Nick Saban shoots down potential of becoming college football commissioner: ‘I don’t want to be in that briar patch’

Ever since his surprising retirement announcement in early January 2024, college football fans far and wide have speculated about what’s next for Nick Saban. Of course, the 73-year-old former Alabama head coach has found a nice niche as an analyst on ESPN’s College GameDay as well as continuing his role as as a commercial spokesman for Alfac and Vrbo.

But the one role Saban’s name has long been connected to is as the yet-to-be-created “Commissioner of College Football.” And while such position doesn’t currently even exist, that hasn’t stopped media and fans from asking about the possibility.

For his part, the seven-time national champion football coach has repeatedly shot down the idea.

“I don’t want to be in that briar patch of being a commissioner,” Saban recently told the Associated Press, “but I do want to do everything I can to make it right.”

Saban and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders spoke with the AP as part of a promotional tour ahead of the release of their new Aflac commercial, where the hilarious pitchmen present the Aflac Duck as the new “Commissioner of Coverage” in the health insurance provider’s newest ad.

Sanders, who’s dealt with his own personal health issues this offseason, opens the commercial by complaining: “This game has gotten out of control. All the money. All the unpredictability.” While Sanders is talking about health insurance in the commercial, his words echo how many coaches and fans feel about the current state of college athletics, where the NCAA Transfer Portal, NIL and revenue-sharing have forever changed the sport of college football.

Saban and Sanders both have been proponents of more regulation and structure around NIL and revenue-sharing following the passage of the House v. NCAA settlement that effectively ended the NCAA’s outdated “amateur” model. The settlement ushered in revenue-sharing across college athletics, allowing programs to pay as much as $20.5 million to their student-athletes, with football teams expected to receive roughly 75-percent of that total annually.

“For years and years and years as coaches, and when we were players, we learned this, we’re trying to create value for our future,” Saban told the AP. “That’s why we’re going to college. It’s not just to see how much money we can make while we’re in college. It’s, how does that impact your future as far as our ability to create value for ourselves.”

Saban returns to the ESPN airwaves Saturday for the 2025 season debut of College GameDay, which will be onsite in Columbus, Ohio for the highly-anticipated season-opener between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State (12 noon ET, FOX). It’ll also serve as a final farewell to longtime ESPN icon Lee Corso, who will end a nearly 40-year career on the show Saturday.