Verne Lundquist says what he believes led to Nick Saban's surprise retirement

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Broadcasting legend Verne Lundquist shared his thoughts on why legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban decided to call it quits after the 2023-24 collegiate season. 

It shocked everyone when Saban retired from coaching after leading his team to the College Football Playoff following an SEC Championship win over Georgia.

Lundquist, who called college football for years prior to stepping away from CBS’ coverage in 2016, believes that name, image and likeness – better known as NIL – led to Saban’s retirement. 

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On Wednesday, March 2, 2016, outside the West Wing of the White House, Alabama Crimson Tide football team Coach Nick Saban speaks to reporters. (Cheriss May/NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"The two biggest changes, both of which helped drive Nick Saban into retirement, are transfer portal and NIL," Lundquist said during an appearance on Barstool’s "Pardon My Take." "These kids now [ask], ‘How much are you gonna pay me?’ Or ‘If you don’t pay me or if you don’t guarantee I’m starting and pay me, I’m transferring, I’m going to Central Michigan.’ And I think Nick has now said, ‘Yeah, that drove me nuts.’"

While Saban hasn’t definitively come out and said that NIL and the transfer portal drove him out of the game, he has openly criticized the way college athletics are running now. 

Saban said back in February while on an ESPN panel during "College GameDay" that "what we have now is not college football."

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"Not college football as we know it," he continued. "You hear