President Donald Trump invites Nick Saban, Cody Campbell, Tim Tebow, others to White House roundtable

President Donald Trump is inviting multiple college sports figures to a roundtable at the White House next week, Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported. The group includes former Alabama coach Nick Saban, former Florida star Tim Tebow and Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell.

Trump has been vocal about his willingness to play a role in settling the college athletics landscape in the NIL and transfer portal era. Saban and Campbell were previously expected to spearhead a presidential commission on college sports, though those plans were later paused. The roundtable is expected to take place March 6, Dellenger reported.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed the power conference commissioners – the Big Ten’s Tony Petitti, the SEC’s Greg Sankey, the Big 12’s Brett Yormark and the ACC’s Jim Phillips – are all set to receive invitations. The list of invitees also includes former Florida and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua and Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman.

Bevacqua’s predecessor, Jack Swarbrick, was also invited, along with at least one athletics director from each Power Four conference. ADs from Wake Forest, Indiana, Iowa State and Oklahoma are part of the group.

Other prominent figures from outside college sports were also invited, according to Dellenger. Golf legend Tiger Woods, two-time U.S. Open champion golfer Bryson DeChambeau, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also received invitations to the roundtable. Trump is expected to serve as chair alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and New York Yankees president Randy Levine as vice chairs.

President Donald Trump outspoken about NIL

Throughout 2025, President Donald Trump made his thoughts clear on the state of college athletics and signed an executive order related to college sports to take aim at third-party NIL deals and pay-for-play allegations. He also held conversations with Saban, and earlier this month, he played a round of golf with the legendary Alabama coach, Meyer and DeSantis.

Late last year, Trump addressed the state of college sports, in particular the amount of money schools are paying athletes. He also doubled down on his willingness to step in, if necessary.

“You’re going to have these colleges wipe themselves out, and something ought to be done,” Trump said. “And I’m willing to put the federal government behind it. But if it’s not done fast, you’re going to wipe out colleges. They’re going to get wiped out, including ones that do well in football.

“They can’t pay $12 million, $14 million, $10 million, $6 million for players. They won’t be able to stop. There’ll always be that one player, they only have that player, they’re going to win the national championship. And they’ll have 100 colleges thinking the same thing. Colleges cannot afford to play this game. It’s a very bad thing that’s happening.”

Click here to read article