BIRMINGHAM, Ala., – News recently broke that Alabama defensive lineman Marcel Dareus is the subject of an NCAA investigation for allegedly attending an NFL agent’s party.
Alabama coach Nick Saban made his position clear — he’s not happy about it.
“The NFL Player’s Association should monitor and control what agents do,” Saban said. “It’s very difficult for the institutions and the NCAA to control it.”
Saban said players and intuitions have a responsibility to toe the line when it comes to the rules, but the agent should have consequences if he ruins a player’s eligibility. Suspending an agent’s license for the year would probably do the trick, he said.
“It’s ridiculous and entrapment of young people at a very difficult time in their life,” Saban said. “It’s unfair to college football.”
Saban said the hospitality that had always been shown to the NFL hasn’t really been returned.
“We treat the NFL as well as anybody when they come to Alabama. I’ve never had any minute of our practice restricted from scouts,” Saban said. “I’m not sure that same hospitality will be welcomed in the future.”
Saban said he had never closed a practice to NFL scouts, and doesn’t plan on it in the future for the sake of his players. But something needs to change, he added.
“How are they any better than a pimp?” Saban wondered of the agents that didn’t play fair. “I have no respect for them.”
Saban’s position echoed that of Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive, who also spoke at SEC Media Days, which started today.
“The current NCAA rules are as much a part of the problem as they are the solution,” Slive said. “It’s hard for student athletes to seek and obtain the advice they need.”
Slive said he didn’t intend to excuse bad behavior, but change the NCAA’s philosophical basis of these rules.
“It’s time to reexamine the NCAA rules that relate to agents,” Slive said. “We in the SEC look forward to being active participants in this review.”
—-Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected].