New Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer will have a lot to live up to as he replaces Nick Saban coaching the Crimson Tide football team. He also will have one issue to apparently fix.
Name, Image and Likeness deals have become a major part of college football. Many schools allegedly are misusing NIL as a way to induce recruits in pay-for-play moves, which is against the rules. Whether it’s used in the way it was intended or not, Alabama reportedly does not have an NIL program that is humming, unlike many of its competitors.
According to USA Today columnist Dan Wolken, Alabama doesn’t have a “turnkey operation” for NIL. Instead, Saban was able to draw recruits on his own.
Making changes to and/or developing Alabama’s NIL situation might be a top priority for DeBoer.
Bama was second in recruiting behind Georgia for the 2024 year, according to 247Sports’ rankings. DeBoer will need to work hard to retain the recruiting class. And NIL might have to be a big part of that to keep recruits who were expecting to play for Saban.
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