“Nothing happens without leadership.” Few sports embody that reality more than college football right now. As NIL, the transfer portal, conference realignment, and growing legal challenges continue to reshape the game, many believe the sport’s fragmented leadership structure is struggling to keep pace. The result has been increasing uncertainty and inconsistency across college athletics. So when Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti was asked to name one major change he would like to see in college football, his answer was obvious.

“I don’t think there is one rule,” Curt Cignetti said on the Rich Eisen Show. “I just think there’s got to be somebody in charge that has the power to make the rules and enforce the rules.”

Cignetti’s statement amplified calls from across the sport for a college football commissioner. Those conversations have gained momentum in recent years, particularly as the rapid evolution of NIL rules and transfer regulations has outpaced the NCAA’s ability to govern the sport effectively.

Unlike professional leagues such as the NFL, which operates under Commissioner Roger Goodell, college football lacks a single authority figure responsible for overseeing competition, enforcing rules, and setting long-term strategy. Instead, power is divided among the NCAA, conference commissioners, university leaders, and the courts.

Perhaps that is why, despite having multiple governing bodies, college football continues to struggle with consistency. Rather than unifying the sport, the current system often incentivizes conferences to prioritize their own interests, creating further division across the Football Bowl Subdivision.

For the position of the college football commissioner, there has been a consensus from several top college football personalities on who the pick is. Back in 2024, while Penn State and James Franklin were at the peak of their 11-year union, Franklin raised the same concern about the need for a commissioner and named Nick Saban “the obvious choice”.

“We’ve been talking about this for a while, and a lot of different people have brought it up,” Franklin said at Penn State’s College Football Playoff quarterfinals media day ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. I’m one of the people who feel very very strongly that we need a commissioner of college football. We need somebody that’s waking up every single morning and going to bed every single night thinking about what’s in the best interest of college football.”