Alabama football legend Nick Saban has 2 demands for future of college football

Since his retirement from coaching, Nick Saban has been vocal about what he doesn’t like about college football. And the seven-time national champion is now throwing out two suggestions that he feels would solve some of the chaos that has reigned over the sport in recent years.

In the aftermath of Lane Kiffin’s controversial departure from Ole Miss for LSU, of which Saban was apparently a part, the ‘College Gameday’ crew discussed the ‘state of college football’ this morning.

“No question about the fact that I think 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 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 sport] 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. But the underlying problem, in terms of level of comp for everybody, is probably something that needs to be addressed quickly.”

Nick Saban wants to see a commissioner for college football pic.twitter.com/WtHgBcdHca

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 6, 2025

For a long time, college football’s commissioner was essentially the NCAA, which ruled with a proverbial iron fist for many years. Programs like SMU, for example, certainly felt the effects of the body’s power, as the Mustangs were hit with the ‘death penalty’ following numerous recruiting violations.

However, the NCAA’s power has dwindled over the years as a result of numerous legal defeats. The individual conferences, and particularly the Big Ten and SEC, have assumed much of the power.

How a commissioner would really work in college football remains to be seen. At the pro level, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is the representative of the 32 team owners, and he often clashes with the players, who are represented by a union. It’s unclear if Saban would support college football players unionizing and being able to collectively bargain like pro athletes.

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