What is Nick Saban’s status with ESPN right now? Is he officially an employee? Is Saban still technically a free agent until football season begins?
It matters, because if ESPN could have stopped its newest college football analyst from participating in another political dog and pony show involving the NCAA, it should have. Texas Senator Ted Cruz convened an NIL roundtable earlier this week that was largely meaningless.
Saban left Washington in a position he isn’t in often – as the loser, a useful idiot in another politician’s attempt to show you he’s a regular Joe that likes cold beer and close games! The best coach in the history of college football is supposed to be too smart to let himself be used like that.
Without his involvement, the event is largely unremarkable. In fact, I would bet that most fans wouldn’t even have known it happened. But because Saban was involved and was so fresh off of admitting to Chris Low that NIL payments are part of what fueled his decision to retire, the event was notable.
Cruz is no dummy. He seated himself right next to the GOAT. This is an election year after all. He had to show the people in the football-crazy state of Texas that he’s the only man brave enough to keep college football from collapsing before the Longhorns win another national title!
Even if they are from networks or publications that take the “stick to sports” mantra seriously, sports reporters have proven over and over again that they cannot resist the chance to go to DC.
Baseball’s steroid hearings, Jim Jordan demanding the NFL be nicer to Barstool, team visits to the White House, they have all been given A-block and front page coverage when they weren’t even newsworthy to begin with. The steroid hearings were extraordinary, but it was ultimately Major League Baseball, not Congress that had the power to change the league’s PED policy.
ESPN and FOX are right at the center of the reshaping of the college sports landscape. They may not have facilitated any moves, but by being the TV partners for the SEC and Big Ten respectively, they hold a ton of power.
Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, and Desmond Howard may be the stalwarts of College GameDay, but the addition of Saban brings the show a new level of gravitas. Love him or hate him, no one can deny Nick Saban is amongst the most informed college football voices on the planet.
That’s what is so disappointing about his participation in Cruz’s stunt and why I would think ESPN would want to avoid being associated with it. In a country that is so bitterly divided, paying college athletes is something we are pretty united on. It’s up to the NCAA to figure out the model that is sustainable and doesn’t sink its member institutions.
Cruz is not the first senator to host these talks. Alabama Senator and former coach Tommy Tuberville (a Republican) has hosted college sports stakeholders on Capitol Hill. So has former college football player and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker (a Democrat). Their efforts were also fruitless.
Analysts are not journalists. It makes total sense that Nick Saban has a vested interest in college sports continuing to thrive and his experience can inform the people tasked with making the tough decisions that will have to be made at some point.
That’s not who he was talking to on Tuesday.
I don’t know that anyone at ESPN needs to feel embarrassed per se, but the shiniest new jewel in its college football crown provided the signature moment in a circus and the only comments that made the event even remotely noteworthy.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
