Nick Saban and Tommy Tuberville may both want order in college sports, but they are not backing the same answer.
Saban is lined up behind the broader bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, a bill designed to rein in the chaos around NIL, the transfer portal, spiraling spending and the constant stream of lawsuits. Tuberville, meanwhile, is pushing a slimmer alternative, the Student Athlete Act, and says the other proposal goes too far with “too much government involvement” in the PCSA plan.
The Protect College Sports Act has a notable list of supporters beyond Saban. The bill is cosponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and has also drawn backing from Deion Sanders of Colorado, along with basketball coaches John Calipari of Arkansas and Mark Few of Gonzaga.
At a news conference in Washington on Monday, the eve of the vote, Calipari called the measure a meaningful step, even if it falls short of perfect.
“I think this clears up about 75-80% of our issues,” Calipari said. “Nothing is perfect. This is a bite out of the apple.”
Saban framed his support in broader terms, arguing the bill would bring an end to what he sees as the current mess in college athletics.
“The Protect College Sports Act ends the NIL chaos in college athletics by protecting our student athletes and teams, and safeguarding women’s sports and Olympic programs. Join the winning team today, and help congress protect this winning tradition,” Saban said.
But the politics of the vote get more complicated from there. All four Black Democrats in the Senate - Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks - voted against the bill. The NAACP also opposes it.
That does not mean Booker, Warnock, Rochester, Alsobrooks and the NAACP are simply standing with Tuberville against Saban.
Tuberville’s proposal is narrower, but it shares some ground with the bipartisan bill. Under his plan, athletes would get five consecutive years to compete for five seasons, with one transfer allowed without penalty.
A second transfer would cost a season of eligibility. The NCAA would be responsible for enforcing the rules.
Those pieces are also part of the Saban-backed measure.
The objections from Booker and the NAACP go to what they see as the larger power structure. Booker says the bill gives the NCAA too much authority and does not provide enough protection for student-athletes. He also argues it rolls back some of the leverage athletes have gained through antitrust litigation.
The NAACP’s criticism is sharper still. Its concern centers on the fact that Black athletes make up a large share of the players generating revenue in major college football, while universities, conferences and administrators keep most of the power. The organization says some parts of the bill are worthwhile - including the scholarship, health-care, agent and safety provisions - but not enough to justify the protections the bill extends to universities and conferences.
So the fight is not as simple as Saban versus Tuberville, or pro-athlete versus anti-athlete. The question hanging over the bill is what exactly it protects: athletes, college sports from athletes, or athletes from themselves.
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Alabama Just Got Pulled Into Florida States Mike Norvell Drama
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It is the sort of noise Alabama usually hears from the other side of a high-profile matchup, but this one has an especially uneasy edge because the speculation is already moving past the current coach and into replacement talk. Manny Diaz and Jimbo Fisher are among the names being floated on fan sites, even as Fishers possible return remains a complicated subject, which is a reminder that one loss can turn a rivalry game into something much bigger than the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]