As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver a historic commencement address tonight at the University of Alabama, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville says the moment may also serve as a huge opportunity to confront what he calls the “tailspin” of college athletics.
The modern era of college athletics has brought sweeping changes, but none more disruptive than the emergence of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals and the widespread use of the NCAA transfer portal.
Especially after the latest college football season, it has become a widely-held belief that something needs to be done to create guardrails and get things back under control.
RELATED: Sen. Tuberville: ‘NIL has turned collegiate sports into the Wild West’
At this point, it’s likely going to require government intervention to end the chaos, and U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) has been a key player as lawmakers consider the topic on Capitol Hill.
Tuberville joined TIDE 100.9 on Wednesday with Ryan Fowler and revealed that he has spoken with Trump about the issue and reports that the president understands the severity of the situation and the risk of losing non-revenue sports if college athletics becomes fully professionalized.
“President Trump wants to help on this NIL,” Tuberville said while talking about NIL and the presence of Trump in Tuscaloosa this week for graduation.
Tuberville also said both he and Trump want to discuss the issue with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who retired last year in no small part due to the changes in the sport.
All three of Trump, Saban and Tuberville are going to be at the special commencement ceremony for UA graduates taking place on Thursday evening at Coleman Coliseum.
RELATED: Nick Saban, U.S. Senators want to regulate NIL before it’s too late
“I don’t know how [Trump] could solve [the NIL issue] with an executive order, but hopefully we can sit down and talk some insights of what Coach Saban thinks about it, what I think about it, come up with some kind of agreement, because right now, it’s in a tailspin.”
If the ‘tailspin’ as Tuberville describes the current state is going to be solved, it likely is going to take voices like both his and Saban’s as well as potentially the highest levels of government in order to get something done which works for all parties, especially the players and coaches.
Both Tuberville and Saban, formal rivals in college football, have emerged in recent years as credible voices calling for urgent reform to NIL policy from different vantage points.
RELATED: Sen. Tuberville: With the future of college sports at stake, Congress must act on NIL
In 2023, Tuberville co-sponsored a bipartisan bill with former U.S. Senator Joe Manchin proposing a national framework to regulate NIL activity, rein in booster involvement, and curb the chaos of the transfer portal.
Meanwhile, in 2024, Saban — who retired last year after five decades in coaching — became an outspoken advocate for restoring structure to college athletics, even in testimony before Congress.
Since stepping away from coaching and gaining the freedom to speak more openly, Saban has been sharply critical of the current NIL system—calling it worse than free agency—and warned that “all the things I believed in… no longer exist” in college sports.
Despite their fierce Iron Bowl rivalry, he and Tuberville are now largely aligned in their belief that federal guardrails are essential to preserving the integrity of college athletics.
Tuberville also spoke on with Fowler on the radio yesterday about about Trump’s aggressiveness in attempting to save women’s sports and Title IX through executive order and the Senator believes all of the issues are connected when it comes to finding a solution.
RELATED: ‘This model is unsustainable’: Saban unleashes new NIL tangent after CFB Championship
“If we continue this path, there’s not going to be any money left,” Tuberville said of NIL swallowing up non-revenue sports, many of them being women’s. “We’re going in the wrong direction… and that’s one reason President Trump wants to address this. He understands the significance of what’s happening, and if we don’t do something soon, we will lose a lot of the non revenue sports, and most of that includes women’s sports.”
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Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
