The need for leadership in the NCAA, especially in college football, is long overdue. Between conference realignment, the transfer portal, and the NIL, changes in the sport have occurred quickly and without much governance. Perhaps no one affiliated with sports is more synonymous with leadership than those recently retired. Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.
Paulo Finebaum seems to have the same thought process. When interviewing the legendary head coach last week in Birmingham at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am, Finebaum expressed his desire to have Saban, now a college football analyst for ESPN, take over as college football czar.
“I think the solution for college football is to stop wasting TV time and be what everyone in my area suggested,” Finebaum said. “You need to be the czar of college football. If you agree to this now, we can solve many problems.”
Saban didn’t fall into Finebaum’s trap by revealing his interest in such a position, but the seven-time national championship-winning coach offered his opinion on needed changes in college athletics.
“There are problems that have to be resolved,” Saban said. “There are lawsuits that need to be resolved. Until we get all of this in order, we can’t have some kind of protocol of rules and who governs those rules, so we won’t have litigation issues and we won’t have Title IX issues moving forward.
“I’m in favor of players getting paid,” Saban said. “I just want it to be a system where everyone has competitive balance so we don’t lose the spirit of college football.”
Saban has been the face of college football for nearly two decades and it would only make sense for him to be the leading voice in decision-making for the future of college athletics. Whether or not this will happen remains to be seen.
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