nick saban: After Nick Saban meetup, POTUS Donald Trump reportedly considers NIL executive order

Could an executive order shape the landscape of college sports? After a meeting with Nick Saban, President Donald Trump is reportedly considering an executive order that would "increase scrutiny" on NIL deals.

Per The Wall Street Journal, the former Alabama Crimson Tide coach told Trump that money hurts college athletics and NIL needs reform. Although Nick Saban did not push to remove payment from college athletics, he did ask for more regulation.

While the executive order's contents are not clear at this time, the report adds that Donald Trump asked his aides to start investigating what it could look like.

Nick Saban and President Trump exchanged pleasantries at Thursday night's graduation at Alabama, where the POTUS was invited to be the commencement speaker while Saban also spoke at the event. Both shared stories about each other and expressed admiration for each other.

NIL and the transfer portal have been contentious topics for the last few years. While college players can now profit off their name, image, and likeness, there is little regulation, allowing major collectives to spend considerably more than smaller schools.

It has also prompted student-athletes to transfer to programs that promise a larger payment through NIL.

Former Auburn football coach turned Senator, Tommy Tuberville, also met with Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss NIL and the current state of college football.

Nick Saban has lobbied for NIL regulation in college athletics before

This is not the first time Nick Saban has asked politicians to support regulating college athletics. In March 2024, the seven-time national championship-winning head coach asked Congress to regulate the game and make it an even playing field for every program.

Nick Saban believes one hurdle is that every state has a different set of rules, which makes it difficult for the NCAA to protect against potential lawsuits.

"Now, we just have the state legislation — and every state is different — that would protect the NCAA from litigation once we establish guidelines for the future of college athletics. But the litigation is what got us to this point right now. We have to have some protection from litigation," Nick Saban said.

Saban won seven national titles - six of them with the University of Alabama - retiring before the 2024 season after 17 years in Tuscaloosa. While NIL was considered one of the reasons he walked away, the former coach has shut down that notion in the past.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by William Paul