Four months after Nick Saban stunned the sports world by retiring from Alabama, Verne Lundquist blames the decision on NIL.
Lundquist completely missed the NIL era in collegiate athletics, having stopped calling college football games for CBS in 2016. Despite retiring from college football, Lundquist continued to cover golf for the network until after this year’s Masters, when the sportscaster called it quits on a remarkable career.
This week, Lundquist appeared on an edition of Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take, when he was challenged to list the most significant developments in college sports since the beginning of his career. For Lundquist, the solution was the recent modifications to the transfer portal and NIL, which he feels prompted Saban to quit.
“The two biggest changes, both of which helped drive Nick Saban into retirement, are transfer portal and NIL,” said Lundquist to Pardon My Take hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter. “These kids are now asking, ‘How much are you going to pay me?'” Or, ‘If you don’t pay me or guarantee that I’ll be starting and paid, I’m transferring to Central Michigan.’ And I believe Nick has already admitted, ‘Yeah, that drove me nuts.'”
Saban has been publicly critical of NIL and the present college sports structure, but the 72-year-old has denied that NIL is the precise reason for his retirement. And it’s unlikely that it was the only reason he chose to retire; if Saban had been 50, he would have adjusted to coaching with the transfer portal and NIL. However, in his 70s, with an already established legacy as an all-time great head coach, it is logical to infer that those newer challenges weighed strongly on his choice to retire.
