Nick Saban expected to co-chair President Donald Trump commission on college sports

Nick Saban is expected to co-chair President Donald Trump’s commission on college sports, On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed, and the other co-chair is expected to be a well-known college athletics booster. The Athletic first reported Saban would be a co-chair.

Yahoo Sports first reported Trump’s plans to form a commission focused on college sports. The Athletic also added the president will be “very engaged” because of the national importance he sees in college athletics.

Trump is also reportedly considering an executive order which would create more scrutiny around NIL, according to the Wall Street Journal. That news came down after the president and Saban met ahead of last week’s commencement address at Alabama.

The commission on college sports is expected to “deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports, including the frequency of player movement in the transfer portal, the unregulated booster compensation paid to athletes, the debate of college athlete employment, the application of Title IX to school revenue-share payments and, even, conference membership makeup and conference television contracts,” according to Yahoo Sports. It is expected to be a months-long endeavor.

News of Trump’s plan to consider an executive order and form a commission come with the backdrop of the House v. NCAA settlement, which continues to go through the final approval process. Attorneys filed an updated brief Wednesday evening that sought to address Judge Claudia Wilken’s concerns about roster limits, and the plan would create a grandfather provision for athletes who lost their spots. A decision on final approval is expected in the coming weeks.

However, plaintiffs’ attorney Steve Berman called out Nick Saban and President Donald Trump’s discussions as the settlement seeks final approval. Legal experts say an executive order could create more problems, and Berman called for the conversations to cease while both sides work toward final approval for the House v. NCAA settlement.

“While he was a coach, [Nick] Saban initially opposed NIL payments to athletes, pushing to add restrictions and red tape through national legislation to add ‘some sort of control,'” Berman said in a statement. “During his time scrutinizing the athlete pay structure, he made tens of millions of dollars and was previously the highest-paid coach in college football.

“Coach Saban and Trump’s eleventh-hour talks of executive orders and other meddling are just more unneeded self-involvement. College athletes are spearheading historic changes and benefitting massively from NIL deals. They don’t need this unmerited interference from a coach only seeking to protect the system that made him tens of millions.”

NCAA leadership has taken multiple trips to Capitol Hill for discussions about NIL and college sports. Last month, leaders from across collegiate athletics took a trip to Washington, D.C. for College Sports Day. Saban has also spoken in front of Congress about regulation, notably doing so in a roundtable hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) last year.

NCAA president Charlie Baker and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey also spoke multiple times about the need for national legislation to help regulate NIL. Saban also did so on ESPN’s College GameDay this past football season, calling for stability with both NIL and the transfer portal.