Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is among the most legendary figures in the history of college football.
Saban posted an absurd 206-29 record over 17 seasons as Alabama’s head coach before shockingly retiring following the 2023 season. His time in Tuscaloosa included a whopping six national championships.
That’s one of the primary reasons it was so surprising that he walked away with the program still a national powerhouse.
Saban, 72, just recently pointed to the current iteration of college football as seemingly one of the reasons he walked away from it. He did not hold back in talking about the finances of the amateur game in today’s modern landscape.
“What we have now is not college football — not college football as we know it. You hear somebody use the word ‘student-athlete.’ That doesn’t exist,” Nick Saban said recently, via ESPN.
We’ve seen multiple college coaches use this as an excuse for moving on to the NFL and the professional game. Most recently, that included former USC running backs coach Kiel McDonald taking the same role with the Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers. His issue with what we’re seeing in college football played a role in that decision.
Related: Nick Saban joins ESPN as college football analyst
Nick Saban speaks out on college football NIL deals and more
“What you have now isn’t name, image and likeness. A collective has nothing to do with name, image and likeness,” Saban said.
“Just like an NFL player has a contract or a coach has a contract, something in place so you don’t have all this raiding of rosters and mass movement. I wonder what fans are going to say when they don’t even know the team from year to year because there’s no development of teams, just bringing in new players every year.”
This is a common theme for old-school coaches such as Saban. While a majority do believe that “amateur” players should be paid for their likeness, this is getting out of hand in the mind of some.
It was back in late-January that Boston College head football coach Jeff Hafley gave up that gig to become the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator in the NFL. At the very least, it was a lateral moves. His explanation was similar to the talking points Saban brought up.
“College coaching has become fundraising, NIL and recruiting your own team and transfers. There’s no time to coach football anymore,” a source on Hafley’s thinking noted.
The transfer portal. Name, image, likeness. Roster turnover. Finances dicating recruiting. All of these factors play into the thought process of Nick Saban and others. That’s for sure.