Saban - Texas A&M "bought every player" recruiting NILs [View all]

Alabama football coach Nick Saban says Texas A&M 'bought every player,' questions whether current NIL model is sustainable

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/33942494/alabama-football-coach-nick-saban-says-texas-bought-every-player-questions-whether-current-nil-model-sustainable

"I mean, we were second in recruiting last year," Saban told the audience. "A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team -- made a deal for name, image, likeness. We didn't buy one player, all right? But I don't know if we're gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it. It's tough."

That prompted a stern response from Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, a former Saban assistant, during his signing day news conference the following day when he said that coaches spreading rumors about deals promised to recruits were "clown acts" and "irresponsible as hell."

Saban
"Hell, read about it in the paper. I mean, Jackson State paid a guy $1 million last year that was a really good Division I player to come to the school. It was in the paper, and they bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it. I mean, these guys at Miami that are going to play basketball there for $400,000, it's in the newspaper. The guy tells you how he's doing it."

Saban's comments on Miami referred to former Kansas State men's basketball player Nijel Pack, who transferred to the Hurricanes in April. Shortly after, it was announced that he signed a two-year, $400,000 NIL deal with Florida-based health tech company LifeWallet.