JJ Redick: Dabo Swinney, Nick Saban have lost 'control' with NIL

JJ Redick would’ve made bank due to NIL back when he was lighting up the scoreboard at Duke, so consider the former NBA star turned fiery analyst a supporter for college athletes getting their share of the pie.

While Redick shares the belief of many, multiple high-profile coaches have spoken out against the lack of regulations when it comes to NIL. In an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, the former Duke star stated his belief that a lack of control is irking Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney and other college coaches.

“This, to me, across college football and high-level college basketball, comes down to a simple thing, and that’s just control,” started Redick. “For decades, coaches, athletic departments, conferences, the NCAA, have had control, and it’s why they’ve been so unwilling to change the system. For decades, college football and high-level college basketball have not been an amateur sport. So now, instead of coming up with an equitable solution for the top athletes at the top schools. The NCAA, conferences and schools basically kicked the can, and opened up the wild, Wild West. And that’s where we are right now.

“It’s why a number of coaches have retired, if I’m being honest, it’s why a number of coaches have retired. It’s why Dabo Swinney has spoken out so vehemently against NIL, and it’s why Nick Saban has a real problem here. It comes down to control. They’ve been in control for so long, and now the athlete has a little bit of control. Which, in professional sports we’ve had for a long time, but now that college athletes are getting to actually use their Name, Image and Likeness to create a marketplace, they have a real issue with that. It comes down to that, it’s that simple.

“It’s just a matter of we’ve lost a little bit of control over the situation, and now they’re acting out.”

Like many of his takes, JJ Redick was measured and calculated, bringing it all around to a great point. People usually act out when they feel like they’re losing control of a situation, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen in uncharacteristic tirades from coaches like Saban and Swinney.

Still, it’ll be interesting to see how the college sports world handles NIL moving forward. Whether more coaches act out like Redick explained, or if the NCAA caves to the demands of the biggest names in coaching.