Nick Saban remains one of the most respected figures in American sports. Many college programs are still wondering if Saban would ever return to coaching. However, Saban enjoys his retirement, transitioning into a prominent analyst on ESPN and a fixture on Saturday’s College GameDay. Recently, the ex-Alabama coach received an unexpected task from the US President Donald Trump himself, but his GameDay buddy, Pat McAfee, bailed him out.

President Trump joined the November 12th episode of The Pat McAfee Show, where he was asked if coach Nick Saban could help him, as the World Cup is coming to America. Trump, who is one of the long-time admirers of Coach Saban, brought an idea to the desk. He pitched a task for Saban to oversee the college sports, as a lot of lesser sports are being totally terminated, since he knows things better than anybody else.

“He’s [Nick Saban] somebody who really should get involved in college sports,” Trump said. He went on to state the current state of college sports. “It looks like it’s not working out too well for colleges, for most of the people, and a lot of the lesser sports are being totally terminated… It was almost like a training ground for the Olympics… Nick knows this stuff better than anybody, and he’s really active in it. I think they ought to let Nick Saban take a good, strong look at it, and we all, I can tell you, from my standpoint, I’d listen to what he has to say, but I know him well, and he’s a fantastic guy, and what a great coach.”

Pat McAfee, who knows Nick Saban well, rescued Saban from the task, telling Trump, “Mr. President, he’s not going to love it. You just signed him up for that job. He’s not going to love it. That’s college sports.” To which Trump replied, “I’ll tell you what, that’s not as easy as it sounds, that job.”

It was not the first time Nick Saban’s name got into the President’s head to take on a college sports role. It was rumored that Saban and Texas Tech chairman Cody Campbell could be co-chairs of a presidential commission to fix college sports. However, Saban made it clear that he’s not interested in taking any other job than his current role as an analyst and sportscaster role in ESPN. 

Donald Trump’s view on NIL deals

President Trump then gave his thoughts on the college NIL deals. The president stated that the NIL deals are “a very serious problem”, as he feels that the NIL deals are going out of control. He fears that even rich colleges are going to go bust with this. 

He said, “The old way, they gave scholarships and they did lots of good things, but there could be some form of payment”. President Trump also said that the NFL at least has the capital to pay big, but the bidding system in college sports feels different.

Trump is not a fan of NFL-type payrolls. Trump said, “I don’t care how rich the college is, they don’t make that much money, even the most successful, so they’re not going to be able to do this.” The president warned, “Bad things are going to happen unless they figure this out.” He then pulled Nick Saban in, as he could fix things there.