Nick Saban Expected to Help Lead Presidential Commission on College Sports Reform

Former Alabama coach Nick Saban left his mark on college sports' recent past, and he appears poised to shape its future, too.

President Donald Trump is expected to name Saban a co-head of his new commission on college sports reform, according to a Wednesday evening report from Sam Khan Jr., Ralph D. Russo, Chris Vannini and Justin Williams of The Athletic.

Saban, according to the report, will lead the commission in tandem with "a prominent businessman with deep ties to college athletics." Trump is expected to engage heavily with the commission.

The reported drive to convene a presidential commission comes at the midpoint of the most transformative decade for college sports in more than a century.

A slew of factors—namely the liberalization of rules governing transfers and athletes' ability to capitalize on their name, image and likeness—have given college athletes unprecedented power. However, it has also left much of the business of college sports uneasily regulated (if regulated at all), leaving administrators scrambling to claw back the upper hand.

Past presidential interventions in college sports have had long-lasting effects, and whatever Trump and Saban's team comes up with, fans and athletes may live with the consequences for generations to come.

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