Nick Saban explains why paying players is bad for college athletics

Nick Saban has adapted to every change college football has thrown his way at Alabama, winning regardless. However, one change he’s adamantly on one side about is paying players, and why it’s bad for college athletics as a whole.

NIL has changed everything about college football — from recruiting to the locker room and the transfer portal. Speaking at an event in Birmingham for The World Games 2022, Saban explained why paying players is bad for college athletics.

“The thing that I fear is that at some point in time, they’re just going to say we’re going to have to pay players,” began Saban. “If we start paying players, we’re going to have to eliminate sports. This is all bad for college sports.

“We probably have like 450 people on scholarship at Alabama, whether they’re women’s tennis players, women’s softball players, golfers. You know, baseball players. Non-revenue sports, that have for years and years and years been able to create a better life for themselves because they’ve been able to get scholarships, and participate in college athletics. That’s what college athletics is supposed to be. It’s not supposed to be something where people come and make money.

“You make a decision about where you go to school based on how much money you’re going to make. You should make a decision based on where you have the best chance to develop. As a person, as a student and as a player. That’s what we’ve always tried to major in. Hopefully there are enough people out there that want to do it.”

As you can see, Nick Saban recognizes that while football may survive, many other college sports will not if paying players becomes a reality. College athletics is at a crossroads, but time will tell if they take Saban’s advice.

Nick Saban calls out Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M for NIL recruiting methods

Continuing, Nick Saban continued his attack on how NIL has affected college sports by calling out Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M, accusing the program of using NIL to aid in recruiting the top class in the nation.

While speaking at an event celebrating the 50-day countdown to the World Games in Birmingham, Saban reportedly claimed that Texas A&M “bought every player on their team” with NIL deals.

“I know the consequence is going to be difficult for the people who are spending tons of money to get players,” Saban said via AL.com. “You read about it, you know who they are. We were second in recruiting last year. A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness.

“We didn’t buy one player. Aight? But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough.”

Saban has been one of the most vocal opponents of the direction college football recruiting has moved since Name, Image and Likeness deals were allowed by the NCAA. While Saban maintains that he approves of the system as it enables players to make money on their work, he continues to disapprove of colleges using money as a recruiting tool.

However, Saban’s comments prior to Wednesday have always been focused on the sport as a whole and haven’t seemed to be directed towards any school in particular — even as USC recently entered into a controversy with their alleged tampering of transfer receiver Jordan Addison from Pitt.

Saban’s comments on Wednesday were very clear — simultaneously criticizing the Aggies and Fisher while flaunting Alabama’s success by doing things the “right way.” His comments also seem to indicate that if the NCAA or the SEC do not change the current rules for NIL and recruiting, Saban feels that Alabama may need to change their recruiting methods as well.