“I get paid way more money than I ever thought”: Alabama’s $37,650,000 man Nate Oats expresses contentment with head coaching gig
Even though monetary compensation in college athletics is at an all-time high, Nate Oats finds contentment in the $5 million ($37.65 million until the 2029 season) he will receive from the University of Alabama this year.
In a recent Bleacher Report exclusive with Seth Davis, Oats highlighted his journey as a coach to shed the notions of hardships that could come due to the changed notions around college basketball.
“I get paid a lot of money to coach basketball," Oats said. I was coaching basketball while having to do a full-time job, teaching for over 15 years. So I don’t think you are ever going to hear me complain about my job," he followed.
I get paid way more money than I ever thought I was going to get paid and I get to coach basketball. I am not required to turn in lesson plans, all that stuff and grade papers. I love my job,” Oats added.
Nevertheless, Nate Oats mentioned a few tough aspects of the changes, like the tasks of anticipating revenue shares and collectives alongside understanding certain rules on the run. However, he claimed that it is better to work around the things one cannot control rather than wasting time, energy and resources.
Nate Oats believes NCAA rules are restricting players from reaching their full potential
Over the last 2 years, foreign players have topped the first pick in the NBA draft, marking the first time in the NBA’s illustrious 70+ years of history. Nate Oats believes that one possible reason behind the surge of foreign youth is the NCAA’s restrictions around practice.
"Four hours a week is not enough. You look at how many Europeans got drafted in the first round. I think we've got to re-evaluate how we do basketball in the US a little bit," Nate Oats said on the B/R exclusive.
Oats has a point, as players like Victor Wembanyama or Zaccharie Risacher (first picks in the 2023 and 2024 drafts) had the freedom to hit the court as long as they wanted with their coaches and trainers.
In the NCAA, student-athletes are restricted to just 4 hours of practice per week in the offseason. However, that increases to 4 hours per day (20 hours per week) when the season begins. Regardless, the time allowed for coaching to understand, train, and mentor students to make them NBA-ready is still less.
Moreover, according to the NCAA, 4 hours of practice is inclusive of on-court practice, chalk room talk, guided weight training, tryouts and even competition games.