In recent years, the NCAA has made some significant changes, allowing all athletes a one-time transfer with no eligibility penalty and allowing athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Those changes have helped give more power to the student-athletes in a system where they were previously relatively powerless, but Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban thinks the players might now have too much power.
During an appearance on the Joel Klatt Show this week, Nick Saban suggested that players should have to sign contracts.
“I think you have to create a balance between how much do you take and how much do you give?” Saban told Klatt, according to On3. “We’re giving people scholarships. We’re creating name, image and likeness opportunities. But what is their commitment? I mean, there’s no place in the world where you don’t have a contract. If you’re going to receive benefits, you have a contract and an obligation to do a certain job. So when you can opt out, transfer, do whatever you want whenever you want, I’m not sure that balance is quite right.
“I know there’s a lot of people out there that are much more qualified than me that are trying to figure out how do we fix this? But I think we do need to create some balance because I think at the end of the day, when you create an atmosphere where somebody’s tentatively committed to what they’re trying to accomplish, you have to evaluate is that really a good thing? Because we all need to be totally committed to whatever our goals and aspirations are, the sense of purpose that we have, if we’re going to have a chance to be successful.”
It will certainly be interesting to see what changes happen in the near future.
[On3]
