Nick Saban draws clear line between limiting student-athlete compensation, coaches salary cap

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Nick Saban drew a clear line between limiting student-athlete compensation and a coaching salary cap amid the passing of the Protect College Sports Act going to the House. There was a proposed $5 million cap for coaches in college football.

U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) filed an amendment, which did not pass, to limit that money on coaches. Saban weighed in on why that’s different compared to what value the athletes bring to the university for their respective sport, especially football and basketball.

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“Well, but these things are totally different markets,” Saban said on First Take. “That’s like asking me, does a student’s scholarship equal the professor’s pay? I mean, how much value does a coach create for a university?”

But as far as a cap is concerned, it seems like Saban is more of favor of “term limits,” if you will. Some contracts go way beyond 10 years and there are plenty of examples of college football coaches having to be bought out of their day, well before the expiration date.

Nick Saban reveals difference in financials for students, coaches

“I think a better way to control that is contract,” Saban said. “You know, rather than worry about amount of money people make, I think the thing that has been difficult is when coaches get fired and they have these huge buyouts, and everybody says, ‘Well, how can the university afford to pay in that?’

“I think you can figure out, okay, you can’t have any more than a five-year contract or whatever it is, and maybe the buyout can only be so much. But I think that’s maybe a better way to approach it than try to make these two things. They’re different markets. You know, players’ markets different than coaches’ markets.”

Saban never backed down from his stance that he would like athletes to make money based on their own likeness. That’s not a level playing field since certain athletes, whether it’s by sport, position or popularity, are not created equal.

“I’m all for players making money,” Saban said. “They’re going to make a significant amount of money in this. They still have name, image, and likeness as long as it’s authentic. So there’s a lot of good things in this bill, and I think transferring multiple times does not help you graduate.

“So you still have an opportunity to transfer, but not every year, and you know there’s also a part of this that helps you retain the players on your team. Kind of the Larry Bird rule as a part of this, you know, salary cap thing.”

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