Alabama football coach Nick Saban supports the idea of NCAA athletes being paid. In a "60 Minutes" interview aired over the weekend, the Crimson Tide coach said there's no question college players deserve a stipend, but with at least one stipulation.
Asked whether college athletes should receive a stipend, Saban answered:
"Well I don't think there's any question about that. I've been for that. Now I think that one of the variables in that is that you can't get more to go to one school than another. Because the cost of education may be a little different at North Western than it is at Alabama
"But I think the players should get more. I think they deserve more, they do a lot of work and they represent the university and the institutions do pretty well I think on the benefits that they gain from the image that's created by the program as well as some of the business aspects and financial end of what the university can make."
Watch the clip HERE.
Saban's stipulation that one school can't offer an athlete more money than another school implies a national cap on the stipend. Regardless, it'd be progress for an institution that's come under increased scrutiny for unfairly profiting from its student-athletes.
Saban, who's won three National titles with Alabama in just four years, also spoke to "60 Minutes" about why he's been successful as a coach.
"We create a standard for how we want to do things. And everybody's got to buy into that standard or you really can't have any team chemistry," Saban said, via USA Today Sports. "Mediocre people don't like high achievers and high achievers don't like mediocre people."
