What's broken in college football? Nick Saban discusses
NEW ORLEANS ― Alabama football coach Nick Saban on Friday addressed reporters for the final time before the Sugar Bowl, and past his team's preparation, he got into discussions about the sport as a whole.
One reporter asked him if the 12 team playoff is the fix the college game needs and if so, why?
It led to a fairly lengthy answer from Saban.
“When you say fix, I don’t know … what’s broke?" Saban asked. "Let’s talk about what’s broke first and then that will determine whether a 12-team playoff would fix it. What’s broke?”
"A lot of empty stands," the reporter responded. "A lot of empty seats. A lot of players not playing.”
Saban jumped in, first talking about how Alabama didn't have any opt outs for the Sugar Bowl, but 10 players entered the transfer portal after the season and he gave them the opportunity to participate in the game No. 5 Alabama (10-2) will play against No. 9 Kansas State (10-3) on Saturday (11 a.m., ESPN).
None of the transfers will play, though. Many have already chosen their next stops.
"I don’t know if that’s a good thing for players, not to have to stay committed to their team to the end of our season," Saban said. "There’s a lot of things in college football. I think the transfer portal has created a real challenge for all of us in terms of how to manage rosters."
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Then Saban brought up name, image and likeness, and the new environment it has created.
"Name, image and likeness is something I think is great for the players if we keep it in the concept of them being able to do that," Saban said. "When we start using it to get guys to come to certain schools based on how much money they can make, I’m not sure that’s … the reason you go to college is to create value for your future."
He thinks it will trickle down to high school and could lead to players opting out of playing in high school because of money they have waiting for them in college.
"I think those things are much greater issues that need at least some parameters," Saban said.
Then he transitioned back to talking about the playoff format and how he wants the bowl games to still be part of the 12-team playoff to some degree.
But Saban thinks the 12-team playoff will help increase fan interest toward the end of the season because about 20 teams will have a chance to get into the playoff as opposed to much fewer for the current four-team format.
The format is set to expand to 12 teams for 2024 and 2025.
"How that all gets implemented, I’m not sure," Saban said. "But I think from a fan perspective, that probably is a good thing. But I also think fans relate to players. If players don’t have a commitment to a team, that’s going to impact how fans relate to a team. All these things are probably issues that need to be addressed in the future."
Saban said he doesn't know what the solutions are, though.
"But I’m sure there’s people in positions, whether it’s conference commissioners, even the federal government, probably because some of these things have been created by laws and lawsuits," Saban said. "There’s a lot of good in them. There’s also some guidelines we probably need to institute."
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban discusses what's broken in college football
