Despite announcing his decision to retire as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, when former coach Nick Saban speaks, everyone in the world of college sports listens.
On Friday, Saban expressed his disappointment in the recent House settlement due to the decreased importance of walk-on athletes.
As a part of the new settlement, the NCAA football scholarship limit was increased to 105, a 20-spot increase from the original 85 members. The increase drastically affects the availability of walk-on athletes and eliminates the likelihood of programs adding players as walk-ons.
“It really is a concern to me,” Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show. “Because some of the things moving forward that have been presented is that all players would be on scholarship and there’d be no opportunities for walk-ons. I think that’s not good, and it’s all a participation number thing that people are trying to control.”
“But there have been so many guys that have been walk-ons who’ve got scholarships,” Saban continued. “I mean Rashad Johnson played, I don’t know, 10 years in the league was a walk-on in Alabama for us. And to not be able to offer those opportunities to guys, I think it’s just very unfortunate and I hate it.”
Johnson is one of many successful walk-on stories in the college football ranks who rose to the NFL ranks after being given an opportunity to walk-on to a program like Alabama. After developing into a solid college football player under Nick Saban, Johnson was selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He finished his NFL career with 383 total tackles, 15 interceptions, and 31 pass breakups.
Saban finished his thoughts by saying, “Because those are the kind of guys you want on your team man they’re motivated the right way, they’re working hard every day, they’re trying to prove something. And not to be able to give them the opportunity to do that, I don’t think is something that’s good for college sports.”
