When coaches equipped with expensive rosters are paid sizable amounts to win across college football, rash of firings when on-field failures arise are expected in a way, according to former Alabama coach Nick Saban. Those who help pay those salaries — fans, boosters, donors and alumni — from outside the football program demand immediate results and ROI or the funds stop coming.
Billy Napier, who coached under Saban as the Crimson Tide’s wide receivers coach for four seasons, became the latest Power Four coaching victim over the weekend when Florida fired him. Napier was this season’s sixth firing in the Power Four and ninth overall.
“You know, I’m not [surprised] because everybody’s raising money to pay players,” Saban said Tuesday. “So, the people that are giving the money think they have a voice and they’re just like a bunch of fans. When they get frustrated and disappointed, they put pressure on the [athletics directors] to take action, and it’s the way of the world.”
College football’s revenue share and NIL era played into Saban’s reasoning for retiring after the 2023 season following a meeting with players requesting more money to return.
Saban, who slammed Penn State’s firing of James Franklin despite a golden parachute in the form of a $50 million buyout, says money altered the way athletes are coached.
“It’s really different. Not in a good way from a developmental standpoint; a good way from a quality-of-life standpoint [for the players],” Saban said. “But we need to find a system that improves the quality of life of players but still focuses on the right stuff — development, getting an education, all those kinds of [things].”
In the last 48 hours, athletic directors at Wisconsin and Florida State came out in support of Luke Fickell and Mike Norvell amid tailspins this season and fanbase outcries.
Votes of confidence is customary from athletic departments in an attempt to fan the flames a bit, and stiff-arm some of the speculation involving respective coaching tenures.
Badgers AD Chris McIntosh penned a letter to fans, while FSU’s Michael Alford said a “comprehensive review” of the program would happen after the season. Norvell’s buyout is $54 million, which would be the second-highest paid in college football history behind Texas A&M’s check to Jimbo Fisher if he’s fired at year’s end.
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