"He said he is cool with these people": Pat McAfee echoes retired Alabama HC Nick Saban's claims over NIL

Pat McAfee has the back of Nick Saban once again. The former Alabama coach appeared in a roundtable discussion with Senator Ted Cruz on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and restated his concern on the current situation of the college sports landscape.

Saban has religiously voiced his concern on the current NIL regulations since he retired in January but has been met with criticism among college football fans. McAfee echoed the opinion of the coach on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday.

“The natural reaction because college football fandom is fiery is ‘Saban doesn't like that everybody else is going to be able to do what he's been doing this entire time.’ At the end, he said he's cool with these people benefitting the quality of their life and making money.”

Pat McAfee claims “pay-for-play” has always existed in college football

While the NCAA did not allow student-athletes to make money from their popularity before the advent of NIL, Pat McAfee claims some college football programs had always been involved with paying players.

This, he believes, was more common in the Southeastern Conference due to the financial might of the league. However, it can't be compared to how big it has become with the introduction of NIL.

“There's always been rumors and hearsays and old stories that have come out to be very true, that down in some schools, more specifically the SEC, they've been paying players for a long time for recruiting," McAfee said. "‘Pay-for-play, pay-for-play,’ whatever it is. Maybe it's not as big as it is now, but it's always been taking place.”

Nick Saban claims all he believed in has gone into extinction

Without a doubt, the retirement of Nick Saban after the 2023 college football season in January came all of a sudden to many. However, his decision was spurred by the radical changes the landscape has witnessed over the years.

"All the things that I believed in, for all these years, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics," Saban said. "It was always about developing players, it was always about helping people be more successful in life."

The roundtable discussion on Tuesday could bring about changes in NIL regulation through legislation by national lawmakers. It is to be seen how the situation unfolds in the coming months and the response to it.