The multiplication of name, image and likeness money is wreaking havoc in college football. Which caused chaos between Alabama coach Nick Saban and two of his teammates.
The day after Saban announced Texas A&M and Jackson State, elicits strong reactions From Jimbo Fisher and Dion Sandersrespectively, Saban said he was wrong about their exclusivity when he suggested that they bought players for zero money.
“me He should have been more specific When I said “bought” I said you can buy players now by name, photo, and example and I never mentioned any specific school and just said “across sports,” Saban said. “That’s on me. But other than that, I have no regrets about what I said on Wednesday.”
Saban claims to speak out because he doesn’t want to take the if-you-can’t-beat-em-Join-em approach.
“I don’t want to go down this path of outbidding for players out of high school,” Saban said. “I don’t. But if we go through this recruiting class this year and lose all the players, because they make a hundred thousand dollars somewhere else, what can you do?”
But if he could do it, wouldn’t he already? This notion that Saban complains about the rules before they are exploited still seems naive. He will only take advantage of them, if he can. He complains because he can’t.
“This is not a professional sport,” Saban said. “I mean, we have free agency and there’s no salary cap. That’s basically what we have, right? No professional league has these conditions because none of them are stupid enough to have it, and that’s what we have.”
That’s what you got Nick because that’s what you deserve. Decades of player exploitation wreaked havoc. Now, you and every other coach have to deal with it.
If you don’t like it, get out. You can do this, thanks to all the money you made during the years when the players got nothing.