There’s a lot going on in sports at the moment. The NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing. There’s also the chance to check Nascar odds for this week’s race. The college football season is months away from getting underway, but the sport still dominated headlines this past week. The off-season is no longer as much of a quiet period as it used to be.
A New Rivalry?
Two of the game’s most notable head coaches — Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher — got into a spat over one another’s recruiting practices.
The coaches, both of the Southeastern Conference, were once good friends. Fisher was an assistant on Saban’s coaching staff at LSU in the early-2000s. Together, they won a national championship.
They’ve obviously since moved on, as Saban took a stab at the NFL then settled with the Crimson Tide. Fisher succeeded the legendary Bobby Bowden at Florida State before taking the Aggies’ reins.
Recruiting
The way in which top recruits go about their destination of choice isn’t like it used to be, and Saban will tell you so. He even accused Deion Sanders and Jackson State of throwing cash at the most prized recruit in the HBCUs history in Travis Hunter.
Fisher, who signed an impressive collection of recruits, denies enticing any of them with money. In essence, he fired back saying that Saban hasn’t played fair for some time now.
He basically dared reporters to look into his former boss’ past and how he went about the business of constructing his rosters.
The fact of the matter is that younger athletes don’t care as much about facilities and campus tradition and program prestige.
When they can have the money go straight into their pockets instead of a putting green at the lavish team building, why would they?
There’s not much incentive to sit behind established starters and see the field only in mop-up duty. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers transferred over from Ohio State with the knowledge that C.J. Stroud would be the Buckeyes’ incumbent.
And it’s not just top prospects, either. If a player doesn’t feel like he’s getting a fair crack where he is, he can ditch the place he’s at for greener pastures.
It’s only becoming more like an actual job market for young adults. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
NIL
On-field, college football looks the same. The sport itself has undergone a complete makeover, though. The combination of the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has created a perfect storm for player empowerment.
There’s not much resistance for athletes to switch jerseys, especially not now that they can be paid for doing so. College athletes who put their week-being on the line are getting money for their labor, whether coaches like it or not.
Look for no further example than wide receiver Jordan Addison, who enjoyed a breakout campaign at Pittsburgh, helping the program to a conference crown, then jumped ship to join Lincoln Riley’s assemblage at USC.
Can you really blame him, though? How many wouldn’t trade in a performance at their job that turned heads for millions and the opportunity to hang out under palm trees.
Maybe for Saban, it’s the thought that he can no longer hoard the nation’s top talent. Or it could be that the playing field is finally evening out in a sport that he thinks should have some semblance of parity.
Even the way in which college football decides a champion has become blasé. When you think about it, Saban has nothing to complain about. His team hardly misses the four-team playoff. He has more first-round draftees than losses in his time in Tuscaloosa.
For someone who’s program has consistently dominated the landscape and pulled in the country’s best class of pledges, it’s interesting for Saban to mention equality.
Coaches can argue, but they’re going to have to adapt to the way things are now.