Nick Saban Says Texas A&M 'Bought Every Player On Their Team'

Nick Saban took the stage on Wednesday night in Birmingham to promote the 2022 World Games but ended up sounding off on NIL, while claiming Texas A&M "bought every player on their team" using Name, Image and Likeness. Saban also brought up the recruiting tactics of Jackson State and Miami in his speech on the current state of college athletics.

During his appearance, the Alabama head coach went on a seven-minute filibuster about the effects NIL are having on programs across the country, not just the revenue-generating sports. While discussing why athletes should not be choosing colleges based on how much money they would make, Saban took aim at SEC foe Texas A&M and their use of NIL, according to Mike Rodak.

“It’s not supposed to be something where people come and make money and make a decision about where you go to school based on how much money you’re going to make. You should make a decision about where you have the best place to develop as a person, student and player, which is what we’ve always tried to major in, and we’re gonna continue to do that. 

“I know the consequence is going to be difficult for the people who are spending tons of money to get players," Saban added. "You’ve read about them, you know who they are. I mean we were second in recruiting last year, A&M was first, A&M bought every player on their team, made a deal for Name, Image and Likeness. We didn’t buy one player, aight, but I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it."

It was last year when Nick Saban made the claim that QB Bryce Young had already made $1 Million in NIL money. On Wednesday, the head coach claimed that Alabama had 25 players making money last season off NIL, bringing in $3 Million in the process.

" I told our players when this thing started to get agents, get representation and so you can create opportunities for yourself. Our players last year created $3 Million worth of opportunity for themselves by doing it the right way and I have no problem with that and nobody had a problem on our team with that because the guys that got the money earned it.  There were only 25 guys on our team that had the opportunity to earn money."

When discussing the collectives that continue to pop up around college towns across the country, Saban made it a point to say that each player would make the same amount of money from their collective, while also pointing out that he tells recruits they can go earn money, but it isn't the coaches job to buy the recruit in the process.

“I told our players that we’re gonna have a collective, but everybody’s gonna get the same amount of opportunity from that collective. Now you can go earn however much you want and I tell the recruits the same thing because our job is not to buy you to come to school here.

After finishing his point about Texas A&M and how the schools will have a hard time sustaining the current model regarding NIL, Saban went on to discuss how this has bled into enticing players to attend certain schools, pointing a finger at Deion Sanders and Jackson State in regards to former five-star Travis Hunter.

“We have a rule right now that says you cannot use NIL to entice a player to come to your school. Hell, read about it in the paper, I mean Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division-1 player to come to their school and it was in the paper and they bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it."

Saban then finished off his answer on the enticement of players by bringing up the Miami basketball program, alluding to the tweets sent out from John Ruiz on the signing of Nijel Pack to an NIL deal after he announced his transfer. Saban said the problem lies in the fact that the NCAA cannot enforce rules, because it wasn't against the law.

"I mean these guys at Miami who are going to play basketball there for $400 K, it’s in the newspaper. The guy tells you how he’s doing it, but the NCAA can’t enforce their rules because it’s not against the law and that’s an issue and a problem."

Just when you thought things would cool down for a bit, Nick Saban decides to pull the pin and watch the world react to him calling out rivals and other programs. Now, with SEC spring meetings just under twelve days away, don't expect this issue to die down anytime soon.