Everyone has their ideas on how to fix college football.
The toothpaste is already out of the tube regarding Name, Image, and Likeness and the transfer portal. But that hasn’t stopped the powers that be from riffing about how they can fix their beloved sport.
Whether CFB needs saving is up for debate, though. Surely, there can be improvements and a path moving forward. But is the answer two men who are looking retirement in the face?
Tommy Bowden seems to think so.
The former Clemson Tigers head coach and son of the late Bobby Bowden recently concocted an idea during an appearance on Doug Bell’s podcast, The Ole Gabbox. He suggested that to fix college football, Nick Saban and Charles Barkley should join forces to be co-commissioners of the sport.
It’s not like Barkley just announced his retirement and doubled down, saying he couldn’t imagine working anywhere else than TNT Sports. The same goes for Saban, who coached his last college football game and has since joined ESPN as a CFB analyst. But their voices are undoubtedly influential in the space, even if they aren’t about to step away from their lucrative broadcasting careers.
“One quick solution, I think you gotta have co-commissioners to get this thing squared away in one year,” Bowden said. “Let Nick Saban and Charles Barkley be co-commissioners. They both bring perspective and unique angles to college football and what’s needed in the college game is from the professional aspect, NIL. Let Charles Barkley and Nick Saban be co-commissioners, and they’ll have it cleared up in two years.”
“I think (Barkley) brings, let’s say, a common sense approach to the problem,” he adds. “He would bring a unique perspective, no doubt. And he’d have some colorful comments.”
Speaking of colorful comments, Bowden lamented the recent exodus of successful head coaches from the college ranks. It’s his opinion that these departures are a sign of coaches feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of NIL and the transfer portal.
“I think last year was the best indicator about how coaches feel about it,” Bowden said. “Chip Kelly left the head coaching job at UCLA to go to Ohio State. And then you got the head coach of Boston College (Jeff Hafley), a life ambition and dream, goes to be a coordinator in the NFL. The head coach at Georgia State (Shawn Elliott) goes to be the tight ends coach at South Carolina. And then, South Alabama’s head coach (Kane Wommack) goes to Alabama [co] D-coordinator and Buffalo’s head coach (Maurice Linguist) goes to Alabama[co] D-coordinator. I think that’s the indication of how coaches feel about it.”
While there’s merit to Bowden’s concern, it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. There’s some nuance lacking, especially considering that an NFL offensive coordinator and former head coach in Bill O’Brien went to replace Hafley in Chestnut Hill. And Elliott has cited family reasons, and being weary of an absentee father for why he left being the head of a program to become an assistant coach.
In any event, the complexities of NIL and the transfer portal require a multifaceted approach. While Saban and Barkley would undoubtedly contribute productive conversations to the space, the likelihood of them becoming commissioners is about the same as the likelihood that the duo would become colleagues at ESPN.
