James Franklin on Nick Saban as CFB commissioner: 'He wasn't real happy about me promoting him'

James Franklin doubled down on college football’s need for a commissioner but noted Nick Saban wasn’t too happy with his name being thrown out there.

Franklin previously suggested Saban as someone who should be the commissioner of the sport. But Saban didn’t like it necessarily, even glaring at Franklin during College GameDay last week while the rest of the desk crew laughed.

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Franklin said Saban basically told him that while on a call ahead of the Orange Bowl.

“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,” Franklin said. “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 Peterson, 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.”

Still, Franklin likely isn’t far off in suggesting the sport is bigger than the NCAA as a whole. Something that could be compared to the NFL, in terms of what college football could ultimately strive to be, likely needs a commissioner.

At least someone overseeing the sport.

Franklin reignited the discussion around the sport’s need for a single leader to oversee college football’s ever-changing landscape in the age of name, image and likeness (NIL), the transfer portal, and pending revenue sharing with student-athletes.

“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 at the Fiesta Bowl media day event ahead of Tuesday’s CFP quarterfinal win over Boise State. “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?”