Greg Sankey doesn't see himself as the most influential person in college football

As the SEC’s stature rises in the college football, so does that of Greg Sankey. The commissioner’s reputation as one of the most impactful voices in the game comes from his impressive tenure as commissioner, especially considering the SEC has cemented itself as the nation’s top conference.

Some consider Sankey the most influential person in college football. He, however, doesn’t see it that way.

“I think I’m in a role that creates a level of influence or provides a platform,” Sankey told FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt. “I like to think I’ve been effective on some issues. But if I was to either accept or perceive that kind of definition, I think it’d be chasing the wrong thing. I think the product of the work on a day to day basis — and you’ll hear this from coaches, right? About process or focus or consistency of performance. The same way from, if you will, a commissioner administrative role.

“I have to be effective in my work. I have to be in a place that has prominence. And then, that provides influence. I think that’s a byproduct rather than the center of who I am or what I do.”

When asked if Sankey considers anyone the most influential person in college football, he said he doesn’t. That’s because he considers decision-making a group effort, and how the group of people in power work together paves the way for major change.

Feedback and communication are also important, which is why he doesn’t agree with the idea of a college football “czar” — something Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher advocated for last year.

“You often hear we need a czar, right? If you look at the history of czars, they don’t end very well,” Sankey said. “And I truly mean that. I mean, people will say things about me that’s much better said than by me in their evaluation. I go through an annual, and probably a weekly and a daily evaluation, of my effectiveness. And sometimes, the feedback that I provide myself is really good. Sometimes it’s not.

“I’ll go back to say that if we’re not collaborating across key points of influence, if you will — key roles — then, we’re not going to be successful in by we, I mean me [and] I mean, colleagues. And we’ve seen when we’ve not been able to collaborate. It reduces effectiveness.”

Sankey used a couple examples to illustrate his point. One was the College Football Playoff talks, which stalled at one point before eventually pointing toward a 12-team playoff in 2024. The other was the COVID year when there was a lot of uncertainty around college football.

At that time, it wasn’t just one person making decisions. It was a group effort between administrators and coaches — the latter, a group Sankey also considers influential.

“You go back to the COVID year, and did we have differences of perspective within our league from coaches or administrators or presidents and chancellors? Absolutely,” Sankey said. “What we built up is trust, though, and I think that’s a key word in this connection and collaboration. The ability for us in roles of influence to have the kind of trust that means we don’t always have to agree, but we can sit down and have communication and have enough respect for one’s opinion that we can work through some of the hard issues. And that’s compromise.

“I just read a book and one of the comments was suggesting leadership’s about dictation and authority. That’s really not. That’s autocracy. Leadership is about communication, collaboration, trust, compromise, readjusting, reevaluating and going back and starting through that process again on literally a daily basis. It is lonely, at times. It need not be lonely all the time.”