Nick Saban evaluates state of the transfer portal, NIL inducements

As an elder statesmen of the sport, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has plenty of opinions on things like NIL and the transfer portal. And he has not been shy to share them.

Saban again sounded off on NIL and the portal on Wednesday, discussing the need for some sort of universal ruleset. He reiterated he’s for NIL deals as intended, but wants something done to reign in inducements.

“First of all I think NIL is good for the players, I think it gives them an opportunity to make money and use their name, image and likeness, which is what it was supposed to be. But what we’ve made it and the unintended consequence of collectives and creating opportunities for players that they really didn’t create on their own — and they use that in recruiting and it becomes a pay-for-play type of thing — I don’t think that’s what anybody wanted it to be or thinks it should be,” Saban said on the “The Next Round” podcast.

Saban continued, pointing out the confluence of the transfer portal and NIL opportunities has been a potent accelerant on the pay-for-play fire.

With the ability of third parties to offer deals to a player if they transfer to another school, inducements were an inevitability in Saban’s eyes.

“But when you put the portal and NIL together, where somebody can say ‘Hey, if you get in the portal, we’ll pay you this much to come to our school.’ That’s a little bit of an issue that I don’t think is a consequence that anybody anticipated, as well,” Saban said.

And for Saban, it’s about a bigger picture of earning.

Nick Saban congratulates Jalen Hurts on becoming NFL’s highest-paid player

He’s been quick to point out that former Alabama players have signed more than $1 billion worth of NFL contracts during his tenure. And recently another, Jalen Hurts, signed a massive deal to be the highest-paid player in NFL history.

“Well, first of all, we’re happy for Jalen, his family, and he’s been rewarded for just what you said,” Saban said. “Couldn’t find a better guy, can’t find a better leader, can’t find a more determined, hard working guy that’s got great sense of purpose.”

He continued: “[He] not only understands what he wants to do, but he has a willingness to do all the things that he needed to do to develop and get it done. And my hat’s off to him. They had a great year, the Eagles, this year and he had a great year, and we’re just happy that the organization recognized the fact that he’s going to be their quarterback for a long time.”