When Nick Saban speaks, people listen.
When he hits Jimbo Fisher, his former assistant, and Deion Sanders, the charismatic guy he did AFLAC commercials with, people go nuts.
There are so many layers going on here. Disagreements in the SEC, which are rare airs, might be the most notable.
Another gem is the greatest coach of college football’s most competitive era, who basically complains about the competitive balance.
Careful readers will notice that I mentioned this recently.
But let’s get down to business: once you’re past all that juicy power struggles, the real problem is that college football is a riderless horse that needs someone to take the reins.
To sum up Saban’s complaint: He has no problem with name, image and likeness as a means to an end for players to make money. If a company wants to pay for endorsements etc, fine.
The problem is, when a collective group of alumni puts a lot of money in one bag, and a football program can pass that money on to players without actually, um, paying attention to the players’ name, picture and likeness score, that’s no different than a rich booster that gives a player cash.
Saban explained this well on a recent XM/Sirius college football show.
He also apologized for mentioning Fisher, saying he shouldn’t have singled out anyone.
There’s so much funny personality/gossip madness in there. The hype when Texas A&M visits Tuscaloosa on October 8th is going to be insane.
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But let me say this: From where I sit, Nick Saban is as honorable and honest as great college coaches come. I respect his behavior as much as his career, which has propelled him to Mount Rushmore of college football coaching with Knute Rockne and Bear Bryant — and maybe there isn’t a fourth.
That’s why it’s so important that Nick Saban basically said college football needs to figure out this NIL deal. . . and not a minute to lose.
The devil is in the details.
Because of Title IX and other fairness issues, the colleges couldn’t, um, pay revenue-generating athletes, so they had to come up with this endaround NIL thing.
But there are loopholes that you could drive a truck. A Brink’s truck loaded with stacks of cash.
This new era needs policing. Really good police work that everyone agrees on. A policing that must be specific to the big college programs that have mega-million dollar budgets.
This is a job the NCAA, with their Slippery Rocks and Idaho Vandals, cannot do.
When the powerful SEC is reduced to infighting, it’s time to find out.
Whether intentional or not, Nick Saban has brought this issue to the forefront. And I suspect Nick Saban knew exactly what he was doing.
Enjoy the spectacle of Saban and Fisher exchanging accusations and insults. It’s entertaining.
But know that college football needs to get to the heart of the matter. Players must be compensated. But there must be some rules that provide an orderly way to do it.