Interaction between Nick Saban and his wife proves they're out of touch

In a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Nick Saban opened up about what happened leading up to his retirement and his thoughts on players being treated as employees instead of student-athletes sharing part in the sport's revenue.

There were many statements from Saban that were agreeable such as players not being "employees" and rather getting a cut of what the sport generates. And that would likely result in players making more money at the collegiate level because football and basketball generate so much revenue.

But that wasn't what stood out to me most from Saban's appearance at the roundtable discussion.

No, it was a quote about an interaction with his wife, Terry, before he decided to retire following the 2023 season. The quote showed just how out of touch the Sabans truly are.

Of course, there are a ton of old-school coaches who think this way still. They believe that college athletes should be more focused on their education, getting better on and off the field, and preparing for life after the sport while competing for titles. Sure, those are all solid traits to have as a young student-athlete. Everyone hopes that these kids value those things.

However, in today's day and age, it's impossible to do anything without considering the financial aspects. With NIL taking center stage in college athletics, of course these kids are going to care about how much money they're making because, well, they're generating all of the revenue for the sport. They deserve to care about that.

Plus, I was unaware that Saban was coaching for free all these years. Was he not college football's highest-paid head coach? Did he care about the money then or was he just negotiating these massive contracts for the love of the game?

And when was the last time Terry or Nick had to worry about finances? Pre-George W. Bush? I'm not sure if they're aware, but everything costs an arm and a leg these days. Forgive these kids for wanting to make some extra money so they can pay $200 for groceries for the week or $50 every few days to fill up their cars or a couple hundred bucks to buy new clothes.

The Sabans aren't aware that everyone is worried about how much money they're making.

But good for him hanging it up after making millions upon millions of dollars throughout his coaching career which came with bonuses for on-field success. Maybe he didn't care about the money, but his bank account is thanking his agent for making sure these deals got done.