HOOVER, Ala. — Alabama head coach Nick Saban along with student-athletes Phidarian Mathis and John Metchie III traveled to Hoover, Ala., Wednesday to take part in the 2021 Southeastern Conference Football Kickoff Media Days.
Nick Saban was reticent on Wednesday to provide any sweeping predictions about the impact on college football of athletes being able to profit off their name, image and likeness.
"Anything that I say now, because there's no precedent for it, you don't really know how it's going to affect things," Saban said.
The inevitable disparity in earnings among teammates runs contrary to the level playing field college football has long strived for, Saban said at SEC media days on Wednesday.
"Everything that we've done in college athletics in the past has always been equal," he said. "Everybody's had equal scholarship, equal opportunity. Now that's probably not going to be the case. Some positions, some players will have more opportunities than others.
"How that's going to impact your team, our team, the players on the team, I really can't answer because we don't have any precedent for it."
Saban said he and his staff are trying to educate players.
The Crimson Tide spent three-plus hours being interviewed by local, regional and national media including representatives from major sports entities such as CBS, ESPN and the SEC Network. Alabama will open its season on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 2:30 p.m. CT against Miami (Fla.) in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.