Alabama football coach Nick Saban says Texas A&M 'bought every player,' questions whether current NIL model is sustainable

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BleedGopher

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Per ESPN:

Alabama coach Nick Saban singled out Texas A&M for "buying" its top-ranked signing class and threw a spotlight on the unintended effect of name, image and likeness rights on recruiting during an event with local business leaders on Wednesday night in Birmingham.

"I mean, we were second in recruiting last year," Saban told the audience. "A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team -- made a deal for name, image, likeness. We didn't buy one player. All right? But I don't know if we're gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it. It's tough."

Saban wasn't the first coach to call out the Aggies by name. In February, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin quipped that, "Texas A&M was going to incur a luxury tax in how much they paid for their signing class."

That prompted a stern response from Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher during his signing day news conference the following day when he said that coaches spreading rumors about deals promised to recruits were "clown acts" and "irresponsible as hell."

www.espn.com

Saban: Texas A&M 'bought every player on team'

Alabama coach Nick Saban accused Texas A&M of "buying" its top-ranked signing class as he lamented the effect of the current NIL model on recruiting.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Go Gophers!!
 

What We have Her Is Failure To Communicate
What Mr Saban meant to say was we finished 2nd in recruiting this year and I am really pissed. We finished 2nd on the field too and I expect to win in everything...on the scoreboard and in recruiting rankings. Now this asshat comes along and takes away my number one recruiting ranking too. Well, well....he just can't do that.... I won't stand for it. I'm pissed!!!
 


What I hope we see, to some extent, is that these uber-recruits with huge NIL deals don't work hard. Think they should already be in the NFL. Think they're already made.

Meanwhile, our "paltry" (note the quotation marks here) 3* recruits bust their asses, to prove they can play with anyone in the P5 and that the NFL should take notice.


I'll take the latter, over the former.
 

This DISTANTLY reminds me of complaints where folks who dominated a black / grey market bemoan that other people can now easily participate in a now legal market.

Not to say I like the changes, but the complaining from folks who were already playing the same game and have shown zero interest in a more even playing field is bonkers absurd.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
This DISTANTLY reminds me of complaints where folks who dominated a black / grey market bemoan that other people can now easily participate in a now legal market.

Not to say I like the changes, but the complaining from folks who were already playing the same game and have shown zero interest in a more even playing field is bonkers absurd.
Click to expand...
I get where you are coming from and given that the source is Saban it is easy to assume that they are already paying lots of money to their players.

That said, Saban is taking a risk by calling out schools like A&M and Jackson State by name. If he is doing the same things they can easily make him look foolish.

I don't have high hopes that they will figure out a way to make NIL work the way it was intended in football and basketball, but if enough top coaches push back there is a chance I suppose.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I get where you are coming from and given that the source is Saban it is easy to assume that they are already paying lots of money to their players.

That said, Saban is taking a risk by calling out schools like A&M and Jackson State by name. If he is doing the same things they can easily make him look foolish.

I don't have high hopes that they will figure out a way to make NIL work the way it was intended in football and basketball, but if enough top coaches push back there is a chance I suppose.
Click to expand...
I have my doubts about what anyone is arguing FOR if they were happy when it benefited them when they / their boosters did it under the table.

Like the rando guy who is there to show you the happy path away from X ... and his happy path leads to the same X, but he is in charge ....
 

HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving said:
In that world PJ is Sisyphus.
Click to expand...
Camus postulated that Sisyphus was not unhappy in his role of pushing the rock up over and over again.
The TXA&M alumni are very dedicated, very well-to-do, and very conservative.
They aren't happy that their Big Brother TX is joining them in the SEC after the Aggies escaped them by joining the SEC.
So they are going to field the best team that money can buy, humiliate TX, and win the SEC.
It is an interesting experiment and it will be fun to see how it pans out.
 

Plato said:
Camus postulated that Sisyphus was not unhappy in his role of pushing the rock up over and over again.
The TXA&M alumni are very dedicated, very well-to-do, and very conservative.
They aren't happy that their Big Brother TX is joining them in the SEC after the Aggies escaped them by joining the SEC.
So they are going to field the best team that money can buy, humiliate TX, and win the SEC.
It is an interesting experiment and it will be fun to see how it pans out.
Click to expand...
TX football has so much drama and rivalries that aren't played and ... it's weird.
 






MNVCGUY said:
I get where you are coming from and given that the source is Saban it is easy to assume that they are already paying lots of money to their players.

That said, Saban is taking a risk by calling out schools like A&M and Jackson State by name. If he is doing the same things they can easily make him look foolish.

I don't have high hopes that they will figure out a way to make NIL work the way it was intended in football and basketball, but if enough top coaches push back there is a chance I suppose.
Click to expand...
Alabama football players pre-NIL sure have fancy vehicles. Doesn’t Nick Saban own a few auto dealerships?
 
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Plato said:
Camus postulated that Sisyphus was not unhappy in his role of pushing the rock up over and over again.
The TXA&M alumni are very dedicated, very well-to-do, and very conservative.
They aren't happy that their Big Brother TX is joining them in the SEC after the Aggies escaped them by joining the SEC.
So they are going to field the best team that money can buy, humiliate TX, and win the SEC.
It is an interesting experiment and it will be fun to see how it pans out.
Click to expand...
PJ isn't the type to let this get him down. He will continue to push the boulder up the mountain with a smile on his face.
 

pre NiL the best coverup operation would win recruiting battles
Now the best pay does
 


Didn't Saban literally announce in a interview a while ago that his back up QB was making over a million from NIL? You finished with the #2 class and add all kinds of top ranked transfers, yeah I'm sure no one is getting NIL money at Bama, give me a break.
 

btowngopher said:
Didn't Saban literally announce in a interview a while ago that his back up QB was making over a million from NIL? You finished with the #2 class and add all kinds of top ranked transfers, yeah I'm sure no one is getting NIL money at Bama, give me a break.
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He mentioned it like the news surprised him and etc.

Granted I suspect most setups, NIL / bagmen ... the HC isn't directly involved for reasons.


But yeah he mentioned it.
 


Saban's comments definitely struck a nerve. Should make for some entertaining back and forth watching the top schools argue with each other while pretending they are the innocent victim in all this just trying to do things the right way. :)

Shannon Sharpe had a pretty good rant about it all.

 

Saban sounds like a little boy that just lost a playground battle.
 




I don't care for the NIL in its current....no holds barred.....form. But Saban needs to stop whining. So they might not get every five star player they want. Maybe some of the four star guys who would barely break the three deeps at Alabama choose to go somewhere else where they'll play and possibly be a standout. Sour grapes looks real bad on a guy who has been playing with a stacked deck for the last decade and a half.
 

All of this posturing is just one big LOL. After all, let's not forget where these coaches work for goodness sake. Stories of Texas A&M and Alabama's unethical (and at times, illegal) behavior over the decades in the area of recruitment are legendary. And I highly doubt that either of these guys is running the lily white program they are both touting now. The fact they can try and spin that tale in and of itself is laughable, so to me, at all amounts to two spoiled brats crying like babies and engaging in useless finger-pointing in a sandbox. As for Deion and Jackson State, I don't know enough to be able to speculate about how clean or dirty a program they run.

One good thing about the NIL is that it has exposed what phonies many of these coaches are. And in this exchange, two of them are getting their licks in for sure. Hilarious.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
This DISTANTLY reminds me of complaints where folks who dominated a black / grey market bemoan that other people can now easily participate in a now legal market.

Not to say I like the changes, but the complaining from folks who were already playing the same game and have shown zero interest in a more even playing field is bonkers absurd.
Click to expand...
What part of any of this is now "more" "even"?

It's still the top 20-25 schools, with the richest boosters, who are benefiting the most. Just over the table now instead of under the table.


How could you possible claim it's "even" when Minnesota boosters can afford a "NIL deal" of only $500k while Penn St boosters can throw $1M at the player without batting an eye?
 

Some guy said:
pre NiL the best coverup operation would win recruiting battles
Now the best pay does
Click to expand...
And allowing over the table didn't suddenly make Minnesota boosters (for example) 10x richer. They still had the same "purchasing power" as they did in 2019.
 



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