Saban defends comments, proposes transparency for NIL deals

Speaking at public event in Birmingham two weeks ago, Saban said Texas A&M, led by Jimbo Fisher who coached with Saban at LSU, “bought every player on their team.”

The comments were made in a larger discussion about Name, Image and Likeness. Last summer laws went into effect in various states that allowed college athletes to be paid by third parties in private NIL agreements.

Trying to grasp the current state of NIL and suggest possible reforms are among the topics on the table for coaches and administrators this week.

In his allotted 15 minutes for media Saban did not mention in his opening statement his current rift with Fisher, who has said he no longer takes Saban’s calls.

The first question he took came from a reporter for TexAgs.com, a website devoted to coverage of Texas A&M athletics.

“What evidence do you have that Texas A&M bought its entire recruiting class?” Olin Buchanan asked.

Saban responded with, “I didn’t really say that anybody did anything wrong.”

Buchanan followed with, “You said they bought their recruiting class.”

“I didn’t say anybody did anything wrong, and I’ve said everything I’m going to say about this,” Saban answered.

Fisher is not scheduled to meet with media on Tuesday.

The encounter was neither unexpected nor unprofessional from either side.

Saban moved quickly into areas he thinks the current form of NIL is lacking.

“I should never have mentioned any individual institutions, I’ve said that before, but some kind of uniform NIL standard that supports some kind of equitable national competition I think is really really important in college football,” he said.

Equity, such as the same number of scholarships allowed for each team, has always been a part of college football, Saban said.

He believes transparency is the best way to ensure equity in the NIL Era.

“We need some kind of transparency in Name, Image and Likeness deals to verify that players are doing what they need to do to have the opportunity to make the money,” said. “I also think student-athletes need some type of protection from unfair NIL deals. I’m all for players making as much as they can make. I also think we’ve got to have some uniform transparent way to do that.”