It is what it is and programs have to adjust on the fly, but Saban is not wrong when he says a lot of the student athlete is not really a reality in many cases. He and Knight were similar in that they truly desired to make men or women out of college students.
The NCAA has managed getting sued by the athletes and the NIL very poorly and need a better structure. They are trying to legislate like our government unfortunately with passing stuff without actually considering the consequences of their decisions on real people.
I have seen the NIL and Covid eligibility to earn some money and many times get advanced degrees so that is a positive for those student athletes. A couple of Indiana examples is Anthony Leal paying his sisters college with some of his NIL money and football player Phillip Bildi who has a family with small child to take care of. Leal as another example has undergraduate degree and already launched his own businesses. He could stay another year under the COVID rules and will have master's degree and building his businesses. Pretty good use of his time to be a good teammate and to set himself up for his future.
