Saban: "You Can Basically Buy Players"

Alabama head coach Nick Saban brings to light a rather fearful description of the current state of college football saying you can basically "buy players" at this point.

Name, Image, and Likeness has brought on a rather complex dynamic to the world of college football over the last calendar year. Though add on top of that the fuel that is the NCAA Transfer Portal and you have yourself what appears, at least on the surface, to be a completely different sport. 

Rosters in a constant influx, players in and out, NIL deals swaying the decisions all along the way, meanwhile, the arbiter that was the NCAA has thrown its hands up and turned an eye to just about all of it. So much so that college presidents like Georgia's Jere Moorehead have called for a serious overhaul of the current nature of the sport. 

It's not just the presidents of the universities that are fearful of what the sport has become either, it's the sport's best coaches, and in Nick Saban's case, the best of all time. 

"But that creates a situation where you can basically buy players. You can do it in recruiting. I mean, if that’s what we want college football to be, I don’t know. And you can also get players to get in the transfer portal to see if they can get more someplace else than they can get at your place"

Georgia has seen numerous examples over the recent months on its own roster, some of which ironically has come at the hands of Nick Saban's Crimson Tide. Jermaine Burton is expected to be the number one receiver in Tuscaloosa this year. Amarius Mims has most recently entered the portal, and the immediate reporting linking him to Florida State and Miami indicated an ensuing NIL bidding war. 

I'm hearing FSU and Miami are battling it out for Amarius Mims and NIL will play a major factor.

Here's more details on the former 5-star recruit: https://t.co/622KDHWbDJ pic.twitter.com/0QSwdGa79m

— Josh Newberg (@josh_newberg) April 10, 2022

It's not just the high school recruits, like the "unnamed" recruit that was linked to an $8m NIL deal coming out of high school. No one will come out and report that that player happens to be a 2023 quarterback recruit that just committed to an SEC school, but most have connected the dots. 

NIL hasn't created a situation where you can "basically" buy players. You flatly can. 

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