Nick Saban wants to be voice for change in college football - ESPN

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban might be retired from coaching, but he emphasized Wednesday that he's not retired from doing his part to help bring some reform, uniformity and «common sense» to college football and the lingering chaos surrounding the sport.

«If my voice can bring about some meaningful change, I want to help any way I can because I love the players and I love college football,» Saban told ESPN. «What we have now is not college football, not college football as we know it. You hear somebody use the word 'student-athlete.' That doesn't exist.»

Saban, 72, retired in January after winning six national championships in 17 seasons at Alabama and another at LSU in 2003. He now occupies an office in the south end zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium and works as an adviser to the university. He'll also serve as a college football and NFL draft analyst for ESPN.

While still coaching at Alabama, Saban said, he understood that any critique he made of the current NIL climate combined with the transfer portal — in particular the lack of rules on agents shopping around players in the portal and schools bidding on high school players through donor-based collectives — could come across as self-serving. But now that he's no longer coaching, Saban plans to take an even stronger stance.

In fact, some coaches have suggested that Saban would be a perfect choice as college football commissioner if such a position is ever created.

«I'm not really looking for a job, but I do know I'd like to impact college football the best way I can, whether it's being a spokesperson or anything else,» Saban said. «Listen, I'm for the players. It's not that I'm not for the players. I want to see the players have a great quality of life and be able to