Jimbo v. Saban is a Snapshot of a Bigger Issue
The college football community caught on fire over the weekend after Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher used national syndications to bash each other publicly. It may not be the first instance where coaches called each other out for ethical recruiting practices since the introduction of NIL, but it certainly was the most notable one.Everywhere you turn, different outlets have reported on the incident, given an opinion, and asked others for their thoughts. What I find interesting is that both Saban and Jimbo are incredibly wrong and incredibly right at the same time. Saban isn’t wrong to state that A&M has effectively purchased a lot of players. We can all agree to take that comment as it was meant, that A&M and their booster collectives have created enticing offers to complement a positive recruiting experience, thus encouraging more kids to pick the Aggies over other programs. That is absolutely true, and I don’t think anyone could confidently deny that claim. It does not change the fact that the way Texas A&M chose to recruit this season is entirely legal. Regardless of opinion on ethics, gamesmanship, or otherwise, these players had opportunities to be given similar packages at other programs and either didn’t get them or the Aggies won the tiebreaker. As a former Longhorn, it feels odd to say, but Texas A&M adapted faster than Alabama and it seems to be paying off. Saban can be as upset as he wants, but the fact remains that he got beat in the recruiting trail this season.Now, Jimbo was quick to claim they have never bought any players and pointed the finger back at Saban to encourage a little retrospection on his career and decisions as head coach. Once again, Jimbo is entirely correct that Nick Saban - or at least the University of Alabama - has always provided incentives for his players, even well before NIL was a rational conversation. This isn’t a new concept to many Power 5 conferences, and the only big change is that the money is easier to access. Where Jimbo slips is when he aggressively claims that their university has not “bought” any players, when clearly they have. He does his best to create an emotional response towards Saban by driving home the idea that Saban is attacking “17-year-old kids and their families”, but the reality is that Jimbo can’t show receipts so he has to divert the attention away. I have two big takeaways from this interaction. First, college coaches - even the best ones - are overwhelmed by the introduction of NIL. There have been panic responses from coaches across the country, shouting loudly at media outlets until they figure out how to take advantage of a new recruiting system. Lane Kiffin is a perfect example of someone who publicly bashes the transfer portal, yet recruits a healthy amount of talent from the transfer portal itself. These changes are only threatening to coaches when they don’t feel like they have total control. Second, it showcases that we do need guidelines and regulations for NIL, if only to make it more healthy and protective of the kids who are dealing with it currently. Right now, the 'wild west' mentality will continue to grow until there are guardrails put in place or it gets so toxic that families will start to shy away from college athletics as a whole. There can be a balance between amateur competition, and the ability to make enough money for groceries each week as an athlete, and we probably already have this in place if the NCAA doesn’t use so much of their operating budget on lawyers to fight NIL.
