Nick Saban Questions Transfer Portal and Growing NIL Budgets

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban isn't the biggest fan of NIL and the transfer portal.

Nick Saban sits on the ESPN College Gameday set prior to the NCAA football game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the College Football Playoffs here, many top NIL spenders are reaping the benefits of having money to spend.

The game has changed, and there's a good chance that one day, all of the top spenders will be in the College Football Playoff. Whether it's a smaller school or one of the typical national powerhouses, the chances of finding success are similar if programs have money to spend.

That doesn't look to be changing anytime soon. If anything, it should only be more of a thing. Donors have more money to spend, players are getting more expensive, and the 12-team playoff allows programs to capitalize on profit.

In all of this, the NCAA allows anything. Whether that's right or wrong can only be an opinion for everyone. Some love it, while some hate it. Former Alabama head coach and all-time college football great Nick Saban isn't the biggest fan, highlighting the issues NIL has brought to college football.

“Each year it’s gotten a little worse,” Saban said Thursday on the "Pat McAfee Show." “The first year we had name, image and likeness, four or five years ago, we had $3 million, and everybody was happy. Then the next year it was seven. Then the next year it’s 10. Then this year, it’s 13. Now they’re looking at 20. I mean, where does it end? And the people who are supporting this, they really get no benefit for it. And I’m sure that there’s going to be some instances in the future where those people don’t want to continue to support players that aren’t there.”

The issues Saban views NIL and the transfer portal bring are fair, in some sense. Players aren't going to schools to develop with proven coaches, and they aren't going to programs with a rich history.

The fact of that matter is that student-athletes want to be paid, and if they have an opportunity to get that from any school, that program will have a chance to land a player.

“Guys are looking to where can I develop value right now and more about what can I get instantly in terms of getting in the portal or going to another school,” Saban said. “No one talks about the college experience anymore. Nobody talks about graduation, all these things are probably important to the future.”

Without an end in sight, Saban will have to get used to the new era. Players have every right to get paid and are doing just that.