Nick Saban left college football in large part because of the changing rules surrounding NIL.
The legendary Alabama coach said as much March 12 at a congressional roundtable hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz. Saban is regarded as the greatest coach of his generation, winning seven national championships, but he shockingly retired after the Crimson Tide’s loss in January’s College Football Playoff. (FSU coach Mike Norvell nearly replaced him at Alabama.)
On Capitol Hill, Saban recounted a conversation he had with his wife in which she told him players only cared about how much they were going to get paid for the next season. “All the things I believed in for all these years, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics,” Saban said. “It was always about developing players, it was always about helping people be more successful in life.”
Saban has said similar things since retiring in January. And he isn’t the only high-profile coach to step down in recent years as NIL legislation has expanded across the country. College basketball greats Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Jim Calhoun have surprisingly retired. Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley left to be the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, and Chip Kelly made the stunning move to leave as head coach of UCLA to take the offensive coordinator job at soon-to-be conference rival Ohio State, both moves that were pinned in part on the difficulties of coaching in the NIL era.
Is NIL really to blame? Why is it such a big deal? What does it even mean? Here’s what you need to know.
What does NIL mean?
NIL is short for “name, image and likeness.” Basically, a student athlete being able to sign NIL deals means they are able to enter into contracts to endorse products and make money off their personal brand. They can do commercials for TV, post branded ads on their social media channels and have companies do the same. It’s what professional athletes have been doing for decades.
Why is NIL legislation so important?
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 2021 that the NCAA’s rules restricting benefits to athletes was unconstitutional, paving the way for states to decide whether to allow student athletes to profit off NIL deals. Previously, athletes were not permitted to receive any benefits except through scholarships.
That didn’t sit right with a lot of athletes and fans. Coaches, schools and conferences made millions of dollars off major college sports and especially their lucrative TV contracts. For instance, Saban made more than $11 million for his final season at Alabama. He even had a clause in his contract that basically ensured he would always be the highest-paid coach.
Allowing NIL deals allows the athletes taking part in those games a way to earn some compensation for their work.
“Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion to the court’s decision. “And under ordinary principles of antitrust law, it is not evident why college sports should be any different. The NCAA is not above the law.”
In Washington, Saban did give some support for athletes making NIL money. “I want their quality of life to be good,” he said. “Name, image and likeness is a great opportunity for them to create a brand for themselves. I’m not against that at all. To come up with some kind of a system that can still help the development of young people I still think is paramount to the future of college athletics.”
How does NIL work in college football? Where does NIL money come from?
It’s important to note college athletes still cannot be paid directly by the school. Instead, that’s done through NIL collectives, which organize funds from donors. The money is directed to pay athletes through NIL deals.
Collectives cannot be directly involved in recruiting, just like boosters in the old days. However, most operate in coordination with the schools and tend to be endorsed by coaches and school officials. According to Business Insider, 80% of money going toward NIL comes from collectives, with the rest coming from brand deals.
There are still limits. The NCAA investigated the University of Florida over the Gators’ botched recruitment of Jaden Rashada, and in January, FSU became the first school to be sanctioned for improper NIL recruiting.
Can non-athletes get NIL?
Yes. But this isn’t anything new: Any college student except NCAA athletes could enter into endorsement deals before the landmark NCAA v. Alston decision by the Supreme Court in 2021.
Can high school athletes make money from NIL?
That depends on state laws. According to the tracker at Business of College Sports, 30 states plus Washington, D.C., allow for high school athletes to enter NIL deals. Florida is one of the states that still prohibits high school athletes from NIL, but the FHSAA is working on a plan.
What is Florida’s NIL law?
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis initially signed NIL legislation into law in 2020, and it went into effect on July 1, 2021. The law allowed college athletes in Florida to earn compensation for the use of their name, image and likeness, and it prohibits colleges and universities from preventing athletes from earning money or goods. Schools themselves cannot compensate athletes.
The law was amended in 2023 to let schools, teams and coaches facilitate NIL deals for players. And the FHSAA is working on rules for allowing high school athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness. A workshop is scheduled for April.
What are the highest NIL deals? Who are the highest NIL earners?
According to On3’s NIL tracker, the highest NIL earner is USC basketball player Bronny James, son of NBA superstar LeBron James. The site lists the freshman’s NIL valuation at $4.9 million. Here are the top 5 as of March 16:
- Bronny James, USC basketball: $4.9 million
- Shedeur Sanders, Colorado football: $4.7 million
- Livvy Dunne, LSU gymnastics: $3.6 million
- Caitlyn Clark, Iowa basketball: $3.1 million
- Arch Manning, Texas football: $2.8 million
Of note, two Texas quarterbacks, Manning and Quinn Ewers ($1.9 million), rank in the top 10 for NIL. Also, while the NIL industry is worth an estimated $1 billion annually, according to NIL company Overdorse, On3’s tracker lists only 22 athletes nationwide worth $1 million in NIL valuation. And college football reporter Ross Dellenger has reported that the average Power 5 football player makes about $10,000 to $50,000 through NIL collectives.
