Deion Sanders, Nick Saban discuss challenges of NIL era in college athletics

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Deion Sanders and Nick Saban had a brief spat over college athletics' new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules back in May when Sanders became upset with Saban after the Alabama football coach said that Jackson State, of which Sanders is the head coach, paid a player a million dollars to come to the school.

While the two squashed the beef — appearing in an Aflac commercial together in July — the topic of NIL is still dominating the world of college football.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban speaks during SEC Media Days on July 19, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

On Wednesday, the two head coaches appeared on "SportsCenter" and were asked to give their thoughts on the challenges that the NIL rules present to college athletics.

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"I think a couple of things are of concern," Saban said on Wednesday. "We allow alumni through collectives to get involved in recruiting and other things, that’s always something we’ve always guarded against in college football. I think what kind of competitive balance are we able to create if we allow that to happen, which is not going to be great for fans."

"The best competitive balance you can have is like in the NFL. They have rules to create competitive balance. Whether it’s salary cap, difficulty of schedule, where you draft, where you pick relative to your won-loss record. Those things are important I think in the interest of creating a lot of good matchups on a national basis."

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As he has said in the past,