A.J. McCarron sounds alarm on Alabama’s NIL reality after Florida State loss

The questions circling Alabama football intensified after Saturday’s season-opening loss to Florida State. The Crimson Tide, now losers of five of their past nine games against FBS opponents, looked far removed from the standard that defined them under Nick Saban. And one of the program’s most recognizable alumni believes the issues run deeper than coaching.

Former quarterback A.J. McCarron, who led Alabama from 2009 to 2013, sat on the sideline in Tallahassee and left the stadium convinced that the Tide’s problems stretch into the financial realities of college football. On a recent episode of “McCready and Siskey Podcast,” McCarron pointed to what he says is a massive gap in name, image and likeness resources.

“You look at these other teams that have $40-50 million in NIL,” McCarron said. “Alabama, and I know this for a fact, talking to multiple people in the program, Alabama has less than $20 million in their NIL.”

McCarron Says NIL Disparity Hurts Alabama’s Recruiting Edge

McCarron explained that Alabama has long sold recruits on the idea of competing for championships and reaching the NFL. For years, that pitch overshadowed financial considerations. But with programs such as Texas, Ohio State and Georgia reportedly building war chests two to three times the size of Alabama’s, he believes the Tide are falling behind fundamentally.

“If you start losing, all of that goes away,” McCarron said. “And now you can’t pay guys what other schools are dishing out? Now it hurts you even more. I don’t care who you have as a coach — whether Coach Saban, Coach DeBoer, it doesn’t matter.”