Nick Saban rejects notion he’s anti-NIL ahead of presidential commission on college sports

There’s been plenty of news around a potential presidential commission to investigate and solve some issues in college athletics. Nick Saban isn’t sure such a commission is needed.

He does, however, want to make it clear that he’s willing to lend his support to any party looking to create those solutions. And, moreover, he reiterated he’s not against NIL in general, though it is one of the issues the sport is grappling with.

“I’m not anti-NIL. I’m all for the players making money,” Nick Saban said at a charity event. “I don’t think we have a sustainable system right now. I think a lot of people would agree with that. In terms of the future of college athletics period, not just football, how do we sustain 20 other non-revenue sports that create lots of other opportunities for people in the future?”

Those are the questions the long-time college football coach is willing to lend his support on. It just may not happen in the way it was initially reported.

“I know there’s been a lot of stuff out there about some commission or whatever,” Nick Saban said. “I don’t think we need a commission. I’ve said that before. I think we know what the issues are, we just have to have people that are willing to move those and solve those, create some solutions for some of those issues.”

Again, he’s willing to help. However things shake out, whether it’s a political body or the NCAA or conferences themselves, change appears to be coming in the sport.

Who better to tap into for advice than Nick Saban? He knows quite a bit.

“I’m all for being a consultant to anybody who would think that my experience would be beneficial to help them create some of those solutions,” Nick Saban said. “President Trump is very interested in athletics, he’s very interested in college athletics. He’s very interested in maintaining the idea that people going to college create value for their future in terms of how they develop as people, as students, as well as having a balanced, competitive playing field.

“So if I can be a consultant to anyone to help with the future of college athletics I’d be more than happy to do that.”