If Nick Saban wants to help NIL and college football, he should be realistic

Nick Saban was an excellent addition to ESPN's “College GameDay,” providing deep and digestible film analysis, well-curated insights into teams across the country and a sense of humor that might surprise some – culminating in the back-and-forth of the Show took place on Saturday. “Celebrity Guest Picker” from Tuscaloosa, his wife Terry.

But he still has a lot of work to do on what's actually happening with the economics of college football, which is disappointing because he's supposed to be a major voice on player compensation and moves. On Saturday he was a disingenuous voice, painting a picture of the past that insults the intelligence of every person who follows the sport and longing for a future that would amount to a step backwards.

The panel began a discussion of last week's big story, UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka's announcement that he was opting out for the season because promised financial obligations were not met. Sluka's agent told ESPN that he had been “verbally promised” at least $100,000, and Sluka's father, Bob, shared it The athleteDavid Ubben says negotiations took place in February — and that the family didn't ask for more during UNLV's 3-0 start to becoming a College Football Playoff contender.

This is controversial and the absolute truth of this story is unlikely. “College GameDay” host Rece Davis said aptly about the situation: “If the promise was made, we're not letting (whoever made it) off the hook.” That's despicable, that's shabby, a kid like that receive.”

Unfortunately, Saban was desperate to intervene.

“But what value did this young man ultimately create for himself by making this decision?” Saban said. “Being put in that situation and then making that decision. What real value does this create for his future? And that’s the unfortunate thing about the whole thing.”

“Yes, chasing short-term money impacts their future,” Kirk Herbstreit added.

So let’s try to answer that question regardless of what exactly happened with Sluka and UNLV. When he was promised this money and didn't receive it, he wasn't trying to “create value” for himself – he was understandably frustrated that he was being wronged even though he had shown value. If his camp is lying about the promise, that's obviously false – but if he was only paid $3,000 for his work at UNLV, which is undisputed, that's ridiculous and unacceptable in today's market.

While the market is unclear, we know enough about it to know that a quarterback of Sluka's quality joining an FBS program – with millions of dollars on the line as a possible candidate for the 12-team playoffs – is worth five figures Amounts should have bank before completing a passport.

So if I hear correctly, the payment for the game started with NIL. According to the former Alabama coach, who has had many great players over the years who were well off with tuition, room, board, books, etc.

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) September 28, 2024

The answer to Saban's question is that Sluka has already added value by graduating from Holy Cross, starring there and earning a chance to play at a higher level, and then by playing at that level performed excellently. That means he should and will be given another chance at college next season, and he should be paid a fair market salary to do so.

It's almost as if Saban thinks everyone is an NFL prospect – Sluka probably isn't – or as if it's difficult to understand what $100,000 can do for a young person's life who isn't destined for millions is when he has millions of dollars.

It's disappointing. Because Saban should add a lot of value to this discussion and has made other points that resonate.

He said he stepped away from coaching in part because his players' discussion after last season's CFB semi-final ended was all about money, and I believe him. He's right that it can be beneficial to persevere through difficult times when things aren't going well for a player initially. He's right about the value of having a university and a program as a home base, with lasting connections long after playing.

He should have been better off talking about locker room dynamics in this era on Saturday rather than championing a future with a combination of revenue sharing — which is, of course, legally mandated and unavoidable — and a “true NIL” basis based solely on marketing opportunities.

This obviously remains an NCAA fantasy, although the richest programs in college football will continue to recruit the best players so they can win and thereby profit. This will always create a market that goes beyond mandatory compensation. Which is not new.

It's just that there's a lot more money going to players, coupled with constant player movement, which means that what has to come next is some form of players organizing and signing standardized contracts. As with any major change, there will be unintended consequences, but they are necessary and inevitable. I want Saban to embrace this reality and talk about what impact this will have on his current career.

Instead, he said this: “We turned it into pay for play because we have donor money to pay people. This system does not create any added value for the players in the long term. I mean, you should go to college to create value for the future. Now the boys have to decide how much money they want to earn. But I’m not sure that’s how we want the college experience to be.”

Was he seriously suggesting that we are just now getting around to “raising funds to pay people”? Is he seriously suggesting that such money hasn't been pooled by the wealthiest programs in the past to pay the very best prospects and help those programs succeed and profit? After decades of thinly veiled — and in some cases reported and punished by the NCAA — bidding wars for some of these players leading up to signing, is he really saying that guys are making decisions based on money right now?

Anyone interested in college football should be offended by this. I'm sure Saban felt the pain when he saw Jeremy Pruitt, who ran his recruiting operation at Alabama from 2007 to 2009, cheat at Tennessee in such a brazen and sloppy manner that his coaching career was evaporated in 2021.

Nobody really cares about this stuff anymore now that we've removed the amateur mask from college football. Plus, no one expects trainers to start writing tell-all books about where the bags of money were hidden.

But we can have more honest, less insincere conversations about the past, present and future. Saban talks a lot about “value,” and he knows it well — Forbes estimates he made $150 million in his coaching career. It should not devalue what a free market can and must mean for the workforce of an industry like college football.

And he should whisper to himself one of the greatest Saban-isms of all time — “Don’t waste failure” — before broaching the subject again in front of millions of viewers.

(Photo: Ken Ruinard/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)