Saban plans to speak out for ‘meaningful change’
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban is retired from coaching, but he emphasized Wednesday that he isn’t retired from doing his part to help bring some reform, uniformity and “common sense” to college football and the lingering chaos surrounding the sport.
“If my voice can bring about some meaningful change, I want to help any way I can, because I love the players, and I love college football,” Saban told ESPN. “What we have now is not college football — not college football as we know it. You hear somebody use the word ‘student-athlete.’ That doesn’t exist.”
Saban, 72, retired in January after winning six national championships in 17 seasons at Alabama and another at LSU in 2003. He now occupies an office adjacent to the south end zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium and works as an adviser to the university. He also will serve as a college football and NFL draft analyst for ESPN.
While still coaching at Alabama, Saban said, he understood that any critique he made of the current NIL climate combined with the transfer portal — in particular the lack of rules on agents shopping around players in the portal and schools bidding on high school players through donor-based collectives — could come across as self-serving. But now that he is no longer coaching, Saban plans to take an even stronger stance.
In fact, some coaches have suggested that Saban would be a perfect choice as college football commissioner if such a position is ever created.
“I’m not really looking for a job, but I do know I’d like to impact college football the best way I can, whether it’s being a spokesperson or anything else,” Saban said. “Listen, I’m for the players. It’s not that I’m not for the players. I want to see the players have a great quality of life and be able to create value for themselves. But we’ve gone to nobody talking about education, nobody talking about creating value for their future, to talking only about how much money can I make while I’m in college.
“I think the consequence of this could come down the road when some of these guys get 28 and 29 years old that maybe they didn’t prepare themselves for when they can’t play football anymore, which is what you should do when you go to college.”
As much as anything, Saban said, he wants to see some sensible dialogue about how to help college football start moving in the direction of solutions before the current model completely implodes, and he doesn’t want the situation to get to a point where schools have to start cutting other sports.
One of the trickier issues is how to best compensate players, and Saban reiterated that he’s for players earning money based on their name, image and likeness once they get on campus.
“But what you have now isn’t name, image and likeness. A collective has nothing to do with name, image and likeness,” Saban said.
Saban said he would like to see any player compensation model that is created to be brought in-house at the various schools and taken away from donor-based collectives. Of course, then there could be Title IX issues.
“People can give money to the university again and get a tax deduction for doing it, and the university in some kind of way shares, whether it’s share revenue, whether it’s buying marketing rights, which is a possibility,” Saban suggested. “You can buy somebody’s marketing rights as an institution, and I don’t want to say cap because that sounds like a salary cap, but find a way for schools to invest the same amount of money in players, just like everybody can invest the same amount in a scholarship. This becomes a part of the scholarship.”
And while Saban wants to see players get their share of the financial pie, he said the only way any of this works is if there’s also a commitment on the players’ side.
“Just like an NFL player has a contract or a coach has a contract, something in place so you don’t have all this raiding of rosters and mass movement,” he said. “I wonder what fans are going to say when they don’t even know the team from year to year because there’s no development of teams, just bringing in new players every year.”
Saban said he is not nearly as well versed on the legality of everything as such people as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey or Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.
“They would be more qualified [to serve in a college football commissioner’s role] than I am. They’re in it every day and know all the issues,” Saban said. “That’s why I’m hesitant to come up with a firm solution because you don’t know the consequences of the solution relative to, ‘All right, do we have to pass antitrust laws to be able to do it this way? What does it all entail?’
“It’s one thing to come up with a solution. It’s another thing to implement it. I’m just here to help.”
The man replacing Saban at Alabama, Kalen DeBoer, said Wednesday that college football needs Saban more than ever before, especially now that Saban is outside the coaching ranks.
“Nobody can say it’s about him or his team now,” DeBoer said. “He wants to see the game move in the right direction. We need that, and if he can help make that happen, he will leave another legacy that might not go above what he’s accomplished on the field but will be far-reaching for everybody in our sport.”
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
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