Penn State coach James Franklin calls for uniformity in college football

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. So does the Big 12. The Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference are among those playing eight-game league schedules. Mountain West played seven games in the league. Notre Dame does not have a league.

Enough, says Penn State coach James Franklin.

Franklin — who raised some eyebrows last month when he said that former Alabama coach Nick Saban should become the commissioner of college footballa job that technically doesn’t exist and an idea that Saban didn’t seem to like — was at it again Wednesday, saying on the eve of his team’s matchup with Notre Dame in College Football Playoff Semifinals by Orange bowl that the sport needs uniformity.

“I know a lot of times when coaches talk like that, people roll their eyes,” Franklin said. “But I think when every decision we make is based on finances, then we’re not making big decisions that are in the best interest of the student-athlete and the game of football. … I think it should be consistent across the board of college football.”

Franklin — who sat next to Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman when he spoke at the final news conference previewing their Orange Bowl game Thursday night — is not new to offering big solutions to problems that college football faces. He also made it clear he wasn’t knocking Notre Dame, which sees it as a strength not to be in a football conference.

“I think everybody should play a conference championship game or nobody should play a conference championship game,” Franklin said. “I think everybody should play the same number of conference games. … The Big Ten went to nine games and I wasn’t a math major at East Stroudsburg, but just the numbers are going to make things more challenging if you play one more conference game.”

Among Franklin’s other ideas: looking at starting the season a week earlier to help alleviate end-of-year pressures, especially for schools that go deep into the CFP, and he reiterated the idea of ​​having someone — Saban, former Boise State and Washington coach Chris Petersen and former Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson would be at the top of his list — overseeing the game.

The notion of a commissioner — particularly Saban — drew support from Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin, one of Saban’s former assistants, also earlier this month.

“I can’t think of a better person who really has the best interest of the game and the kids at heart,” Kiffin said. “He has always done that. He’s always been old-school that way. There couldn’t be a better person than him to do it.”

In this era of name, image and likeness, with an expanded playoff now in place and with college seasons longer than ever for some teams — the teams in the CFP title game will be playing either their 16th or 17th game of the season — that only makes mean that changes keep coming.

“But it doesn’t matter who the commissioner is, you have to give the guy power,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “And right now the power is with the leagues. And if everyone wants to go into the sandbox and play nice and let someone take care of it, that would be the best. Right now, nobody’s showing that they’re willing to let anybody build a consensus, and I think that’s what’s hurting our game.”

Franklin doesn’t have all the answers. But he, like many coaches, has a host of questions about what appears to be a transformative time for the college game.

“I think there’s just a ton of things that need to be discussed and looked at,” Franklin said. “And I think we need to do it with people who don’t feel the pressure of their university or their conference.”

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