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Nick Saban to have key role in Donald Trump’s college sports commission

Originally posted on NCAA Football on ClutchPoints
By Jaren Kawada | Last updated May 8, 2025 10:04 AM ET

One week after meeting with Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa, Donald Trump is giving the retired coach a new role in college sports. The United States president plans to officially launch a commission to address the biggest issues within the current NCAA landscape and have Saban in an executive role.

Saban will co-lead the commission with billionaire businessman and Texas Tech alum Cody Campbell, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Campbell is the chairman of the Red Raiders’ Board of Regents and one of the school’s biggest boosters.

The commission will “deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports,” Dellenger reported. Most notably, those will include the gray areas of NIL deals, the transfer portal and the Title IX impact within individual school payouts. The unnamed group has not yet officially launched but is expected to do so within the next year.

Once the commission is official, it is unclear if Saban will continue his role with ESPN. Since retiring from coaching, the 73-year-old has served as a college football analyst and host on College GameDay.

Donald Trump’s meeting with Nick Saban

Former Alabama Football Coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban on the set of ESPN's College Game Day, at the University of Texas on the South Mall, ahead of the Longhorns' game against the Georgia Bulldogs in Austin, Oct. 19, 2024. Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Over the last month, Trump’s interest in implementing more NCAA regulations has increased. Everything peaked when he met with Saban at the University of Alabama to discuss the ongoing issues in college sports, namely football.

Fans have complained about the lack of rules in the current era for years. The floodgates fully flew open once the NCAA lifted its ban on student athletes receiving payment for their work by opening the door for NIL deals. The simultaneous creation of the transfer portal created even more gray areas that turned the college sports world on its head.

From Bryce Underwood’s $10 million flipped commitment to Nico Iamaleava’s Tennessee dispute, NIL deals have noticeably affected college football more than any other sport. Though Saban only spent the final three years of his career with the current rules in place, he will now be in charge of attempting to even the playing field.

This article first appeared on NCAA Football on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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