Saban is absolutely spot on.
"If my voice can bring about some meaningful change, I want to help any way I can because I love the players and I love college football," Saban told ESPN. "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."
While still coaching at Alabama, Saban said, he understood that any critique he made of the current NIL climate combined with the transfer portal -- in particular the lack of rules on agents shopping around players in the portal and schools bidding on high school players through donor-based collectives -- could come across as self-serving. But now that he's no longer coaching, Saban plans to take an even stronger stance.
"If my voice can bring about some meaningful change, I want to help any way I can because I love the players and I love college football," Saban told ESPN. "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."
While still coaching at Alabama, Saban said, he understood that any critique he made of the current NIL climate combined with the transfer portal -- in particular the lack of rules on agents shopping around players in the portal and schools bidding on high school players through donor-based collectives -- could come across as self-serving. But now that he's no longer coaching, Saban plans to take an even stronger stance.