OT: Nick Saban - CFB’s Voice of Reason?
As the fabric and traditional values of college football seems to be changing daily heading into 2024 and beyond, many current and former college coaches have been commenting on the future of college athletics.
While most college football fans hold Nick Saban with at least a shred on contempt, it sounds as if he’s planning to build a soapbox of his own to defend what he feels like is the lost integrity of the sport. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10110248-former-alabama-hc-nick-saban-plans-to-speak-out-for-meaningful-change-in-cfb
Say what you will about his ethics and the years of the $EC bag-man mentality but I personally think he makes some good points. Given his tenure and success in college football, once you put away your general bias against most things SEC, he might be a good candidate to publicly deter the unregulated and monetary motivations for the current player or recruit.
So question: Do we need someone to rally the masses against the future changes to college football and if so, is Nick Saban the right person for the job?
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:42 AM ^
Hilarious cry me a Dodge Charger or Challenger!!!
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:59 AM ^
I believe that Nick owns a Mercedes dealership. So, that's part of the reason why he might not be a fan of NIL and the direction it's going. I can see every Bama prospect asking - "Hey coach - why don't I get a Benz to drive around town?"
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:14 PM ^
February 22nd, 2024 at 7:38 PM ^
Why would Nick have an aversion to selling Benzes to 18 year old millionaires?
February 25th, 2024 at 7:59 PM ^
Also part owner of The Prancing Horses museum/ferrari dealership. Four floors filled with supercars.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:23 AM ^
Johnny Manziel literally said a few days ago that TAMU was trying to pay him $3M to stay for his senior year and that LSU and Bama bagmen were offering him similar money. This was pre-NIL obviously
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:30 AM ^
Hiding a $3mil payout without some sort of off shore account would be a real challenge. Your bank account grows $3mil there is going to be a lot of questions.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:46 PM ^
#1, Not a one time immediate wire, spread out, to many people, and over time.
#2, You buy items/services, paid by the bagmen, such as a new home for the parents or free legal, sports agent, and tax services. This probably had a chain of bank movements, not just two parties (more than just bagmen to service provider) clouded by strange contracts between the 3rd parties.
Thats all I could think of in 60 seconds so I'm sure the clever folks have thought about it more.
February 22nd, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^
I’m reminded of Walter White. Maybe we should be on the alert for a bunch of car washes sprouting up in the Columbus area.
February 22nd, 2024 at 1:24 PM ^
Why would anyone hide it? The NCAA can't look at Manziel's bank accounts and they can't look at some shady bagman's finances. The reason for such a transfer of funds would be obvious to the IRS.
February 22nd, 2024 at 1:53 PM ^
And the IRS doesn't care where you got the money or for what, only that you paid your taxes on it.
The IRS is more than happy to collect your taxes from drug sales and illegal gambling. And they are more than willing to throw you in jail for not paying taxes on those items.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:50 AM ^
Harbaugh could have and should have been the leader here on practical change in CFB. He never claimed to have all the answers, but nailed it on how exploitative the entire system has been.
Of course, the NCAA and media hit job ensued with burgergate and stalions to discredit him.
no, I’m not a conspiracy theorist - if you honestly don’t think other teams are advanced scouting and looking for every edge and UM’s attempts were so outrageous, you’re just not paying attention.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:43 AM ^
Hey, who knows how to keep a bank more secure than a master bank robber?
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:24 AM ^
Just hear me out, maybe Nick Saban can be the Frank Abagnale Jr from Catch Me If You Can. He's did all these crimes and knows exactly how people try to get away with it. He can be the guy that cleans it all up and catches everybody. It takes a con man to catch a con man. He sure the fuck can't do a worse job than what the NCAAs already doing.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:32 AM ^
You're missing an important detail.
It requires a change of heart whereas Saban has none.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:39 AM ^
I never had a problem with Saban like most here. He called it like it was when they asked why he left MSU, that the spotlight was too bright in AA and he couldn't exit the shadow, in the region and in recruiting. That was truth.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:58 PM ^
I agree. He chooses words carefully, but he's been mostly honest with what he has said.
I don't think Harbaugh and Saban would massively disagree on solutions. Harbaugh lays it bare, doesn't mince words when he speaks out. Then goes back to his focus...building resilience in players and instilling positive behaviors.
Saban is more morose and cynical, considers practical solutions for the system as a whole (revenue, fairness to students, competitive balance and continued excitement in the sport).
If they were on an exec board for college football Harbaugh would be more the CEO or Chief Sales Officer and Saban would be more the COO or Chief Innovation Officer.
I think both are interested in a fair shake for students. Harbaugh more revolutionary, Saban more evolutionary.
February 22nd, 2024 at 2:00 PM ^
I don't have AFLAC, sorry Nick.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:47 AM ^
Saban wants to cap player income?
This is exactly what the Supreme Court has decided against.
We don't need an old millionaire white man telling young kids how much they can make.
Let the market dictate what they can earn.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:50 AM ^
If you collectively bargain you can cap income. I don't know if he going to that extent with his comments but I think the ultimate endpoint is a collectively bargained cap.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:52 AM ^
I think you'd be talking about an income cap for the players as employees of their university, not a cap on what they could make on NIL endorsements outside of that salary. Pro sports have salary caps in terms of what the teams can pay, but no limit on what the players can get from Nike or Gatorade or whatever else.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:16 PM ^
^^^^ This exactly. The universities don't compensate players through NIL deals - though, they could do that with media revenue sharing.
The market determines the "marketing" / NIL compensation - and, as long as there are donors willing to provide student athletes with "deals" that provide dollars to them - there doesn't seem to be the possibility for any cap whatsoever.
Pandora's NIL Box has been opened - and, it's not going to close until those donors don't think they're getting what they want.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:27 AM ^
But it's not the market setting the value, it's the schools and the collectives. NIL was supposed to be athletes having third party companies paying them for services. Ex. commercials and endorsements. It was never intended for schools to have bidding wars for 18-22-year-olds.
February 22nd, 2024 at 4:43 PM ^
NIL was a convenient legal argument and was always a temporary state of affairs until the next court case. Honestly, it's such a nebulous concept that it was never going to be the state of affairs at any point. It doesn't matter what NIL is or isn't.
And schools and collectives exist on a market.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:40 AM ^
Saban is right
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:48 AM ^
This world is full of abhorrent characters turned self righteous hypocrites. Why should he be any different.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:48 AM ^
When XM let's a fox manage his chickens then this will seem a good idea.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:50 AM ^
The guy who broke it, or substantially contributed to breaking it, should not be mourning the fact that it is broken.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:23 AM ^
I always saw saban as a pragmatist rather than a bad actor. He tended to call out what he thought was bad for the sport, give a little time for a possible correction, then lean into the problem to exploit it. I'm gonna guess he wasn't front of the pack in terms of player incentives, but I'm sure he did it the best when he decided it was table stakes.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:01 PM ^
Ok so your definition of a “bad actor” is simply someone who doesn’t call out some unethical thing before doing it.
As opposed to, you know, not doing it at all. That’s a bridge too far for this country, I suppose.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:33 PM ^
If you ask me, the unethical thing isn't looking the other way while players--heaven forbid--engage in commerce and try to earn a few bucks from the multibillion dollar enterprise that has been built on their labor. The unethical thing is the NCAA making rules that penalize such a thing while their administrators earn seven-figure salaries.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:57 AM ^
Exactly, what he quietly did successfully for so many years is now out in the open and he is calling foul, what a joke.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:20 PM ^
^^^ Agreed. I'm absolutely 100% sure that there was never any brown bagging of any kind that went on in Tuscaloosa during Nick Saban's tenure. He just had the most talented roster in college football nine out of ten seasons because of the quality of Bama's Engineering programs.
Yes - sarcasm. Bama and most SEC schools could teach a PhD class / program in brown bagging - getting Chargers / Challengers in the parking lot - and a variety of other "informal benefits" for numerous student athletes.
Was I the only one who noticed that Saban didn't have an issue with recruiting practices until A&M outbid him for the #1 class a few years ago?
February 22nd, 2024 at 6:55 PM ^
Wouldn't coordinate camps with Jim either so definitely not a Happy Camper.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:50 AM ^
Nick definitely makes some good points, but I don't think most folks are gonna be receptive to hearing about academic and fiscal integrity from him. Glad he's planning build a soapbox--nobody would see him otherwise.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:09 AM ^
Agreed, he makes great points and I agree with him, but dude also made millions per year off the success of these players.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:51 AM ^
Revenue sharing is the only option. NCAA hoping people just give more out of their own pockets while lining their own will result in players earning pennies on the dollar. If he’s not about that then he’s not the voice.
also agree that the market sets the rate not the other way around; a cap only works if players are able to collectively bargain and agree. They definitely need a players association.
I think what is interesting is all the back money that’s owed…does bush get his Heisman back? There’s so much historical mess to clean up that this will probably take a decade or more to clarify.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:13 AM ^
I love this constant suggestion that the NCAA is somehow getting rich off the players. Which is absurd. Who is the NCAA, exactly? Is it the same as Scrooge McDuck?
The NCAA is an association of colleges — it's literally in the organization's name. It's not a for-profit entity. There's nobody at the NCAA who is trying to find ways to take money from the players.
The member universities may well be doing that, of course. But then say that. "The University of Michigan is trying to get rich off its athletes."
I personally don't believe that. I think the member universities are struggling with the new reality of college sports, and are trying to figure out ways to stay competitive in the revenue-producing sports (ever-bigger weight rooms, ever-bigger salaries for their coaches, ever-bigger scoreboards, etc.) while still finding ways to support their non-revenue-producing sports. I literally don't think anybody in college sports is trying to think of ways to get personally rich (beyond getting higher salaries, of course).
But whatever. That's just my opinion. If you think there's someone out there exploiting these athletes for personal gain, say so, and identify that person. But bitching about "the NCAA" and "the Big Ten" as fat cats trying to sit on their money, without acknowledging that those are merely voluntary associations of university athletic departments, including ours, is nonsense.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:24 PM ^
The NCAA isn't some nebulous collection of colleges as you claim. The NCAA has 100s of employees. They aren't employees of the member institutions. They are employees of the NCAA. The NCAA head offices uses roughly $150M/year for day-to-day operations. The Big Ten conference also has 100s of employees. Also, having the tax status of a non-profit doesn't automatically mean your organization is altruistic and trying to improve everyone's lives.
You say they "aren't trying to get rich beyond getting higher salaries." Which is an oxymoron of a statement. The staff of the NCAA, conferences, and down to the individual athletic departments are doing everything they can to hoard the money to increase their own salaries at the expense of the athlete. Making themselves rich, and keeping the athlete restricted with arcane rules. That is quite literally what is happening. 60% of the AD revenue is in salaries of coaches and administrators. Warde Manuel makes 3x what Bill Martin did 15 years ago. The Big Ten commissioner makes $4M/year.
Further, the AD's intentionally waste money on dumb stuff so they can cry poor. Did Texas need to spend $7M redoing their locker room so every player would have a TV in their locker? Did Clemson need to spend $85M to put laser tag and a slide in their facility for players who don't feel like taking the stairs?
Currently there are 7 coaches making over $10M/year. A decade ago there were only 5 making over $5M/year, Saban with 4 championships was the highest at $7.6M. All you have to do is look at the trends over time and it is quite obvious that as money floods into the sport, the people in charge will find every possible way to spend it besides giving a cent to the players. If instead of increasing coaching salaries from $5M to $10M, that money was distributed to the players, football players at big time programs would be receiving salaries of about $50k/year.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:31 PM ^
I would say the administrators in the NCAA are the ones getting rich. (And they do/did so by keeping money away from the players)
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:54 AM ^
I hate Saban for leaving MSU and for stealing Michigan recruits through whatever means. He worked the system to where he had a decided advantage with gray shirting and whatever other shenanigans, he showed that his "care for the players" was limited to whatever helped him win. He helped break the system and is a huge hypocrite.
BUT... he is is the perfect person to reel it back in. If he wants to do penance, and figure out how to get college football back to rivalries and competitive games where players participate in the money they are generating, and are actual students of some flavor, I'm all for it. I'll ignore his misdeeds and call him the GOAT.
Someone who is no longer vested in an uneven playing field is the best advocate. Hell, Saban is vested in leveling the playing field because it solidifies his hold on being the winningest coach.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:03 AM ^
I am sure he would never favor Alabama with ruling against anything as heinous as, say, satellite camps.
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:22 AM ^
Well said, agree on most points, but one: why do you hate him for leaving MSU? He went to a much better job, it happens every day. Would you want to live in EL and be second fiddle?
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:54 AM ^
My Mom, her brother and my Dad's sister all went to MSU along with many of my friends. I used to live in Lansing and I played against and with a few MSU players. (Allan Haller, Tico Duckett and Rob Fredrickson.) When Saban went to LSU, it was a mid program IIRC. It was before my time, but MSU won several national championships. While they are our little brother, there is no reason they couldn't be a successful program. In fact their lower academic standards give them an advantage. Saban could have built something, but he went for the short cut.
I've switched jobs with positive and negative results and have shown loyalty to companies that ended up not being loyal to me. I want to live in a world where people can have integrity and loyalty. Saban is a symbol of self interest and that the world rewards self interest.
I hope Dan Lanning succeeds at Oregon and that Kalen DeBoer fails at bama.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:57 PM ^
Thanks for sharing. My bro went to msu, so my dad holds this view as well.
My rebuttals are: lsu is in a more fertile recruiting area, and the fact that Saban won a championship there quickly says something about something. Msu has championships, but the last one was in the 60s, and lsu's only/previous one was in 58. Msu was every bit as mid as lsu, and the fact that lsu is now a powerhouse shows it had way more latent potential.
Also, coaches are almost always about self interest. Harbaugh went from USD to Stanford to the NFL (leaving out current situation). Beilein went all over the place. Msu is no sleeping giant, their destination coach dantonio sniffed the playoff once and lost 38-0.
I dunno, to me, loyalty at work doesn't mean you can't leave for a better opportunity. If your company can't/won't offer what you deserve, you should be able to take your talents elsewhere without being judged or branded as "disloyal". Speaking more about work than coaches at this point.
February 22nd, 2024 at 1:30 PM ^
I'm very leery of anyone who was a significant actor in a broken system and profited greatly from it returning as a white knight to fix it. Saban isn't claiming in this article to be in a privileged position to fix college football as a result of his experience, but I wouldn't trust him...or others in other walks of life to be the one to finally set things right.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:56 AM ^
Who else is better to tell us what's wrong with college football than the man who benefitted from those ills for two decades? Jimbo's not doing anything, so I'm sure he knows some stuff he can add to the conversation.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:34 PM ^
Jimbo’s got a lotta money to count.
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:59 AM ^
Why so much Saban hate? Is it because he's the GOAT?
February 22nd, 2024 at 11:05 AM ^
You meant weasel, right? There, fixed it for you.