When the NIL era officially kicked off in 2021, few programs were better positioned to benefit than Alabama, and few freshmen had a closer view of its rollout than JC Latham. The five-star offensive lineman had just arrived in Tuscaloosa, stepping into a locker room filled with elite talent, intense expectations, and a brand-new world where college athletes could legally cash in on their stardom.
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Naturally, the environment at one of the most successful college programs was electric, but intriguingly enough, even the crème de la crème didn’t have a solid NIL structure in place back then.
As Latham recalled, nobody really knew what NIL truly was. “We were 18, so we just cared about the money,” he said in his latest appearance on Bussin’ With The Boys. “If I’m just being completely honest, that’s what we were really trying to figure out — how can we get a deal to get some money.”
For Latham, those early days of NIL were also a learning curve. In one of the stories the Titans OL shared at the podcast, a coach from another school, now no longer with the program, called Latham and vaguely said, “Anything you need, we’ll get it done for you.”
At the beginning, Latham thought that this type of trade offer was some sort of character test. “I’m thinking he’s trying to test me,” the Alabama alum said. That was until another person on the call clarified it for him: “No, no, no. Like, anything you want.”
Latham, who was still new to the world of college football, let alone the NIL, didn’t bite. “[I said] I’ll just take a shirt or something like that,” he joked.
While the Titans OT held off on chasing NIL deals until he became a starter, his more decorated teammates were already securing massive partnerships.
“Guys like Bryce Young and Will Anderson — you know, those guys were eating,” Latham said. Then came the moment that made headlines: “Saban… made the mistake, but you know, I guess Cash App gave Bryce like a million-dollar deal or something like that.”
That million-dollar revelation helped spark a national NIL debate, and even Nick Saban, Alabama’s legendary coach, had to adjust. According to the Titans star, Saban initially wasn’t thrilled about the uneven nature of NIL payouts. “He used Will Anderson and Bryce Young as a specific example — like you shouldn’t make as much as Will and Bryce if you’re the backup or third string,” JC Latham said.
At first, Saban believed performance should directly dictate compensation. But over time, he adjusted, seeing how lucrative offers from other programs were luring away talent.
“Eventually Saban changed his mindset to: ‘Let’s make sure everybody gets a baseline of salary,’” the Offensive Lineman explained. “So no guy’s getting unpaid basically while the next guy’s getting a million.”
In hindsight, JC Latham interestingly believes that the constant pressure to perform and manage financial decisions contributed to Saban’s eventual retirement. “I think that was one of the reasons why he did retire,” he said. “Saban was like a hard hat. He just wanted you to do your best on the field and let everything else handle itself.”
Luckily for Latham, he is now in the NFL, where he is far removed from those chaotic early NIL days. But that said, his firsthand account does offer a rare look inside a moment that fundamentally changed college sports.
