President Donald Trump hosted a historic roundtable event on Friday afternoon at the White House with some of the most distinguished figures in the world of athletics, alongside cabinet and elected officials from across the nation, to discuss the ongoing issues in college sports and how best to proceed.

Amidst all the chaos the last half decade has brought, particularly to the sport of college football, two men at the center of it all are former Alabama head coach Nick Saban and current SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, both of whom were in attendance at the White House Friday.

Saban offered his unique perspective from a coaching standpoint about development both personally and professionally of young athletes. Sankey on the other hand brought a more existential point of view about the future of college sports if things keep continuing the way they have been in the areas of NIL and the transfer portal and the complete lawlessness that come with each.

Both men raised some excellent points.

“I come here today with a question,” Saban said after expressing his appreciation for being invited to join the distinguished panel.

“What are the guiding principals for the future of college athletics [both revenue and non-revenue]? My goal as a coach for our players was to help them be more successful in life, that we would create an atmosphere and environment that would help them through personal development, academic support and help them develop a career as a football player so they were creating value in life and we were preparing them for their future past athletics.

“So, what happened? In this current system that we have, that became impossible to do because people instead of making decisions about creating value for their future, they were making decisions about how much money could they make at whichever school they could go to or transfer to… We need to come up with a system… to allow student athletes in all sports, including women’s and olympic sports, to enhance their quality of life, while going to college — but still provide opportunity to advance themselves beyond their athletic career.”

During Sankey’s portion, he spoke about the structure of the current system, or lack thereof, and establishing national standards for both NIL and the portal.

“In college sports we move young people from Adolescence to adulthood through education, through becoming part of a community which they otherwise would have not experienced and the opportunity to build a legacy,” Sankey said.

“In the current environment, each of those elements is interrupted. Transferring four or five times — I have a basketball player in my league on his sixth campus — does not provide educational achievement opportunities like we should demand.

“We cannot go on longer in this circumstance. This is not about revenue, this is about structures and national standards for eligibility, for transfers, for medical care and mental wellness care, for transparency and accountability around Name, Image and Likeness activity will fracture more if we fail to act. That’s why the appreciation, Mr. President, for the gathering, is most sincere.”

President Trump stated during the roundtable that he is drafting another, more comprehensive executive order to attempt to restore order in college sports. Undoubtedly, this will be challenged in court and likely face some serious hurdles.

The SCORE Act was also referenced as a federal legislative fix, which would offer a broader and more durable solution than relying on executive action alone.

All told, Friday’s roundtable could drive legitimate action to address something that is unanimously agreed upon to be a major issue.