Nick Saban explains how NIL has changed how he approaches recruiting

As everyone gathered at the SEC meetings in Destin, Florida ready for Round 2 between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher, the NIL talk remained much more civil while talking about the impact on recruiting. As discussions on a number of other topics continue, the use of impact of current rules and upcoming legislation continued to dominate the narrative.

At the SEC’s annual spring meeting, Nick Saban addressed a number of NIL related topics. Among other things, he broke down how the controversial tool has changed the way Alabama approaches each recruiting battle.

“I think we present the fact that we want to do these things in terms of helping players develop,” said Saban, via On3’s Jesse Simonton. “Personally, academically and athletically. And I think there are some people out there that would choose that, there’s some other people who might choose where can they make the best deal for themselves right now. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I’m just saying, everybody’s going to have to pick hos they want to try to manage this.

“The question is: is thing a sustainable model? Can you do this? What are the team dynamics relevant to how you manage this and how you do it. You don’t have some kind of an equal form for every player on your team. But we have recruited them differently, but I just think that players will have a feel for what they’re looking for.”

As Saban and other SEC leaders look for the answers to the very questions he raised on Tuesday, meetings continue with an eye focused on the future of college football.

Nick Saban on NIL

In addition to his new approach to recruiting, Nick Saban reaffirmed his belief that NIL is good for the athletes. He brought out an interesting analogy to prove his point.

“This is not about Alabama, this is not about what’s best for us,” Saban said, via On3’s Jesse Simonton. “I just hope that we can sort of put some guardrails on all this. I read something in the Wall Street Journal that said what we’ve done in college football … is putting a canoe on top of our SUV to go to the lake, didn’t tie it down, took off and just hoped for the best. I think that’s kind of where we are right now.

“I think it’s a great thing for players to have the opportunity. They’ve always been able to work. I’ve always said I’ve encouraged this whole name, image and likeness thing for players to be able to earn money. It’s just something that I think we need to make sure that we have a uniform way to have equitable competition, it’s transparent, protect the student-athlete. Boosters have never been involved in recruiting. Hopefully, we’ll not allow that to happen relative to this.”