Kool-Aid McKinstry believes NIL pushed Nick Saban to retire

Former Alabama defensive back Kool-Aid McKinstry firmly believes NIL was the final straw for Nick Saban’s retirement.

After leading Alabama to an SEC title and the College Football Playoff this past season, Saban elected to step down and ride off into retired life. But amid massive changes with the transfer portal and name, image and likeness, it looked like too much for the veteran.

That’s what McKinstry thought happened in the end anyway.

“I couldn’t believe it honestly,” McKinstry said on RG3 and the Ones, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment. “I definitely (saw) coach coaching for about five more years.”

Griffin III asked McKinstry if Deion Sanders’ theory, which was about Saban retiring due to NIL, was true. McKinstry doubled down on his former coach.

“Yeah I definitely do. I definitely think that,” McKinstry said. “I was the last class that really, he didn’t have to worry about asking for money and stuff like that coming out of high school. People worry about the wrong thing. They worry about money like he always looked at it like, you’re going to get money when you get to the league. I’m just here to help you be a better man, help you be a better player, help you make all the money that you want to make in the league. 

“Yeah there’s money here but this ain’t the money that’s going to help you take care of your family, change your generational wealth. Coach Saban just always wanted the best for us as a player and person.”

Saban seems to be enjoying retirement life though. It at least leaves a lot more time for golf, so long as he gets his chores done for Miss Terry.

“The best thing is I spent 50 years being in a hurry and didn’t even know it” Saban said while at The Masters. “So, when I retired and sat back and didn’t have so many things to do, I figured out that that wasn’t normal. This kind of life is a little more normal. Even though I’m staying busy and looking forward to ESPN, doing the draft, doing [College] GameDay, … I’m kind of staying busy. I didn’t really want to quit working. But I just didn’t want to ride the program down because of my age. And didn’t really want to work all the time.

“You know, the day after I retired, I got the 12 Commandments of retirement. So, I’ve tried to live by them. But I’ve found out if I do my chores, then I can go play golf. So, I get up early and get my chores done and it’s like, ‘Now do I have a free pass to do what I want to do?’ [laughs] I make my bed, I take the garbage out, I have to wait for her to eat together and I have to leave a little food just because that’s polite to tell people that you really thought it was good. Which I grew up cleaning my plate, so that’s not kosher anymore.”