It’s not often that Nick Saban is the second-most-powerful man in the room. But last Thursday night in Tuscaloosa, the seven-time national championship-winning coach warmed up a crowd of graduating seniors at the University of Alabama for the President of the United States.

Since Bear Bryant is no longer with us, Donald Trump is literally the only person who could upstage — if only briefly — the G.O.A.T. in Alabama, and Saban acknowledged the pecking order, laughing that he felt like he was the opening act for the Rolling Stones.

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Look a little closer, though, and it sure seems like Saban is actually the man behind the curtain, whispering in the ears of the powerful and guiding them toward his own ends. Saban may not be winning games any more, but he’s only shifted the playing field into boardrooms, courtrooms, hearing rooms … and it turns out he’s a formidable force there, too.

There’s an old line in the Yellowhammer State that the five best-known people in Alabama are, in order, the head coach at Alabama, the head coach at Auburn, the starting quarterbacks for Alabama and Auburn … and the governor of the state. In his day, Bryant danced around the demagogue that was Gov. George Wallace — Wallace’s 1963 “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” happened just steps away from Bryant’s office — and the Bear even flirted briefly with a run for public office.

Although former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville rode his six-game winning streak over Alabama all the way to Congress, Saban has kept his political views largely under wraps. He’s close friends with former West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, but that’s not necessarily a sign; normal people have friends on both sides of the aisle. Saban actively and vocally supported his players who protested during the Black Lives Matter movements of 2020, and advocated for vaccination during the pandemic.

Publicly, at least, Saban employs politics with an eye toward execution rather than party loyalty — as in, he’ll appeal to whoever has the power to enact actual change, regardless of whether there’s a (D) or an (R) after their name. And when Trump — who loves football, and has a tendency to act quickly when he hears an idea he likes — is in the process of forming a presidential commission within days of talking to Saban, it’s clear Saban still knows exactly how to get things done.

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Midway through his tenure at Alabama, Saban — who had already won three national championships at the time — pivoted his entire philosophy from a run-first defensive suffocation to an air-it-out swarm. The result? Another three championships, Heismans for quarterback Bryce Young and wide receiver DeVonta Smith, and four — and counting — starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

In other words, the man knows how to seize opportunity when it presents itself. Thundering from a Saturday-morning pulpit fires up the choir, but whispering in the ear of the president of the United States … now that’s how you get the whole congregation to pay attention.

The idea of Saban running the famously headless, leaderless sport of college football isn’t a new one. No less than the Oracle of the SEC has advocated for Saban to claim the throne.

“I think the solution to college football is you need to quit wasting time being on TV and you need to be what everybody in my business has suggested,” Paul Finebaum told Saban at an event last May. “You need to be the czar of college football. If you agree to that right now, we can solve a lot of problems.”

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Saban demurred at the time, but it’s clear he’s keeping a close eye on the direction of the sport. At a public forum last May with Sen. Ted Cruz, Saban called for “rules that create some kind of competitive balance, which right now we don’t have in college athletics. It’s whoever wants to pay the most money, raise the most money, buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win. I don’t think that’s the spirit of college athletics.”

Whether Saban’s on the right or wrong side of NIL and progress isn’t the issue, it’s a question of who he can get to listen to him. Clearly, he has the president’s ear. And while the effect of an executive order or a White House commission on the ongoing House settlement is — at best — murky, what’s indisputable is that Saban is still very much involved in the direction of his sport.

While he was on the sidelines, Saban reshaped the entire college football universe in his image. You didn’t really think he’d stop bending the world to his will just because he’s not coaching, did you?

Late last month, the Houston Chronicle‘s Kirk Bohls reported the Texas Longhorns are projected to spend “between $35 million and $40 million” on its 2025 football roster. The eye-popping number sent shockwaves throughout the collegiate sports world, and even prompted some Power Four athletic directors to address its veracity.

“It currently sits somewhere, ‘between $35 million and $40 million,’ which counts the likely revenue-sharing allotment expected to be $20.5 million as well as payouts through the Texas One Fund, a connected source tells the Houston Chronicle,” Bohls wrote.

But to hear ESPN insider Pete Thamel explain it, that elevated number is far more accurate than many want to believe, especially when the projected $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap figure some programs are expected to receive from the NCAA once the House Settlement is eventually approved is added in. That’s because some audacious Power Four programs are getting ahead of things and “front-loading” their 2025 rosters by offering big bucks to transfers and high school recruits before the ink dries on the settlement.

“If you think about front-loading this year, if you think about trying to recruit ahead and pay players in the ways you can do that, it doesn’t take a lot of math to get there,” Thamel said on Wednesday’s ESPN College GameDay Podcast. “The most interesting part to me is this: this is the classic behavior that all of a sudden everyone’s expecting to stop. Rules are set, and what are teams doing? Well, when the settlement comes, we need to abide by the rules, (but until then) we’re going to just go 1,000 mph to give ourselves some sort of gray area competitive advantage before that.

“I’m not saying they’re cheating. What I’m saying is rules in college sports, because there were unpaid players for so long, were made to be bent, were made to find workarounds and then rules came and you found new workarounds. That’s just the cat-and-mouse process we’ve seen in college athletics for as long as I’ve done this. … So, it’ll be interesting to see if all of a sudden that behavior just stops. But I’m guessing no.”

Pete Thamel: ‘The $2 million player in college basketball is a real thing’

That “front-loading” has even crossed over into college basketball, where some player are already drawing $2 million NIL deals. Earlier this year, On3 insider Pete Nakos reported “multiple top guards” have already landed deals north of $2 million. This is after big men like Great Osobor and Coleman Hawkins signed $2 million financial packages with Washington and Kansas State, respectively, last year.

“The $2 million player is not an anomaly any more. The $2 million player in college basketball is a real thing,” Thamel continued. “I think where some of these numerical totals are coming from is this — and you’re seeing it in recruiting, I bring up USC because they have the No. 1 class — I think there’s a lot of front-loading going on right now, where if you have the ability to pay high school players, you are doing so now to assure their commitment before the playing field is theoretically evened.

“Although it’s never going to be evened, and God bless the person that’s going to try to rein it in and decide who’s getting money outside the cap, and what’s legitimate NIL,” Thamel added. “These are all the questions that will be podcast topics until this settlement falls apart somewhere (in the future), hopefully it’s like 10 years from now so my hair’s not fully gray by then.”

ATHENS, Ga. – Alabama softball kicked off its postseason run with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over in-state rival Auburn on Tuesday in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Jack Turner Stadium. With the win, the Crimson Tide advances to face South Carolina on Wednesday.

The Tigers struck first with a solo home run from Nelia Peralta in the top of the first inning, but Alabama answered in the second. In the bottom of the second, Salen Hawkins tied the game with an RBI double that bounced off the wall. An inning later, the Crimson Tide surged ahead as Kali Heivilin legged out an RBI triple to right field before scoring on a sacrifice fly, putting Alabama up 3-1.

The Tigers threatened late cutting the deficit to one in the sixth on a sacrifice fly. With two in scoring position and just one out, the Tigers seemed poised to tie or take the lead, but a pivotal challenge from the Crimson Tide led to an overturned safe call at third base, ending the inning with the Crimson Tide still ahead 3-2.

Pitcher Jocelyn Briski shut the door in the seventh, striking out the Tigers’ final batter for her eight strikeout of the game, matching her career high. Briski’s effort marked her fifth complete game victory of the season, three of which have come against SEC foes.

Alabama tallied seven hits on the day, including two each from Audrey Vandagriff and Abby Duchscherer. Hawkins finished with two RBIs, her third multi-RBI game of the season, while Heivilin extended her reached-base streak to 16 games.

The victory was Alabama’s 47th all-time in SEC Tournament play, tying LSU for the most in conference history. The Crimson Tide also improved to 7-3 all-time against Auburn in the SEC Tournament.

Next up, Alabama will face South Carolina Wednesday night, approximately 35 minutes after Game 6 which is scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will air on SEC Network.

Earlier this week, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer publicly expressed his frustration and disappointment with the NCAA. Specifically, Beamer is not happy with the NCAA’s lack of response regarding transfer portal addition Rahsul Faison. The former class of 2019 running back hasn’t been ruled eligible for the 2025 season despite the precedent of other players with junior college pasts receiving extra opportunities to play.

On Wednesday, Faison announced that he had hired premier NIL lawyer Darren Heitner to represent him in a potential challenge to the NCAA. Heitner confirmed Faison’s social media announcement with a post of his own. Said the attorney, “Rahsul Faison submitted his waiver request to the NCAA. I will be urging the NCAA to prioritize providing a decision on his request for an additional year of eligibility.”

It is worth noting that neither Faison nor Heitner indicated that they had yet filed any lawsuit against the NCAA.

For those unfamiliar with Heitner, there is no one better on the legal side of the NIL world. He teaches NIL Law at the University of Miami’s law school and commonly represents athletes. He also writes a weekly NIL newsletter that reaches thousands.

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Earlier this spring, Heitner represented South Carolina basketball wing Myles Stute as he sought another year on the court following a blood clot diagnosis that caused him to miss more than half of the 2024-2025 campaign. The NCAA folded and (rightfully) granted Stute a final season.

In Faison’s case, the facts support him receiving another year to play. He grayshirted at Marshall in 2019 before sitting out of football in both 2020 and 2021. Then, he played one year of junior college ball in 2022 before getting carries for two seasons at Utah State. In total, he’s played just three years beyond high school, and one of them was in junior college.

Precedent would suggest that Faison and Heitner will have a strong case.

Diego Pavia is the most high-profile case as he will play his sixth season of college ball in 2025. Following a legal battle, the courts granted an injunction in favor of Pavia that essentially struck his two seasons of junior college from the record, allowing him to compete (and earn NIL money) for one more season.

Less than two weeks ago, courts in New Jersey granted a temporary injunction in favor of Rutgers defensive back Jett Elad to play in 2025. Elad also was a class of 2019 graduate with a junior college past. He saw snaps in one junior college season and four Division-I years.

South Carolina is hopeful that Faison will be present in a talented running back room this fall. Fellow redshirt seniors Oscar Adaway and Bradley Dunn, redshirt sophomore Jawarn Howell, and redshirt freshman Matthew Fuller are also on scholarship.

Faison enrolled at South Carolina after hitting the NCAA transfer portal this offseason. On3 considered him a 4-star transfer after rushing for over 1100 yards at Utah State in 2024.

President Donald Trump plans to create commission on college sports in light of issues “ailing the industry,” per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. It could be a months long endeavor, per the report.

“Trump’s involvement, though not surprising, is a landmark moment in college athletics history — the country’s most powerful elected leader potentially shaping the future of the industry,” Dellenger wrote. “Details of the commission are for now being kept private, but the group is expected to feature college sports stakeholders, prominent businesspeople with deep connections to college football and, perhaps, even a former coach and administrator.

“The commission is expected to deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports, including the frequency of player movement in the transfer portal, the unregulated booster compensation paid to athletes, the debate of college athlete employment, the application of Title IX to school revenue-share payments and, even, conference membership makeup and conference television contracts, those with knowledge of the commission told Yahoo Sports.”

According to Dellenger, Trump could announce a commission through an executive order, just as he did this week when he established the “Religious Liberty Commission.” Nick Saban is expected to be integral to the commission’s work.

On Thursday, former Alabama head coach reportedly met with President Trump to discuss the issue of NIL in college athletics. Just one day later, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is considering an executive order that could increase scrutiny on NIL payments to college athletes.

Trump was in Tuscaloosa to deliver the University of Alabama’s commencement address. Saban introduced Trump at the event. On Monday, college football analyst David Pollack weighed in on Saban’s influence on Trump and the NIL situation.

While Pollack believes Saban’s involvement in NIL reform will help the collegiate landscape, others aren’t convinced. After the Wall Street Journal report emerged on Friday, attorney Steve Berman, who is representing current and former college athletes in the proposed $2.8. billion House vs. NCAA settlement, criticized Saban for his actions.

“Coach Saban and Trump’s eleventh-hour talks of executive orders and other meddling are just more unneeded self-involvement,” Berman said. “College athletes are spearheading historic changes and benefitting massively from NIL deals. They don’t need this unmerited interference from a coach only seeking to protect the system that made him tens of millions.”

Berman and others have until Wednesday to address concerns that prevented U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken from granting approval to the deal last month. Berman recently said they are on track to meet the deadline.

This week, reports came out that former Alabama Football Head Coach Nick Saban had a meeting with President Donald Trump about the status of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in college athletics. Saban is far from the only person who has had an issue with the current status of college athletics.

The issue, at least from my perspective, seems to come up most often around college football bowl season. It’s a time that has changed alongside the landscape of college football, with players opting to sit out these games to either enter the transfer portal, preserve NFL draft stock, or for a multitude of other reasons.

It seems to be the opinion of a lot of people during this time that players should want to play in these bowl games, and opting to transfer or sit out for any reason is wrong. Players should want to play alongside their teammates in every opportunity possible, regardless of any personal considerations. This is one of the multitude of ways in which the argument against NIL and the transfer portal has been made.

This argument amongst opponents of NIL and the transfer portal seems to shift quite frequently in order to fit a number of narratives. This crowd argues that these things are somehow “ruining” college sports without providing many specifics on why they believe that to be true.

The position against things like NIL and the transfer portal seem to boil down to the idea that college athletics should preserve the idea of amateurism. College sports for much of its history has held this idea that its athletes and teams simply compete for the love of the game and for the pride of their school. They argue that NIL and the transfer portal has made college sports has been stripped of this amateur allure in favor of it becoming a business.

Here’s the problem with this argument: college sports has been a business for a long time now. It’s just been limited to who has the ability to treat it as such traditionally.

For years, schools, administrators, and coaches have made fortunes off the labor of its athletes. The product that these fortunes are built on would not exist without the players.

However, this has never been a problem for most people, because in America, it’s simply our way of life. One group of people produce the labor, another group controls who benefits the most off that labor. It’s okay if college athletes don’t see any value from what they produce, because 99% of us also have no control over our labor.

To be fair, the current NIL system still doesn’t even give athletes the benefits of their labor. Instead, it requires a third party to facilitate said benefits, while universities still make all the profit off of tickets, merchandise, concessions, etc.

NIL also does not give players autonomy. It instead creates a hierarchy where some get a lot and most get very little. According to Sports Illustrated, the average NIL deal is worth $2,716. More than half of NIL deals across the nation are worth $100 or less. The median total earnings per athlete is $480.

For this reason, I am not a proponent of the current way in which NIL is structured. But make no mistake, I am a proponent of athletes being paid. Athletes, and all people across our country, should have autonomy over the labor they produce.

There are nuances that are worth considering in these discussions. First, most sports operate at a loss each year, with most athletic budgets being stimulated by the football and basketball teams. Do all of these teams produce value? Yes. Do they all produce the same value? No.

The other thing that is often brought up amongst those against NIL is that it favors the richer schools over the poorer schools. Schools that can’t offer a lot of money will miss out on top players.

So there are a lot of moving parts to consider, I don’t dispute that. Here is what I say to both of these problems. First, not all athletes across all sports will be able to make the same money. That is just the reality of the market. It’s the same reason why Premier Lacrosse League players don’t make as much as NFL players, the revenue just isn’t equal amongst all sports.

Second, the lack of balance between these payment opportunities necessitates some collective bargaining. Many professional leagues have systems in place where each team contributes a portion of money to help balance the fiscal playing field between all teams regardless of revenue. A system similar to this would need to be introduced to keep teams from gaining advantages simply for being able to hand out more money.

The idea of the integrity of amateur athletes is long outdated. When college sports started raking in millions of dollars from TV deals, tickets, and other sources, it became no longer just about a group of students doing some extracurricular activities. It became a business, complete with a work force that generates the value. Just like any other entity that generates revenue, college athletes deserve the benefits that would not be present without their work.

So what Saban argues for is college athletes to not benefit off of their labor, but instead former coaches and administrators should be the ones to make fortunes. Saban apparently does not like giving players any level of autonomy after they sign their letter of intent. That is a pretty despicable stance to have in my opinion.

On the subject of autonomy, let’s also examine the transfer portal. Once again, this seems to make people mad because athletes don’t have to get special permission in order to make a decision that is best for themselves and their families.

Once again, it’s about control. Players should be able to control which school they want to attend no matter the reason. They shouldn’t be punished for making a personal decision.

Is the system in place perfect? Absolutely not. We still have a long ways to go to make it as equitable as is necessary. Is this system a step in the right direction? Absolutely. In no reality is a bad system not an improvement over a terrible system.

The answer to the issues facing college sports isn’t getting rid of all of this progress. Rather, the answer is how can we expand and alter these systems in order to further allow for player’s to have control of their lives.