Nick Saban says college football is turning into NFL model without salary cap

College football was forever changed when athletes were given the green light in July 2021 to be able to profit legally off their name, image and likeness. And change has only escalated from there.

It has turned college football into something that Alabama football coach Nick Saban doesn't think is a sustainable model, he told the Associated Press this week.

“We now have an NFL model with no contracts, but everybody has free agency,” Saban said.

Since the start of NIL, Saban has always spoken in favor of players being able to make money, but he told the AP he thinks there needs to be some responsibility on both ends. Especially with NIL collectives popping up, which are third-party groups backed by businesses and donors that are tied to specific schools.

High Tide Traditions, an NIL collective for Alabama athletes, began recently. It's not the first and it won't be the last. According to a report from On3, most if not all Power 5 schools are expected to have one in the near future.

“So there’s going to have to be some changes implemented, some kind of way to still create a level playing field," Saban said. "And there is no salary cap. So whatever school decides they want to pay the most, they have the best chance to have the best team. And that’s never been college football, either.”

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NCAA rules stipulate that collectives or any other entity cannot be used to solicit a recruit to attend a school, but regulation of that could prove to be difficult. Collectives are already finding ways around it, with one high school athlete reportedly signing an $8 million deal with one.

It's clear that NIL deals have already intersected with recruiting.

“But that creates a situation where you can basically buy players," Saban said. "You can do it in recruiting. I mean, if that’s what we want college football to be, I don’t know. And you can also get players to get in the transfer portal to see if they can get more someplace else than they can get at your place."

Saban favors equalization of NIL pay within the Alabama program, based on what he told the AP. That goes for medical care, academic support, food service, scholarships with an overall set amount of money.

"If we’re going to do this, then everybody is going to benefit equally," Saban said. "I’m not going to create a caste system on our team."

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Saban has talked repeatedly about how NIL was designed for players to create opportunities for themselves to be compensated. He has been all for that, noting to the AP how his players "probably made as much or more than anybody in the country."

He said back in February, however, that using NIL money to bring in recruits is where he draws the line.

He has also emphasized that players should choose a school based on opportunities to develop in their careers. He realizes, though, that only some will still be motivated by that while others won't be.

“I know we have to adapt to that,” Saban told the AP. “You’re going to have kids out there that say, ‘Well, I can get a better deal going someplace else,’ and they’ll go there. But you’re also going to have people that see the light and say, ‘Yeah, they’ve got a good history of developing players. They got a good history of developing people, they got a great graduation rate and that value is more important."

Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban: College football is turning into NFL without salary cap