Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban thanks the crowd during a stadium renaming ceremony at halftime of an NCAA college football game between South Florida and Alabama, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)AP
Former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has walked away from the sideline at the field that now bears his name, but the football legend is not done making plays.
Just days after thousands roared his name with the rebranding of Alabama’s stadium as Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the coach will head to Washington D.C. to present his ideas about new name, image and likeness rules and how they impact the future of college football.
On Thursday, Saban will lead a panel discussion organized by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference.
“It is a very hot topic in Congress,” Sewell said in an interview on Sunday with AL.com. “Hearing directly from those who have been involved in the changing landscape would be a benefit for all of us.”
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell
The presentation includes both Saban and Charles McClelland, commissioner of the Southwest Athletic Conference. SWAC is a century-old athletic conference that represents historically black colleges and universities.
The Supreme Court in 2021 curbed the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s authority to restrict students from receiving payments. The NCAA then allowed states to set their own rules. Student athletes can now earn money endorsements and other business partnerships without forfeiting their player eligibility.
Saban is an outspoken critic of the NIL rules that he said changed the landscape of the college game, shifting the focus away from developing players and toward financial concerns. He has been blunt in his assessment.
He has appeared before lawmakers and congressional roundtables several times.
The panel is the latest in a series of talks among lawmakers about NIL rules and their impact on college sports.
Saban told a panel presented by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in March that the new rules contributed to his decision to retire.
Sewell likened the current situation to the “wild,wild west.”
“Every state is now coming up with its own rules which are allowing some states to become more competitive than others,” Sewell said. “I see and understand the need for federal intervention especially since the NCAA has lost a lot of its credibility. Being able to set up federal guardrails that would level the playing field is what many in the collegiate athletic world are looking for.”
Sewell called it appropriate that she present the panel because her district, Alabama’s 7th District stretches to include Tuscaloosa and Birmingham to include the University of Alabama, and both the SWAC and SEC headquarters in Birmingham.
“It is an opportunity for me to leverage those relationships and for all of us to benefit from that and have a very serious conversation about what Congress can do to level the playing field in this new and changing dynamic in college sports,” she said.
