“I think Nick said, ‘Yeah, that drove me nuts’”: Verne Lundquist expresses what he believed led to Nick Saban’s retirement

Nick Saban's retirement undoubtedly came as a surprise to the college football world. The coach announced his retirement after over four decades in January. He is believed to have walked away due to some significant changes in the realm of collegiate athletics.

Legendary broadcaster Verne Lundquist offered insights on why the seven-time national championship-winning coach decided to retire after the 2023-24 collegiate season. He believes the advent of the transfer portal and NIL in the landscape played a crucial role in his decision.

"The two biggest changes, both of which helped drive Nick Saban into retirement, are transfer portal and NIL," Lundquist said during an appearance on Barstool’s "Pardon My Take."

"These kids now [ask], ‘How much are you gonna pay me?’ Or ‘If you don’t pay me or if you don’t guarantee I’m starting and pay me, I’m transferring, I’m going to Central Michigan.’ And I think Nick has now said, ‘Yeah, that drove me nuts.’"

Nick Saban discussed the frustration at the Capitol Hill

Nick Saban was at the Capitol in March to discuss his frustration that led to his retirement. In discussions with a select group of key senators, including Ted Cruz, Saban highlighted competitive balance and athlete development concerns as critical issues facing the sport.

"All the things I’ve believed in for all these years – 50 years of coaching – no longer exist in college athletics," Saban explained when Cruz asked if the landscape decadence led to his retirement. "It’s was always about developing layers, always been about helping people be more successful in life."

While the concept of NIL has enabled student-athletes to benefit financially from their popularity, it's made the landscape more polarized. There's believed to be a continuous trend among players to go after the bag rather than choose a destination where they can develop for the next stage.

A system where the rich get richer

Nick Saban likens the current system of NIL and transfer portal to play-for-play and free agency without any form of regulation. He believes this will lead to a landscape with a wide difference between programs.

"You have a pay-for-play system and a free agency system that has no guidelines, so there's no competitive balance. I think there's going to be a lot of places that will say that and we'll create a case system where the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer."

Following his retirement, Saban is committed to seeing the right system be put in place in college football in the next couple of years. He is offered to work in saving the landscape from chaos that could lead to collapse.