Alabama football coach Nick Saban says Texas A&M 'bought every player,' questions whether current NIL model is sustainable

Alabama coach Nick Saban singled out Texas A&M for «buying» its top-ranked signing class and threw a spotlight on the unintended effect of name, image and likeness rights on recruiting during an event with local business leaders on Wednesday night in Birmingham.

«I mean, we were second in recruiting last year,» Saban told the audience. «A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team — made a deal for name, image likeness. We didn't buy one player. All right? But I don't know if we're gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it. It's tough.»

Saban wasn't the first coach to call out the Aggies by name. In February, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin quipped that, «Texas A&M was going to incur a luxury tax in how much they paid for their signing class.»

That prompted a stern response from Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher during his signing day news conference the following day when he said that coaches spreading rumors about deals promised to recruits were «clown acts» and «irresponsible as hell.»

The problem with NIL, Saban said on Wednesday, is «coaches trying to create an advantage for themselves.»

Saban said coaches know how much money is available from their school's collective — a group of program supporters who pool their resources to offer deals to athletes — and «how much he can promise every player.»

«That's not what it was supposed to be,» he said. «That's what it's become. And that's the problem in colleagues athletics right now. Now every player is saying, 'Well, what am I going to get?»

Saban said people blame the NCAA, «But in defense of the NCAA, we are where we are because of the litigation.»

Last summer, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that said limiting