Nick Saban: Alabama players made over $3 million in NIL deals over past year
In mid-May, Alabama football coach Nick Saban famously criticized Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher's program for "buying" its top-ranked signing class, and talked about the impact of name, image and likeness (NIL) rights on recruiting as well. Fisher responded, calling Saban a "narcissist" and his comments "despicable."
Saban added that his players made $3 million "doing it the right way" last year and that only 25 players were able to leverage NIL opportunities. On Tuesday during Day 2 of SEC media days, the Crimson Tide leader reiterated his position.
The 70-year-old coach added that "name, image and likeness is not an issue for us at Alabama."
"The biggest concern is how does this impact and affect recruiting because on the recruiting trail right now there’s a lot of people using this as inducements to go to their schools by making promises they may or may not be able to keep in terms of what players are doing," Saban said.
Saban eventually apologized to Fisher, who served as an assistant under Saban at LSU in the early 2000s. Alabama and Texas A&M are slated to square off on Oct. 8 during Week 6 of the 2022 college football season.
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