By Chris Marler
Add James Franklin to the growing list of people advocating for former Alabama coach Nick Saban to serve as college football commissioner.
The Penn State coach called Saban the “obvious choice” at media availability ahead of the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal matchup at the Fiesta Bowl.
“I think one of the most important things we can do is, let’s get a commissioner of college football that is waking up every single morning and going to bed every single night making decisions that’s in the best interest of college football,” Franklin said. “I think Nick Saban would be the obvious choice if we made that decision. Now, Nick will probably call me tonight and say, ‘Don’t do this,’ but I think he’s the obvious choice, right?”
Understandably, there would be skepticism. Having a single overseer in general is challenging, and it becomes even more so if it was someone who dominated the sport for as long as Saban did.
It’s been almost a year since the universally recognized G.O.A.T. of the sport decided to hang them up, and the further removed he is from his role as oppressive dictator and title hoarder when he was a coach, the more this move makes sense.
Franklin is right. More than anything, the sport needs a commissioner to help facilitate the changes, disagreements and disparities currently happening across the landscape of college football.
The most detrimental thing in our favorite sport right now isn’t conference realignment, the transfer portal or the increasing budgets and spending with NIL. The issue is that the rules and standards for all three things change from team-to-team, state-to-state, and conference-to-conference.
At this point, a commissioner is the best option. The NCAA has picked up their ball and gone home ever since they were stopped from being the sole beneficiary of capitalism running rampant in college athletics. Even when they were involved, their solution was to involve the government.
Involving the government doesn’t exactly seem like the best path to efficiency.
What college football needs is someone looking out for it. It needs someone to step in and help facilitate things to benefit the sport for the sake of the sport and not the sake of television contracts.
College football is shrinking in relevancy and inclusion across the country. That’s not good for the sport. Having a coach that so many fans despised because of his on-field dominance be in charge of big decisions would not be good for the sport either.
Saban wasn’t the right answer a year ago because many college football fans and the community would have felt excluded in that decision.
A year later, and after spending four months behind the College Gameday desk, those feelings have dissipated for many. Retirement Nick Saban is a much more likable Nick Saban. A year removed from the sport, he is a happier and healthier Nick Saban. It’s the perfect match.
More than anything, it’s the perfect time.
Frankin is right. The choice is obvious. The time is now.
