Nick Saban has taken a bizarre stance on his appointment as co-chair of President Trump’s college sports commission… revealing he doesn’t know what his role is and doesn’t even think a commission necessary.
Last week it was revealed that the president had agreed to create the body, in a bid to look into a potential reform of the college football landscape, with Alabama coaching legend Saban at the heart of the discussions.
The details of exactly what the commission will do are currently unclear, and it appears that is the case even to Saban, who has now spoken out for the first time.
‘I don’t know a lot about the commission, first of all,’ he told The Paul Finnebaum Show on Wednesday.
He then brutally added: ‘Secondly, I’m not really sure we need a commission.’
Trump’s plan appears to be to rein in college sports’ name, image and likeness (NIL) era, after its explosion since July 2021.
Trump recently asked aides to begin researching the creation of an executive order to better control the NIL landscape, which Saban has repeatedly attacked both before and after his 2024 retirement.
In fact, both Saban and his former SEC rival, ex-Auburn coach and current Republican US Senator from Alabama Tommy Tuberville, lobbied the President about the issue earlier this month.
Since 2021, and under pressure from states and the courts, the NCAA has allowed student-athletes to profit from their name, image or likeness. It is too early to know what a Trump executive order would entail.
Saban has been critical of the NIL funding in the past, largely because he was concerned about the effect on college football. The NIL era also has brought a rise to the transfer portal era, with thousands of students across all sports seeking to move schools – some of them for bigger paydays.
‘Each year, it’s gotten a little worse,’ Saban said last December on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on ESPN. ‘The first year we had name, image and likeness four, five years ago, we had a $3 million, and everybody was happy.
‘Then the next year it was $7 million, then the next year it’s $10 million. Then this year it’s $13 million. Now they’re looking at $20 million. I mean, where does it end?’
A recent Houston Chronicle report projected the Texas Longhorns would have a budget of $35 million to $40 million for its 2025 football roster, depending on the fallout from the House v. NCAA settlement, which allow schools to pay athletes directly.
Saban has previously said the current model is unsustainable for college sports, and Trump apparently agreed.
The NCAA has declined to comment on a potential executive order.
