When Nick Saban took the microphone to give his testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning, the legendary coach had no idea that he was soon going to be the subject of severe backlash. His take on the government regulating college athletes’ earnings did not sit well with many. Backlash followed. But now, coming to his defense is his daughter, Kristen Saban, who wrote a page-long explanation on Instagram to defend him against his critics.

“The issue is whether the current NIL system is sustainable for college athletics as a whole, NOT about how much coaches make,” Kristen posted in her attempt to correct those missing the point. “Most people don’t realize that football revenue funds far more than football. It helps support women’s sports, Olympic sports, golf, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, softball, baseball, track and field, and countless opportunities for student-athletes who will never make millions.

“The concern isn’t that athletes are making money. Most people, including my dad, support athletes benefiting from their name, image, and likeness. The concern is what happens when NIL becomes an unrestricted bidding war with no meaningful guardrails.”

Already an adviser to the President on college athletics and serving on different committees, Saban was an invited guest and expert witness at a hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The hearing focused on the Protect College Sports Act, a bill aimed at regulating NIL deals and transfer portal activities. There, Saban advocated for the government’s urgent intervention in college football, as the current model has become unsustainable.

Saban compared the current state of college football to “an arms race, who spends the most has got the best chance to win.” Notably, Saban discussed the damaging effects of unregulated expenses in college football on other non-revenue sports that “trained 85% of our Olympians in the last Olympics.” With Arkansas dropping tennis, he argued that the current system would only create a greater imbalance between revenue and non-revenue sports.

He does not want the government to micromanage college athletics, nor does he have any issue with players earning money. All Saban wants is government enforcement to maintain the system’s integrity. “The NCAA cannot enforce its own rules, because every time they try to enforce them, there’s a lawsuit,” he said.

The Act also addresses transfers and coaching changes, limiting college athletes to one transfer without penalty, capping player eligibility at five years, and preventing programs from offering jobs to coaches at other teams during this season, calling it the Lane Kiffin Rule. Saban professed his support for this, but his major highlight was on programs spending excessively on players’ NIL deals, with some having “$40 million rosters.”

Critics, such as USA TODAY’s Blake Toppmeyer, criticized him for trying so hard to ensure players do not earn, seeing how things have changed from his days of “unfettered omnipotence.” Another argument against him was why he would advocate against players’ earnings, while some coaches earn as much as $13 million.

Saban was also questioned for leaving out the issue of coaching buyouts, which looks even costlier than players’ earnings, as the LSU Tigers still owe Bryan Kelly $54 million—an amount that exceeds the roster value of any college football program. Lastly, a situation that went against him was his $500,000 advisory role in Alabama, which was also questioned for lacking a salary cap.

Saban’s daughter’s explanation was aimed at such critics, who made light of Saban’s testimony because of what they perceived as a biased approach on his part.

“You can disagree on the solution, but dismissing the concern because a coach earned a large salary completely misses the point. A coach’s salary never threatened the existence of entire sports programs,” Kristen Saban said to end her statement.

Saban mentions Trinidad Chambliss in testimony

One of the major problems that brought the NCAA to where it is today is its inability to enforce rules. Severally, the body had given instructions to the players, who then took them to court and won the case. Saban did not let such issues slide in his testimony, publicly pointing out one of them.

“Right now in college football we have no rules,” Saban said. “We have state laws. We have different (laws) in every state. We have litigation. The NCAA cannot enforce their own rules because every time they try to enforce the rules, there’s a lawsuit. I mean, an example would be Ole Miss’ quarterback (Chambliss). They say he can’t play next year. He’s playing next year because of litigation. But this is just the way it is.”

Chambliss had filed a lawsuit against the NCAA after his request for a sixth year of eligibility was denied, citing his respiratory issues as a reason for missing games during the 2022 season. Judge Robert Whitwell ruled in his favor in February, and he will be on Ole Miss’ roster in 2026.

Other invited guests were Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua, Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould, West Virginia President Gordon Gee, and Utah DE Lance Holtzclaw, who all testified before the Senate Commerce Committee.