Nick Saban and James Franklin are no strangers to trading playful jabs, and their latest back-and-forth on ESPN's College GameDay had fans buzzing.
Following Penn State’s 31-14 win over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, Franklin joined the show to bask in the victory glow. That’s when Saban, now an ESPN analyst, decided to stir the pot.
“James, congratulations on a great win. Does this put you one step closer to being the commissioner of college football?” Saban quipped, as the ESPN College GameDay crew burst into laughter.
Franklin didn’t miss a beat. “Coach, you can keep trying to avoid this all you want,” he shot back. “I know ESPN and those guys don’t want to lose you, but your impact on college football and your global understanding of what we need is important. Right now, no one’s running it.”
Franklin’s comments weren’t out of the blue. During a Fiesta Bowl press conference, he endorsed Saban as the “obvious choice” to be the sport’s first commissioner. With college football facing big challenges like NIL, the transfer portal, and revenue sharing, Franklin argued that having someone like Saban at the helm could bring much-needed order.
Saban, for his part, didn’t take the bait beyond his initial joke. But others in the college football world, like Kirby Smart and Lane Kiffin, have echoed Franklin’s sentiment. Smart praised Saban’s dedication to making the game better but was realistic about the limitations a commissioner might face given the fragmented governance of college football.
As for the here-and-now, Franklin has his team positioned as the first squad to make it to the College Football Playoff semifinals. With the win over Boise State on Friday night, Penn State will now await the winner of Georgia and Notre Dame for a matchup in the Orange Bowl on Thursday, January 9. The winner of that one, of course, will play for the national championship.