What I think needs to be done is sort of a profit sharing system that then team can achieve together with those NIL deals. That way everybody can contribute to the growth of the program.

But one big question for me is "Will there be a cap on how much NIL deals can be?" To me the answer is very obvious if college football any interest at maintaining at least some disparity in the sport.
 
The message at its core is similar. The difference is found where Dabo has said things that were just weird, off the wall stuff. Saban has been more, "if this is the way you want it to be, so be it."
I agree with this. I think it has more to do with personalities. Dabo is aw-shucks, folksy and is nowhere near as eloquent as Saban.

Saban is like the well refined politician that is a great orator. While I am no Obama fan, he was very well spoken and handled the office of president like you should. Hell, Bill Clinton was one of the best I have ever seen at giving a speech. I would liken Saban to these 2 when the lights come on and the microphone is in his face. Dabo is a lot like Pelosi and Maxine Waters. Probably a better analogy would be Ric Flair. Very animated, and can make a point, but not quite as effective to a large demographic.

Kind of like the difference between a hell-fire and brimstone back woods Pentecostal preacher (Dabo)
Verses a Methodist Minister with a power point presentation and all of his topics covered under 5 bullet points (Saban)
 
I agree with this. I think it has more to do with personalities. Dabo is aw-shucks, folksy and is nowhere near as eloquent as Saban.

Saban is like the well refined politician that is a great orator. While I am no Obama fan, he was very well spoken and handled the office of president like you should. Hell, Bill Clinton was one of the best I have ever seen at giving a speech. I would liken Saban to these 2 when the lights come on and the microphone is in his face. Dabo is a lot like Pelosi and Maxine Waters. Probably a better analogy would be Ric Flair. Very animated, and can make a point, but not quite as effective to a large demographic.

Kind of like the difference between a hell-fire and brimstone back woods Pentecostal preacher (Dabo)
Verses a Methodist Minister with a power point presentation and all of his topics covered under 5 bullet points (Saban)

I dont think ur far wrong ....lol
But "eloquent" may be wrong description for Nick and his "shit through a tin horn" and other not so elequent ....but "point making " statements...

Funny, the Bear was kinda "aw-shucks, folksy". Works for some!
 
I dont think ur far wrong ....lol
But "eloquent" may be wrong description for Nick and his "shit through a tin horn" and other not so elequent ....but "point making " statements...

Funny, the Bear was kinda "aw-shucks, folksy". Works for some!

That was a different time. He commanded respect with his product on the field and how he went about getting his players developed. Nothing I've seen from him was "aww shucks", it came across as calculated and pointed.
 
That was a different time. He commanded respect with his product on the field and how he went about getting his players developed. Nothing I've seen from him was "aww shucks", it came across as calculated and pointed.

He came across that way during his weekly TV show to some degree because ratings mater to sponsors. But I think he was playing a part there a little bit, which is to your point, calculated and pointed.
 
He came across that way during his weekly TV show to some degree because ratings mater to sponsors. But I think he was playing a part there a little bit, which is to your point, calculated and pointed.

Right. I wasn't alive, but you don't have to do much research to know how much he was respected, maybe even feared a little, but also loved. I don't think you can pull off those kind of emotions in people if you're a Dabo aww shucks kind of guy. Like I was saying, back then was a different time, we didn't have the news and information at our fingertips like we do now. So he may have been a little uneducated on the happenings of Eastern Europe at the time or down in Indonesia (which doesn't pertain to 95% of people), but when it came to his daily business he was sharp as a tack.
 
I think more and more college coach's are seeing this as a huge problem, especially at the smaller schools. I talked at length with a D 1 college basketball coach a few days ago at a mid major. He said, the NIL and transfer portal, where kids play immediately is killing those types of schools.
 
I think more and more college coach's are seeing this as a huge problem, especially at the smaller schools. I talked at length with a D 1 college basketball coach a few days ago at a mid major. He said, the NIL and transfer portal, where kids play immediately is killing those types of schools.
JMO but the fans are going to be the jury on this deal. When your favorite team can no longer really compete with the big dollar rosters then those fans will stop buying the tickets. How will these programs maintain there facilities or upgrade them?
 
That was a different time. He commanded respect with his product on the field and how he went about getting his players developed. Nothing I've seen from him was "aww shucks", it came across as calculated and pointed.
He was very much like that...was his whole persona

TV...speaking engagements....around and about...
Not to say he wasnt "pointed and calculated " as Nick is...

"Playing a part" ....maybe... but it was the bear we knew
We watched him on TV most every night on local news ...especially in fall..
He was recruiting....instate ....boys from Gadsden Enterprise,Albertville, etc other small, some rural towns...
 
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