"There's Got to Be Somebody": Indiana's Curt Cignetti Demands Major Change to Fix College Footbal

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“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 andnamed 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.”

When LSU head coach Lane Kiffin addressed the topic, he not only supported the idea of a commissioner but also echoed Franklin’s choice.

“You mentioned Coach Saban. I can’t imagine there being a better person who genuinely has the best interest for the game and the kids.”

Kiffin’s comments followed a viral post on X in which he publicly endorsed Saban for the role. More recently, College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit voiced similar support.

Saban, however, has downplayed the possibility of taking the job himself.

“I don’t want to be in that briar patch of being a commissioner,” Saban said. “But I do want to do everything I can to make it right.”

However, there is already an organization tasked with overseeing college athletics: the NCAA.

The NCAA is the closest thing college football has to a commissioner, but many coaches and administrators believe it no longer has the authority necessary to govern the sport effectively. A series of legal challenges, including the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in NCAA v. Alston, significantly weakened the organization’s ability to regulate athlete compensation.

Athletes have increasingly turned to the courts to challenge NCAA policies, limiting the association’s ability to enforce its rules.

To address the growing uncertainty, federal lawmakers have proposed legislation such as the Protect College Sports Act, spearheaded by Senator Ted Cruz, with the goal of establishing a national framework for NIL regulations and restoring greater oversight to college athletics.

When the NCAA was mentioned, Cignetti suggested empowering the organization rather than replacing it altogether.

“Or if it’s the NCAA, let’s empower them to do their job. Let them change with the times. Two different things here. Number one, the NCAA needs to be able to enforce rules and the courts have made it impossible for them to do that.

“Point B, where are we going? Could we be heading in that direction? It’s quite possible. I think anything is possible at this point. I do think we’re at a tipping point. I think some of the things that happened in the last couple of days was a real plus for college football. And we need to move forward in the positive direction.”

Cignetti’s comments reflect a broader concern throughout the sport: college football’s biggest challenge is no longer simply enforcing the rules; it’s determining who has the authority to create them in the first place.

Since the introduction of the transfer portal in 2018 and the expansion of NIL opportunities in 2021, coaches, administrators, and fans have wrestled with questions surrounding player movement, compensation, roster stability, and competitive balance. The absence of a centralized decision-maker has only intensified those debates.

Seeing the competing interests among conference commissioners, it is only natural that coaches are calling for a neutral voice to guide college football into its next era.

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