Alabama GM Courtney Morgan Puts NIL Narrative To Bed: 'Let's Get This Straight'

Ever since Nick Saban retired as Alabama head coach, a cloud of uncertainty has hovered over the program.

And it may not be why you think.

Questions continued to surface about whether Alabama had the resources to fund a top-tier NIL roster.

However, General Manager Courtney Morgan put the kibosh on that narrative on ‘Hey Coach,’ with Chris Stewart, after a few years of hearing the program get dragged through the mud.

"Let's get this straight," he responded. "I think there is a narrative created that Alabama doesn't want to pay players and doesn't have money. That is not what it is. We are very cautious and risk-averse. We really take the time to get to know the young men we want to bring into the building and invest our money into."

One of the biggest challenges programs are facing in the NIL era is retention.

Sometimes there are programs that go all out on high school recruits and the transfer portal, but when it’s time to pay returning players, they’ve used up their budget.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning has mentioned how retention has become a necessary challenge, while Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian acknowledged how many players he had to lose in order to gain new players through the portal.

Morgan continued, “That is a testament to us taking the time to evaluate the right people and not take risks with the money that we are being responsible to spend on talent from the university. I think there is a narrative that 'oh, Alabama doesn't have money or Alabama doesn't want to pay players.’ I think we just really take our time and choose the right people. That is really what we are sticking to. It is something that the whole athletic department values."

Alabama has never wavered from its strategy though. 

Earlier this offseason, during the recruiting cycle, Morgan talked about how finances have significantly changed the recruiting process – so much that it eliminates teams before a serious conversation could be had.

"Any kid committing early in the spring, it's because they have some kind of term sheet in front of them," Morgan said. "Most of those guys aren't going to go take a bunch of other visits from there. If we can't come to an agreement, you just don't bring them for an OV -- we'll cancel the kid's visit.”

Other teams have quickly realized that they’re not just playing with house money. Donors aside, there’s still a budget to be met, and sometimes you end up losing a player you didn’t want to lose.

And the Crimson Tide have no interest in entering a bidding war.

Alabama has emphasized that it's looking for the right people to fit into its program — not simply the players demanding the most money.

In an era where some programs are willing to spend first and figure out retention later, Alabama appears to be taking the opposite approach.