By Steven Bailoni
Nick Saban warned us in 2019. He warned us again in 2022. Now he’s sitting on the sidelines watching the chaos, vindicated and likely enjoying the rest of the nation reaping what they sowed.
Did he retire because of NIL and the portal? Probably not, but I can’t imagine it didn’t take a toll on a 72-year-old just trying to do his job. With Shawn Elliott jumping ship to South Carolina to be a position coach, it’s no longer just a one-off example; G5 coaches are tired of dealing with being second-class citizens in the eyes of recruits. It doesn’t even stop there with Chip Kelly giving up a Big 10 head coaching job to be Offensive Coordinator at blue blood program Ohio State.
Spoke with Coach Elliott at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. He told me NIL challenges and player retention at Georgia St was going to get worse in this new era. Everything is fine. Nothing to see here. https://t.co/OY7YmY7aYk
— Matt Barrie (@MattBarrie) February 15, 2024
It’s easy to agree with him in retrospect, but the common sentiment in 2019 was he was a crotchety old man who was upset that they found a way to level the playing field. The transfer portal was supposed to be a means for disgruntled 4* players not receiving enough playing time to transfer to the lower-tier schools and help even out the talent distribution across the NCAA. It’s a nice sentiment in theory, but when you add in unregulated NIL then you’re looking at the complete opposite.
Let’s be clear – I’m not blaming the kids for this. But anyone who thought that a bunch of 17 and 18-year-olds were extremely honorable people who wanted to help build up lower-tier programs for playing time was always in for disappointment. These are jobs and they go to the place that is going to pay them best and set them up best for their future. One year at Georgia or Ohio State is always going to do more for a kid’s bank account and draft stock than 3 years at a place like South Alabama or Buffalo.
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Kalen DeBoer has zeroed in on South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack to be @AlabamaFTBL’s DC and a deal is in the process of being finalized, sources tell me and @ESPNRittenberg. Wommack was previously the DC at Indiana.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) January 16, 2024
G5 schools have become farm leagues for P4 schools and many of those P4 schools are now farm leagues for the top 20 or so schools that can afford to throw thousands of dollars at whoever they please. It doesn’t matter how much you like your boss when someone else is offering a $100,000 raise to come work for them instead. We’ve even gotten claims that schools have to pay up to $5,000 just to get kids to come visit. How does anyone expect these lower-budget schools to afford the players necessary to win? The days of someone going to a smaller school to be the superstar on campus are over when they can get the same salary that the average American earns while they ride the bench.
Saban warned us about the transfer portal, he warned us about the removal of scholarship limits, and he warned us about NIL. Instead of listening to the brightest mind in college football people decided to ignore him and poke fun at the idea he might not have the competitive edge anymore. Now the old era of college football is long gone and we have nothing but extreme talent consolidation to the richest schools to show for it.
