Penn State coach James Franklin calls for college football to have uniformity

DANIA BEACH, Fla. — The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. Franklin — who raised some eyebrows last month when he said that former Alabama coach Nick Saban should become commissioner of college football, a job that doesn’t technically exist and an idea that Saban didn’t seem to like very much — was at it again Wednesday, saying on the eve of his team’s matchup with Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl that the sport needs uniformity. I think it should be consistent across college football.” Franklin — who was seated next to Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman as he spoke in the final news conference previewing their Orange Bowl matchup Thursday night — is not new to offering big-picture solutions to issues facing college football. The Big Ten went to nine games, and I was not a math major at East Stroudsburg, but just the numbers are going to make things more challenging if you’re playing 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 atop his list — overseeing the game. 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 the college seasons longer than ever for some teams — the teams in the CFP title game will be playing either their 16th or 17th games of the season — it only makes sense for changes to keep coming.