05-20-2022, 05:23 AM
The Saban "controversy" epitomizes what is wrong with our society. About 95% of what he said was an accurate portrayal of the situation with and implications of NIL. Yet all anyone wants to talk about is who he used as examples and the blowback he got for using them.
You can say what you want about how Saban might not be the best messenger to complain about people getting competitive advantages given the ones he has, but I doubt there are too many head football coaches at Power 5 schools who demonstrate a more sincere concern for what college is suppose to be all about for every athlete.
We've talked about it on this thread, how is schools pay major revenue sport athletes, it puts other athletes in other sports at risk of not having opportunities. You can say that's rich coming from a guy who works for a school that has cut as many sports as possible to feed the football beast, but he's nonetheless bringing up a real point of concern.
He also made clear the NCAA has its hands tied when it can't get any protection from the court system, and that it needs federal legislation to reign in the unregulated market for players that has been created, notably on display yesterday when the Biletnikoff Award winner just transferred from Pitt to USC for who knows what kind of payoff.
There probably is some truth that Saban knows Alabama doesn't have the booster money to compete with other alumni bases from richer areas of the country. What good does all that SEC TV money do when it no longer provides an advantage in the market that secures players? But I still think what he said demonstrated a solid contextual understanding of the NIL situation, the challenges it poses, and the implications that it could have for re-defining college sports into something it should really not be.
You can say what you want about how Saban might not be the best messenger to complain about people getting competitive advantages given the ones he has, but I doubt there are too many head football coaches at Power 5 schools who demonstrate a more sincere concern for what college is suppose to be all about for every athlete.
We've talked about it on this thread, how is schools pay major revenue sport athletes, it puts other athletes in other sports at risk of not having opportunities. You can say that's rich coming from a guy who works for a school that has cut as many sports as possible to feed the football beast, but he's nonetheless bringing up a real point of concern.
He also made clear the NCAA has its hands tied when it can't get any protection from the court system, and that it needs federal legislation to reign in the unregulated market for players that has been created, notably on display yesterday when the Biletnikoff Award winner just transferred from Pitt to USC for who knows what kind of payoff.
There probably is some truth that Saban knows Alabama doesn't have the booster money to compete with other alumni bases from richer areas of the country. What good does all that SEC TV money do when it no longer provides an advantage in the market that secures players? But I still think what he said demonstrated a solid contextual understanding of the NIL situation, the challenges it poses, and the implications that it could have for re-defining college sports into something it should really not be.