Nick Saban breaks silence on "horrible" NIL as he bluntly assesses state of college football 

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has not faded into the background after his shock retirement in January. He has taken on several speaking roles alongside his job as an analyst on ESPN's pregame show, "College GameDay."

On Thursday at Faulkner University’s annual fundraising dinner in Montgomery, the charismatic coach gave his views on the current state of the NIL system in college sports and why he does not support it in its current format.

“It’s a horrible, horrible system,” Saban said. “Horrible. And what’s even more horrible is people don’t recognize it and want to do something about it. I’m not saying anything I didn’t say in Washington. I’ve been there four times."

Saban's solution to the current malaise surrounding the NIL system that has led to multiple transfers is a standard revenue-sharing option between brands, institutions and the student-athletes.

Nick Saban warns Matthew Sluka about NIL-dispute repercussions

The NIL landscape in college sports has had controversial episodes and just recently, UNLV Rebels quarterback Matthew Sluka found himself as the focus of one of those controversial moments. He announced his decision to redshirt the current season due to a NIL dispute with the Rebels over a promised payment of $100,000.

Last Friday, during an appearance on the "Pat McAfee Show," Saban voiced his opinion on the controversial Matthew Sluka situation.

“But the way we are right now where everybody’s a consistent free agent, you don’t have any contract, you don’t have any responsibility or obligation to your team, I don’t know the player at UNLV that’s opting out, what kind of value is he really creating for his future, based on what he’s doing,” Saban said. “I don’t know that he really is. And how does it affect his teammates?"

Saban further outlined the repercussions that Sluka could face in the future due to his controversial decision.

"And what’s everybody else’s in the country's teams going to think of what he’s doing?" Saban said. "There’s so many consequences, and people don’t really ever think about the 40% of the guys who get in the portal who lose their scholarship because they got in the portal and don’t get an opportunity to go someplace else because they thought the grass was going to be greener on top of the septic tank, and it’s not.”

Clearly, Saban feels strongly about the current state of college sports with NIL. His wife Miss Terry revealed in an interview with ESPN that it was one of the factors behind his shock retirement in January.