James Franklin Wants All Schools in a Conference—Including Notre Dame

Ahead of Thursday’s Orange Bowl, Penn State head coach James Franklin gave his candid thoughts about the structure of NCAA football. One of those thoughts directly involved an opponent whose coach was sitting right next to him.

Franklin said Wednesday he believes in the importance of uniformity across college football, which includes being part of a conference. The Fighting Irish are independent from the conference format. 

“I think it should be consistent across college football. This is no knock at coach [Freeman] or Notre Dame, but I think everybody should be in a conference,” Franklin said.

He supported his point by citing that conferences allow consistency with schedules, including a certain amount of conference games and the chance to play in a conference championship—which adds an additional game to a team’s schedule ahead of the CFP.

Franklin did not mention the additional prize money that Notre Dame gets to keep rather than share with a conference. By advancing to the national championship game on Jan. 20, the Fighting Irish will pocket $20 million.

Notre Dame has already made more than twice as much as the ACC ($8 million for SMU and Clemson), Big 12 ($8 million for Arizona State), and Mountain West ($8 million for Boise State). 

The Fighting Irish have long valued their independence, and a longstanding media rights agreement with NBC gives them the freedom to stay unaffiliated. That contract runs through 2029 and has been reported to be worth approximately $50 million per year.

Calling for a Commissioner

Late last month, Franklin told reporters he wants a commissioner to oversee college football at large, and even name-dropped Nick Saban as a potential candidate. Amid the conversation about college football conferences, Franklin doubled down on his belief, adding it’s important to have a decision-maker who is not being influenced by a university or conference to make decisions for the entire sport.

“I think we need somebody that is looking at it from a big-picture perspective,” Franklin said.

He said Wednesday that Saban “wasn’t really happy” about Franklin suggesting him for the role. But Franklin added two other names as potential candidates: former Washington coach Chris Petersen and former Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson.