Penn State’s James Franklin spent part of the College Football Playoff lobbying for Nick Saban to be the sport’s commissioner. Franklin was ahead of the curve there.
Saban, the former Alabama coach and current ESPN analyst, reportedly will co-lead a new presidential commission on college sports proposed by Donald Trump. The commission will be tasked with addressing the recent, and timeless, issues regarding college athletics, notably revenue sharing and contracts, the transfer portal and even employment.
According to Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger, who has reported extensively on Congress’ interest in college athletics, Saban would co-chair the commission with Texas Tech board chair Cody Campbell. The commission likely will include college coaches, administrators and people with financial ties to college sports, according to Dellenger. That Saban would lead it must please Franklin.
During the College Football Playoff, Franklin suggested multiple times that the sport needs a commissioner and that Saban should be a candidate. Franklin has become more vocal about the new strains placed on players and coaches by a system whose rules shift or dissolve daily.
“Rather than just saying, This is a problem,’ I thought I would throw out a few recommendations,” Franklin said before the Fiesta Bowl in December. “But I think one of the most important things that 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.
“I think Nick Saban would be the obvious choice. Nick will probably call me tonight and say, ‘Don’t do this,’ but I think he’s the obvious choice, right? I think there’s some other really good candidates out there. But that would be a very, very important step moving forward to come up with some solutions and do what’s best for our sport.”
At the Orange Bowl, Franklin reiterated his suggestion, even after receiving a call from Saban, who wasn’t thrilled with the Penn State coach’s public nomination.
“I just think things need to be consistent across college football,” Franklin said, sitting aside Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman at a press conference. “I think we need to look at the calendar. Should we open up a week earlier in the season to take some of the pressures off the end of the season? I think there’s just a ton of things that need to be discussed and looked at, and I think we need to do it with people that do not feel the pressure from their university or their conference.
“I was on a call the other day with Nick Saban, and he wasn’t real happy about me promoting him for the commissioner of college football, but I think we need that. I think we need somebody that is looking at it from a big-picture perspective, and whether that is Nick Saban or whether that is Chris Petersen or whether that is Dave Clawson, who I think is a really, really smart football guy, I think having somebody in that position would be valuable for our sport and for our student-athletes.”
According to Dellenger, this new commission is “expected to deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports,” which includes many complex factors. Franklin has spoken passionately about the subject from a variety of perspectives, notably when former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula entered the transfer portal before the Nittany Lions’ first College Football Playoff game.
“I’m concerned for college football right now,” Franklin said in December, a theme he has repeated often since. After Penn State’s Blue-White Game, Franklin said that he’s trying to maintain his traditional approach to the game while managing all that’s new.
“That’s what I’m scratching and fighting to hold on to,” Franklin said. “We still are embracing the new aspects of college football as well, but I refuse to just go transactional in the transfer portal. I don’t believe that is the right thing to do for our locker room. Consistency is very important for us. Our focus is keeping our players here.
“When we’re able to create a situation where you have a chance to retain your own roster, and they have a chance to make their best decision long term, and you’re able to maybe take some of that pressure off that decision, it’s something that we take a lot of pride in. You’re not even a part of these conversations unless you’re able to win year-in and year-out, week-in and week-out, and we’ve been able to do that as well as anyone in the country.”
Penn State opens the 2025 season against Nevada on Aug. 30 at Beaver Stadium.
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