Nick Saban Points Out That Donald Trump Is Keen On Helping Fix College Athletics

Nick Saban doesn’t think we actually need a presidential commission.

While we continue to wait for the outcome of the House settlement, the college athletics world is not sitting still while a judge in California decides the fate of NIL and revenue sharing. 

Some collegiate leaders are pushing buttons, trying to decide what’s best for athletes moving forward. There has been talk of a presidential commission to find different solutions to the current problems plaguing college sports, most namely NIL and the transfer portal. 

Though President Donald Trump is all for making college sports great again, there could be a different way to solve some of the ongoing problems. There has been talk in Washington of the president forming a federal commission, hoping to bring together some of the brightest minds in the college athletics world to come up with solutions on how to help the current situation, with early reports indicating Nick Saban would be involved. 

But once again, the former Alabama head coach has made it clear that he doesn’t think we actually need a commission to solve these problems, though he is open to being a consultant. 

“I know there’s been a lot of stuff out there about some commission or whatever. I don’t think we need a commission. I’ve said that before,” Nick Saban said, according to Mike Rodak. “I think we need — we know what the issues are, we just have to have people who are willing to move those and solve those and create some solutions for some of those issues. I’m all for being a consultant to anybody who would think that my experience would be beneficial to helping create some of those solutions.”

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – President Donald Trump shakes hands with former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban as Trump takes the stage to address graduating students at Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

What we do know is that President Donald Trump has taken a keen interest in helping figure out a way to support a change in college athletics, which Nick Saban pointed out during his charity golf event on Tuesday. 

“I know President Trump is very interested in athletics. He’s very interested in college athletics,” Nick Saban said about Donald Trump. “He’s very interested in maintaining the idea that people go to college to create value for the future in terms of how they develop as people, students, graduation rate, as well as having a balanced, competitive playing field. If I can be a consultant to anyone who might be able to help the future of college athletics, I would be more than happy to do that.”

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Is The Government Going To Get Involved In College Athletics?

Whether this goes anywhere from here will be up to those inside the President’s office, along with key members of Congress who have been pushing for some type of fix to the upcoming problems that will come with the House settlement. 

Right now, there are plenty of people working to make sure their schools are protected, as the State of Tennessee did last week when passing a law that would essentially prohibit any type of punishment for universities that reside in the state. 

This protection was a counter-measure to a move discussed by power-four commissioners, which would have each school participating in the House Settlement sign a document that would protect the ‘College Sports Commission’ from any lawsuits pertaining to the agreement. 

All this will do is lead to more lawsuits, as it will be very hard to convince schools, legally, that they cannot abide by state laws, but have to concede to a ‘signed agreement’ that would curtail any type of lawsuits pertaining to the House settlement. This is a clear sign of how scared some folks are of further antitrust lawsuits.