First Down Kentucky: Nick Saban is The Old Man and the NIL

Never read The Old Man and the Sea. Truth be told, I have no idea what the plot is to Ernest Hemingway’s famous novella, but I have a feeling it’s not too different from what we saw today on Capitol Hill. Nick Saban was a salty old sailor, spouting off about the dangers of NIL.

The former Alabama head coach was one of a dozen or so talking heads who spoke at a hearing hosted by Ted Cruz titled, “Safeguarding student-athletes from NLRB misclassification.” In a lengthy ESPN feature, Saban was pretty candid about his distaste for the current college football climate. He took off the gloves today in front of Congress.

“Well, all the things I believed in for all these years of coaching, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics,” the former Alabama head coach said Tuesday. “So it always was about developing players. It was always about helping people when you’re successful in life. My wife even said to me, we have all the recruits over on Sunday with their parents for breakfast. And she would always meet with the mothers and talk about how she was going to help and impact their sons and how they would be well taken care of.

“And she came to me, like right before our retirement and said, ‘Why are we doing this?’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘All they care about is how much you’re going to pay them.’”

A little melodramatic, right? Saban condemned the transformation of the sport into a business, even though this is the business that made him more than $1 million every time he stood on the sideline for an Alabama football game last fall.

Saban’s statements had more nuance. He’s not inherently anti-NIL, rather he isn’t the biggest fan of the current collective model. He was no longer willing to play the game, and that’s fine, but it does come off as incredibly hypocritical.

The business of college sports is fine when it benefits the coaches and administrators, but the athletes? Get outta here! They’ve become too entitled to handle that responsibility. That’s all nonsense, just like today’s hearing where suits loved to have politicians hear their opinions, then do nothing about it. We’re now on the 12th Congressional hearing since 2020 and there’s no end, or change to college athletics, in sight.

One Week Till Kentucky Spring Practice

The actual sport of football is returning to the University of Kentucky one week from today. The first week of practice will be light work, but hey, we’ll take anything right now that isn’t off-the-field nonsense. Mark Stoops will be debriefing the media after the action, which will be his first time taking questions since the Gator Bowl. He’ll have to answer questions about a few things.

• Is Eric Wolford really the answer for the offensive line?
• So, you got left by Liam Coen again?
• Why Bush Hamdan?

Stoops has laid low since he flirted with the Texas A&M job. Aside from a few bowl game obligations and an interview with BBN Tonight, the Kentucky head coach has tried to move on by saying as little as possible. Bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for him.

No 11 Personnel this Week

Your favorite Kentucky football podcast planned on spending the evening preparing you for spring practice. The funny thing about plans, they have a way of changing. My co-host is well on his way to becoming a father of two, so we’re tabling the discussion for another day. Don’t you worry. KSR will have plenty of football content in the near future, but for now, enjoy the Madness this March.

Beaming with Pride for my friend Freddie Maggard

Before Luckett was my regular podcasting partner, Freddie Maggard was guiding me through this journey covering Kentucky football. He’s now in the midst of his own battle, one that’s much more difficult than previewing spring practice.

Steven Peake and Drew Franklin joined Freddie at the VA to share with the world how he’s living with a Traumatic Brain Injury. Throughout this journey, Freddie has shown an incredible amount of courage. Life has a way of presenting so many unforeseen obstacles. He’s attacking the most difficult ones head-on, all while showing others it’s okay to not be okay. Thanks to everyone at the VA who’s helping our friend and joining him to raise awareness for a community that so desperately needs it.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.