Nick Saban has been a staunch proponent for implementing uniformity and guidelines into the way NIL deals are implemented in college football.
Until that time comes, however, the Alabama coach is happy to use his team's success in that arena as a recruiting tool — as he did again in his Tuesday appearance at SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Asked about how NIL deals are impacting the dynamic of college football, Saban was happy to drop a not-so-subtle hint as to how lucrative it is to play at Alabama:
"I don't dislike NIL," Saban said. "I'm all for the players and I want our players to do well. They made over $3 million dollars last year in name, image, and likeness."
That said, Saban said he wants to see guidelines in place that keep teams from spending money indiscriminately, further widening what Air Force Falcons Jerseys is already a significant gap between WVU vs. Pitt Rivalry shirt the "haves" and the "have-nots."
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"The thing I have expressed there has to be some uniformity and protocol how name, image and likeness is implemented," Saban said. "How does this impact competitive balance in college athletics? Is there transparency across the board?
"There's no competitive sport anywhere that doesn't have guidelines on how they maintain some kind of competitive balance."
To further that point, Saban compared college football to the NFL, which he said has multiple guidelines in place to ensure parity in the game, including a salary cap and the draft.
Saban also commented on how NIL is used directly to entice high school players to join a program — promises, he says, that NIL collectives may not be able to keep. He added he wanted safeguards to be put in place to protect players, similar to how the NFL has a players association.
"There are a lot o UNC vs. Duke Rivalry Jerseys f pe GA Tech Yellow Jackets shirt ople in the recruiting tr Albright Lions shirt ail using NIL as an inducement," Saban said. "A lot of people are making promises that they may or may not be able to keep."
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Saban has spoken out about using NIL money as inducements to recruit high school players. He spoke out against the practice in May when he called out both Te FSU vs. Miami Rivalry Shirts xas Texas vs. Oklahoma Rivalry Jerseys A&M and Jackson State for the practice.
"We were second in recruiting last year, A&M was first," Saban said at the time. "A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness. We didn’t buy one player. But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it.
"Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school," he said. "It was in the paper. They bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it."
Of course, Saban — who was speaking to a room full of Alabama business leaders at the time — could have been subtly hinting that his audience needed to help the Crimson Tide catch up in the NIL arms race. That said, Saban has maintained that Alabama does not engage in such practices, adding that any money players have made have resulted in value th WVU vs. Pitt Rivalry Gear ey created for themselves with their play.
"Name, image and likeness is not an issue for us at Alabama," Saban said on Tuesday. "And our players I think did better than anybody in the country last year."