Nick Saban spills the beans on Alabama’s insurance policy for NFL draft-eligible players: "We just started giving blocks of money"

Throughout his 17 years in Tuscaloosa, Nick Saban has changed the landscape of college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He turned them into one of the best teams in college football and also led them to six national titles. Not only this, but several Alabama players went on to become stars in the NFL and establish a successful professional career for themselves.

Apart from leading his players on the field, Nick Saban also focuses on ensuring that his players do not succumb to unfortunate circumstances in their college football careers. This is evident in the way he and the Alabama program made changes to their player insurance policies for players who become NFL draft-eligible.

Nick Saban spoke in depth about the reasons behind these changes on "The Pat McAfee Show" recently. He talked about how the different types of insurance policies that are available for players. Saban talked about how quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's injury during his Alabama career changed his perspective on the whole situation.

Now, families of draft-eligible players choose the type of insurance that they want:

"The NCAA used to allow players to buy insurance when they were rated by the insurance company as a potential draft pick. As time has gone on and we've made more and more player benefits then we could pay for player's insurance. As you know, there's three kinds of player insurance.

"You got the disability insurance which means you get hurt your career ends. You got loss of value insurance which is 'I was gonna get drafted in the first round, I got hurt and I got drafted in the third round. Suppose to pay me the difference.' And you got the critical injury insurance which is like a homeowner's policy. You get ACL, you get $250,000 or whatever.

"Instead of us trying to decide who gets what, we used to just pay for insurance. And when Tua got hurt, it changed my whole philosophy in this. And that, 'Hey, that family should have made this decision about what insurance that he has.' So we just started giving blocks of money to families... And you go choose whatever kind of insurance that you want. And it gives the players and the families a better peace of mind and if they want to add to that, they can."

It is evident that Nick Saban cares about his players as much as he cares about the Alabama program. And it is because of this connection and bonding that we see so many talented individuals do wonders during their footballing careers either in college or in the NFL.

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Nick Saban is not a fan of the massive number of players who decide to opt out of bowl games

On the show, Nick Saban also went on to talk about how players deciding to sit out from non-playoff bowl games has a negative impact on the overall college football scenario. He talked about the recent Florida State versus Georgia game where the Seminoles were without half of their starters, which eventually led to an embarrassing 63-3 loss in the Orange Bowl.

2023 SEC Championship - Georgia v Alabama

"What happened in the Florida State- Georgia game, and Kirby, this has happened to him a few years ago when they played Texas, is you've got all these guys opt out of the game. That's not good for college football. It's not good for bowl games. It's not good for fans. It's not good for college football.

"And I'm not criticizing players who chose not to do it, but it's just not good for college football that people aren't obligated to fulfill some kind of obligation to their team."

For Nick Saban, the next objective will be to recuperate and start preparation for spring football and a new journey in 2024.