SEC commissioner Greg Sankey (SEC Photo)
Q. You worked with him throughout your entire career as commissioner on the other side of the headset with Coach Nick Saban, but what can he do to help our league continue to grow and navigate the ever-changing world of NIL and the transfer portal now as a member of the media and a voice of college football?
GREG SANKEY: What can Nick do? Well, help us avoid rat poison would be the first on the list. He and I spoke — it was a couple days after the announcement of his retirement, and I think one of Nick’s observations, I think it’s fine to share, is the ability to be influential in a different role outside of coaching. He and I probably dealt with, well, you’re doing this because Nick thinks it’s competitively favorable.
One of the things I’ve found over time is Nick in many ways uniquely thought ahead on issues, provided really deep and clear insight, and he and I have had any number of conversations over — this is my tenth year as commissioner, but I’ve been in the SEC for 23 years, and but for the two years he was with the Dolphins, were in conversation throughout those couple of decades.
So I think he can bring that clarity. I think he can bring an understanding that even I don’t have dealing with these issues on the front lines as a head football coach, and I know he brings love of the game overall to an analysis.
I have seen him engage in conversations already in a big picture problem solving way, and I hope that will continue, and he can evaluate my performance, since he’s sitting in the room listening, my performance in answering that question.
