I know what Sabans angle is. The NIL is not being used as intended. It was intended for players to make some coin by exactly that.....value of their name, image, and likeness. But with no guardrails the system has been turned upside down. Now you have these "collectives" where the fan bases contribute money into a pot to be distributed. And that has little to do with NIL. But legal. So here is where college football is going. The schools with the richest supporters, and I doubt their is a school in the country with a fan base as rich as A&M, will soon be the elite division of college football. Everyone else will just be fodder needed to fill the schedule.
NIL wasn't 'intended' for anything, it just is. It's born of the contention over whether a player has a right to money made from his name, image, and likeness or whether the school/NCAA should control those to their own benefit. Since it's been decided that the players control their own NIL, there's no prohibition against players giving control over to the school in order to allow the school to arrange financial benefit to the player in exchange for the player's commitment and continued performance. It's a business deal, no more and no less. Does it really matter where that money comes from? The only stipulation is that money paid to players can NOT come directly from the schools, that so the facade of amateurism can still manage to hang on by a thread. Maybe it sucks, but at least finally the hypocrisy of the so-called student-athlete is coming to an end.
Players have been legally paid for a very long time, in the form of an education and possible degree. Now that is still not being recognized and appreciated, but the fact that players are basically 'hired' to play major college sports is. It doesn't have to ruin college sports but it probably will, due to the usual wrongheadedness inherent in our legal system.
But the reality, IMO, isn't that the richest schools will get the best players; the best players will attract money from sponsors wherever they go. Second tier players might be a bigger problem. Either way, I believe that NIL will work out to leveling the playing field if schools are smart about how they participate and play the game.
Saban is a sanctimonious asshole. I saw that when his player was just as deep into the sports agent muck as our own Marvin Austin was, yet he had a bunch of mouth to say about us while hypocritically still preaching his 'right way' bullshit. I don't think Saban has any room to decide for all others how NIL is supposed to be handled, but I got the feeling back when we were getting the hammer and he wasn't, that he had a guardian NCAA angel. I hope that angel gets his wings clipped so we can find out how 'right' the right way is at Alabama.