College Football traditionalists have been seething over the introduction of modern appendages a la NIL. What was meant to bring parity to the sport and offer fair compensation to its players has evolved into something more repulsive. Stuff such as the Nico Iamaleava-Tennessee doesn’t exactly quell the discontent among these fans. In fact, it only fans the flames of this discontent. But even the biggest cynic towards NIL probably wouldn’t want federal involvement in ‘fixing’ it. Well, seems like they’re getting it anyway. That, too, with Nick Saban potentially spearheading this Donald Trump-backed new entity. Given how polarizing Saban can be, especially in juxtaposition with the laws of the game and NIL, there’s a ton to dissect about the latest intel reverberating on the airwaves.

Donald Trump was in Tuscaloosa last week, on campus at Alabama, to give a graduation address. Naturally, he met with the man who built the place. Figuratively, of course, but also quite literally. Nick Saban’s dynastic football program has been the golden goose of the university for a couple of decades. But I digress. The meeting between POTUS and Saban involved the latter bringing up his gripes with modern CFB.

The advent of NIL, in particular, and how it has made the playing field uneven. This is a tad ironic coming from Nick Saban, given the multitude of allegations about him paying players illicitly. Before it became legal through Name, Image and Likeness. Alas, after this meeting, it was widely and credibly reported that Trump was interested in an executive order. Which would serve to improve upon the current mechanism of paying players. 

Now, this interest has allegedly begun taking the shape of a commission. Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports has relayed intel about the development of this story. A story that, if it transpires the way Dellenger reports, could cause seismic shifts in the sport’s dynamics. Especially in conjunction with the imminent House Settlement.

“President Donald Trump is making plans to create a presidential commission on college athletics, the first step in what could be a months-long endeavor for solutions to the issues ailing the ecosystem. Multiple sources, both in Congress and within college sports, spoke to Yahoo Sports under [the] condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak about Trump’s plan. Many college sports stakeholders have been briefed on the matter. It is unclear when an announcement could come,” read an excerpt from the report. So how does Nick Saban play into all this?

“Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, a central figure in the fight for college sports legislation, is expected to be integral to the commission’s work,” stated the aforementioned report. Since retiring from his illustrious coaching career, Saban has been vocal about the fractured legislation around CFB. As well as the people tasked with implementing said legislation, i.e the NCAA. Who will almost definitely be overpowered by a commission minted by the government. Although the scope of his involvement isn’t apparent yet, Saban’s being hands-on is largely understandable. Whether his impact on affairs will net positively or negatively is subjective and up for conjecture.

College football is in a state of flux right now. It has outgrown its amateur origins since there’s just too much money involved. But it still isn’t a full-blown professional sport either. While NIL was a merited idea, its application and execution haven’t been perfect. Now, this window of uncertainty between the original NIL framework and how it promises to look after the House Settlement has created more problems than ever. This off-season has been a reality check of just how bad things are. So while this Nick Saban-led commission could be a messiah and savior, it could also be another spanner in the works. Whatever your opinion on it, you should probably go through what Ross Dellenger proceeded to report.

Nick Saban will supposedly be joined by another retired coach as part of the proposed commission

“The commission is expected to deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports,” wrote Yahoo’s Dellenger. He elaborated on exactly what facets make the landscape “unwieldy.”  And, by extension, what Nick Saban and his commission will “deeply examine.” “The frequency of player movement in the transfer portal, the unregulated booster compensation paid to athletes, the debate of college athlete employment, the application of Title IX to school revenue-share payments and, even, conference membership makeup and conference television contracts [will be under scrutiny],” wrote Ross Dellenger, citing his sources for this information. Still veiled behind anonymity. He also mentioned what demographic of people would join Nick Saban in forming this alleged commission.

“The group is expected to feature college sports stakeholders, prominent businesspeople with deep connections to college football and, perhaps, even a former coach and administrator,” said Dellenger in his report. It’s advisable to take all of this with a pinch of salt. That said, there’s no smoke without fire. It’ll be equal parts fascinating and tense to see how this situation develops. With Saturdays vacant until fall, the summer just got a lot more interesting.