Players are starting to gain more power over their careers in college football. And the changes are causing tension at the top of the game
The biggest feud in US sports right now is not between two rival teams or young-and-hungry athletes, but between a pair of head coaches who qualify for AARP membership. If you guessed that we’re about to discuss college football, you are correct. Last week, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher traded insults, suggesting that nobody is quite sure how the new era of college football, in which players can now make money from sponsorship deals, is supposed to operate.
Saban shot first. After Texas A&M were named as having this year’s No 1 recruiting class, Saban went on the offensive. “We were second in recruiting last year,” he said, “A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness [NIL]. We didn’t buy one player.”
