![Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban leads players onto the field before the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal game at the 86th Cotton Bowl in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas Friday, Dec. 31, 2021. Alabama defeated Cincinnati 27-6 to advance to the national championship game. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]College Football Playoffs Alabama Vs Cincinnati](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/92c0c5ecd47f6bc4437d9606a47ac46f654797d4137dfb8d229e45b2a44f96fc.jpg "Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban leads players onto the field before the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal game at the 86th Cotton Bowl in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas Friday, Dec. 31, 2021. Alabama defeated Cincinnati 27-6 to advance to the national championship game. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]College Football Playoffs Alabama Vs Cincinnati")
Alabama football head coach Nick Saban believes NIL needs to be regulated at some point.
One game away from back-to-back national titles, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban offered an interesting take on name, image, likeness.
While Saban believes NIL was meant for good, there have been boosters and universities that are using financial compensation as a means to recruit a player. Though this has been commonplace in college sports seemingly forever, albeit under the table, many people believe juggernaut programs like Alabama are benefiting from NIL being unregulated. It is the wild west out there, so giddy up.
There are those who are not taking what Saban said in stride, but it is all the more reason college football needs to break away from the NCAA and implement a governing body for the sanctity of the sport.
More from Saban on NIL: "We need some kind of national legislation to control that. There will be an imbalance as to who dominates college football if it isn’t regulated."
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) January 9, 2022
Alabama football head coach Nick Saban offers solution to NIL conundrum
Look, blue-blood programs like Alabama will find ways to use NIL to their advantage more than others because it means more to them. NIL should help all college programs, but it is not like the best-run programs in the country will suffer due to greater competitive balance. Ultimately, there will be NIL regulations implemented by a new governing body because this is getting out of hand.
Though players getting compensated for their name, image and likeness is a good thing, college athletics should not be freer than NFL or NBA free agency. 18-year-olds who have never taken a class on a college campus getting seven figures before putting on the pads prior to their first spring practice is incredibly slimy. NIL is meant for good, but it does need to be regulated.
Expect for NIL to be regulated in due time because of the unintended consequences it has created.
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.