Nick Saban wants to see a commissioner for college football.

The legendary former coach and current ESPN College GameDay analyst recently called for the establishment of a college football commissioner.

Saban says there needs to be one voice to help navigate college football through its many issues and bring order to NIL, transfers, and the chaotic landscape of the sport.

He also believes college football should have a competition committee to determine how the game is played.

“I think that we need to have a commissioner who’s kind of over all the conferences, as well as a competition committee who sort of defines the rules of how we’re going to play the game. Because that’s what we don’t have right now,” Saban said.

“We used to have contracts, for coaches and for players, that defined what’s your academic responsibilities, when can you transfer, what’s your obligation to the school. We don’t have that now. And if you really don’t support that, you’re kind of supporting a little bit of anarchy, which is what we have right now, whether it’s coaches or players. So I think having a commissioner, national commissioner, having a governing body, certainly would enhance [the game]. Because I do think that the College Football Playoff has kind of camouflaged some of these issues, because there’s so much interest in college football because of the playoff.”

Saban isn’t the only one who has advocated for a college football commish.

Last December, then-Penn State head coach James Franklin (now the head coach at Virginia Tech) reiterated his belief that college football needs a commissioner. And he suggested a name for that role – ironically, Saban.

Franklin said Saban is the “obvious choice” if the NCAA were to appoint a commissioner.

“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,” 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?”

The 74-year-old Saban, who won six national titles as Alabama’s head coach after winning one at LSU, has spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons as an analyst for College GameDay after retiring from coaching following the 2023 season.

As for Saban being the commish of college football? It sounds like that’s a role he wants someone besides himself to fill.

“I kinda like the job I have now,” Saban said.

–Photo courtesy of Mateo Rosiles/ Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images