$80M-worth Nick Saban breaks silence on potentially being college sport’s commissioner after conversations with Donald Trump

Nick Saban has given insight into why he wants to fix the NIL system with U.S. President Donald Trump. The former Alabama Crimson Tide coach, who has a net worth of $80 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth), met the President to discuss solutions for how college athletes could be compensated.

On the Wednesday episode of The Paul Finebaum Show, the retired coach discussed his intentions for changing the NIL system, specifically in college football. He also shared that he doesn't think a college sports commission is necessary to address the issues.

"I'm not sure we really need a commission," Saban said (00:05). "I think that, you know, a lot of people know exactly what the issues are in college football and exactly what we need to fix them. I think the key to the drill is to getting people together so that we can move it forward."

He reassured college athletes that he wants them to get paid. However, the former coach believes the current NIL system will negatively affect the league and their livelihood.

"I'm not opposed to players making money," Saban said (0:23). "I don't want anybody to think that. I just think the system that were, you know, the way it's going right now, it's not sustainable and probably not in the best interest of the student-athletes across the board or the game itself."

The college football legend is motivated to protect the league's brand. However, he didn't share details of how he would implement the changes to improve the NIL system. Saban noted that the issues differ from state to state, so the federal government needs to get involved.

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Nick Saban wants student-athletes to focus more on their future than on NIL

Nick Saban believes the NIL system has made college athletes into employees for their teams. The Alabama legend spoke about the importance of college football keeping its integrity, which it had when he was coaching.

"I don't think pay-for-play is necessarily what we want," Nick Saban said (2:05).

"So, you know, what is college? We all went to college to create value for our future, and you know, I think we wanna keep, you know, some semblance of that in terms of guys becoming and developing as people and students and development in a career off the field as well as developing the ability to play at the next level."

President Trump is yet to decide whether he will issue an executive order to change the NIL system in college sports.