Nick Saban appeared on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Tuesday and wondered aloud what a potential spring football season could mean. He was less-than-optimistic, put simply.
The Alabama coach reacted to the Pac-12 and Big Ten’s decisions to postpone the football season to the spring. He suggested that if he were in charge, playing in the spring would not be a valued option.
He questioned what the spring season will look like, given the number of NFL prospects who would likely skip the season to prepare for the draft
“One of the real consequences of this is if you are a junior or senior and you have an NFL grade, are you going to play in the spring?” Saban said. “Or is that going to be kind of a JV season with a number of juniors and seniors opting out?”
Nonetheless, Saban said briefly before that, that moving the season back is much more impactful than fans realize. He said expectations of uniformity throughout college football are unreasonable. He said the bigger story should, instead, be about the players who won’t have the opportunity to improve their draft stock.
Saban shares his concerns with many. I wouldn’t play in the spring when I’m going to be drafted. Why risk it? And even if I was staying in school for another season, I wouldn’t want to play in the spring and then return to campus weeks after to prepare for the ordinary fall football season.