United States President Donald Trump is putting a team together to extensively study college sports, and Nick Saban is expected to be among the people in charge.
Trump met with the former Alabama head coach last week, having given a speech at a commencement ceremony at the university. Saban, who secured an analytical post with ESPN after retiring last year, discussed concerns over the college game with Trump, with the lack of NIL regulation understood to be a major sore point.
It appears the President was moved, as he’s reportedly looking to form a Presidential Commission to study college sports.
NEW: Nick Saban is expected to co-chair the Presidential Commission on college sports, along with a “prominent businessman with deep ties to college athletics," a source told @skhanjr.https://t.co/S9c8F7hFhl
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 8, 2025
“The source said Trump is expected to be “very engaged” with the commission because he sees the current state of college sports as an issue of national importance,” The Athletic’s Sam Khan reported this week.
Nick Saban To Be Given Important Position In Donald Trump’s Presidential Commission
According to Khan’s source, Saban is expected to co-chair the commission and will be joined by a “prominent businessman with deep ties to college athletics.”
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A spokeswoman for freshman Republican Rep. Michael Baumgartner told The Athletic he’s all for Trump’s commission, having recently proposed a bill to reform college sports.
“College sports is a highly subsidized public good and should be regulated like the public good it is. A presidential commission offers the chance to bring fiscal sanity; restore regional conferences and competitive balance; and protect the future of non-revenue and Olympic sports,” she said.
The commission is expected to probe the different aspects of college sports and then offer solutions that could bring executive and legislative action into play.
Saban has been involved in college football for 50 years, starting out as a graduate assistant at Kent State in 1973 and going on to enjoy much success, so he should be the perfect fit for the job.
