Nick Saban’s Hypocritical NIL Comments Ignore His Own Actions

Nick Saban has been in the news this week thanks to comments he's made about the advent of name, image and likeness in college football.

To hear Saban tell it, NIL is destroying the sport, to the point where he felt it was necessary to retire rather than continue coaching. 

"Well, all the things I believed in for all these years - 50 years of coaching - no longer exist in college athletics. So, it was always about developing players. It was always about helping people be more successful in life," Saban said.

He also believes that fans will eventually stop watching, as they grow frustrated with players looking for whichever program offers the most money

"We have collectives that in some places are raising huge amounts of money and going to compete against places that do not have the same resources to raise those kinds of funds to pay players," he said in Congress on Tuesday. "You have a pay-for-play system and a free agency system that has no guidelines, so there's no competitive balance. I think there's going to be a lot of places that will say that, and we'll create a case system where the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer and eventually fans will look at it and say, 'I don't really want to watch this game.'" 

He may have a point about richer schools and poorer schools. And he's clearly right about players being part of a new, system where money is freely available. But he's also being strikingly hypocritical and ignoring how jobs actually work.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide looks on during pregame warmups prior to facing the Auburn Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 26, 2022. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

College football is a gigantic business,