Nick Saban touts Trump’s executive order on NCAA
Legendary coach Nick Saban is speaking out about advising President Donald Trump on a new executive order aimed at reining in the NCAA, warning that without new regulations on transfers and eligibility, college athletics would face “chaos” and financial ruin.
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The U.S. Department of the Interior responded to a recent report that Secretary of State Doug Burgum was pushing for former President Teddy Roosevelt to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In a statement to PK Press Club Digital, the department compared Roosevelt’s impact in saving American football to President Donald Trump’s recent executive action to reform college sports.
In a statement to PK Press Club Digital, the department compared Roosevelt’s impact on American football to President Donald Trump’s recent executive action to reform college sports.
The New York Post reported Saturday that Burgum made the comments about Roosevelt’s Hall of Fame candidacy at a Bank of America reception Thursday.
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during a press conference after Super Bowl LX at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California on February 9, 2026. (Matthieu Huang/Icon Sportswire)
“Roger Goodell was at the White House in the Oval Office, I was fortunate enough to be with him there, because we, the National Park Service, control the National Mall,” Burgum was quoted as saying. “The NFL Draft will be at the Mall in a year (and) the Capitol will be in the background.
“Keep this a secret. Cross your fingers, but I think we’re going to see Theodore Roosevelt inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame…it will be announced on the mall when Roger Goodell conducts the draft.”
Teddy Roosevelt is credited with saving football in 1905-1906 by forcing university leaders to reform the rules of the game after frequent injury-related player deaths.
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President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order while presenting the Commander in Chief’s Trophy with the Midshipmen football team in the East Room of the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, March 20, 2026. (Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP)
The reforms led to the creation of the forward pass and the banning of dangerous formations.
Meanwhile, Trump has passed several executive orders aimed at regulating NIL, while protecting non-revenue sports and women’s sports amid growing financial pressure for universities to invest in money-making programs like football and basketball.
Trump signed an executive order on April 3 titled “Urgent National Action to Save College Sports,” aimed at curbing the influence of NIL collectives and the freedom of transfer portals. The order proposes strict five-year eligibility limits, caps transfers and threatens to strip federal funding from institutions not following NCAA rules to establish a uniform national framework.
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President Donald Trump arrives at a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
Trump also took executive action to demand that revenue-sharing models implemented by universities preserve or expand scholarships and opportunities for women’s and Olympic sports, avoiding them being reduced to paying football or basketball players.
In February of last year, Trump signed the “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order that redefined Title IX to mean that “sex” is based on reproductive biology and genetics at birth. This explicitly prohibited transgender women from participating in women’s college sports.
