Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban has experience coaching at the college level for over 50 years. As a result, he is familiar with many different eras of the sport and the problems it has experienced throughout. The latest problem facing college football, and college sports in general, is the impact of NIL. It has caused instability, with more players than ever entering the transfer portal to get the best deal possible.
On Thursday, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will prohibit third-party, pay-for-play payments. The executive order states that endorsement deals from third parties should continue to be allowed, so long as they reflect fair market value.
On Friday, Nick Saban appeared on Fox Sports to discuss several topics, including the recent executive order from Donald Trump. Saban expressed his belief that the executive order is a positive step towards improving the state of college athletics.
“I think President Trump’s executive order is a huge step in providing the educational model which is what we’ve always sort of tried to promote to create opportunities for players, male and female alike, revenue and non-revenue, so they can have development as people, students and develop careers or develop professionally if that’s what they choose to do,” Saban said.
“I think we need to make a decision here relative to do we want to have an education-based model, which I think the President made a huge step toward that, or do we want to have universities sponsor professional teams. And I think most people would choose the former.”
Legendary coach Nick Saban just praised President Trump’s Executive Order protecting the integrity of college sports:
“It creates opportunities for players, male and female… and promotes real development.”
Well done, @POTUS! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/B0CG2woBbB
— Athletes for America (@A1Policy_AFA) July 25, 2025
Not Everyone in the College Football World Agrees with Nick Saban About Donald Trump’s Executive Order
While Nick Saban believes there is a lot to like about Donald Trump’s executive order, not everyone agrees with him. The NCAA had a long-standing policy that prohibited paying athletes. This policy was eliminated with the introduction of NIL. While NIL has been a benefit to players, it has also caused issues. As a result, an antitrust settlement in June established a salary cap for schools of $20.5 million.
One of the co-lead plaintiff attorneys in the settlement criticized Trump for intervening. He believes that the President should not be aiding the NCAA at the expense of college athletes. He thinks it is an unwarranted move that goes against Trump’s personal free-market philosophy.
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