Nick Saban on possibly becoming college football commissioner: 'I'm not really looking for a job'
Nick Saban retired as the head coach at Alabama last month and almost immediately there was speculation that he could eventually serve as the commissioner of college football down the line.
Saban is widely regarded as the greatest coach in college football history, and he would be a natural choice to guide the way as the sport continues to change.
With that said, he doesn’t seem very interested in the potential position, at least not yet.
“I’m not really looking for a job, but I do know I’d like to impact college football the best way I can, whether it’s being a spokesperson or anything else,” Nick Saban told ESPN.
As things stand, college football players can sign NIL deals, receive money and then transfer whenever they would like without penalty. There seems to be an agreement with college football coaches, and even agent Drew Rosenhaus, that there needs to be some kind of agreement that is fair for everyone.
Saban would like to see some changes come to the sport that he believes would benefit athletes and schools.
“Listen, I’m for the players. It’s not that I’m not for the players. I want to see the players have a great quality of life and be able to create value for themselves,” Nick Saban said. “But we’ve gone to nobody talking about education, nobody talking about creating value for their future, to talking only about how much money can I make while I’m in college.
“I think the consequence of this could come down the road when some of these guys get 28 and 29 years old that maybe they didn’t prepare themselves for when they can’t play football anymore, which is what you should do when you go to college.”
Nick Saban calls for commitment from players amid NIL contracts
Another change Nick Saban would like to see is commitment from players for NIL deals.
Saban believes we’re rapidly approaching a period in time where players need to be contractually bound in certain ways to ensure the system can continue on in its current format.
“Just like an NFL player has a contract or a coach has a contract, something in place so you don’t have all this raiding of rosters and mass movement,” Nick Saban said in an interview with ESPN. “I wonder what fans are going to say when they don’t even know the team from year to year because there’s no development of teams, just bringing in new players every year.”
That’s certainly one concern. Another is the pilfering of rosters by coaches looking to get an edge.
With few rules and regulations around the NIL space currently, it’s a bit of a “wild, wild west” for coaches and players alike. Saban’s not entirely sure what the solution is, only that that sport needs one.
It’s incumbent on the people in positions of power — NCAA president, conference commissioners, university presidents — to make it happen.
“They would be more qualified [to serve in a college football commissioner’s role] than I am. They’re in it every day and know all the issues,” Nick Saban said. “That’s why I’m hesitant to come up with a firm solution because you don’t know the consequences of the solution relative to, ‘All right, do we have to pass antitrust laws to be able to do it this way? What does it all entail?’”
On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article