Joel Klatt agrees with Nick Saban on college football changes originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Joel Klatt backed the call by legendary coach Nick Saban for sweeping changes in college football this week. The chaos surrounding the coaching carousel with Lane Kiffin being front and center is dragging down the spot.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSaban took issue with the state of college football during last Saturday’s edition of ESPN College GameDay. “Everybody should be thinking about the players,” Saban said. “Players should be able to play for their coach for the entire season. Players shouldn’t be penalized if a coach leaves, because the committee has the opportunity, if a player or coach doesn’t participate, they can sink you in the rankings. … This is not a Lane Kiffin conundrum. This is a college football conundrum, and we need some leadership to step up and change the rules.”
On Monday’s episode of The Joel Klatt Show, he agreed that the overlap of competition and roster building is fundamentally flawed.
“What Nick Saban was saying on GameDay was absolutely correct," Klatt said. "We are trying to build rosters through Early Signing Day and early December the season is still going on. In fact, it’s Championship Game week, which is so dumb. Then we’re going to have the transfer portal open up when some teams are still trying to play in the Playoffs."
He went on to say, “The calendar is broken and so we have programs trying to hire their next head coach and they feel like they need their coach in order to build the roster, because the roster building is taking place the first week of December. But the season doesn’t end until potentially Jan. 20th."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKlatt's assessment is spot on. There has to be a better system in place for the good of the sport. This would be like NFL free agency happening during the week of the Super Bowl. There's no value for the teams playing and makes zero sense.
“Finish the football season before roster building … That’s how you fix this,” he concluded.As college football tries to figure out NIL, the new portal window and early signing pressures, there should be a movement to make this about the players.
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Ole Miss reportedly gives Lane Kiffin an ultimatum as family visits Florida and LSU
Virginia Tech reportedly funding roster near top of ACC for James Franklin
Bill Belichick goes viral for awkward handshake after Wake Forest loss
Texas state trooper reportedly relieved of duties after player exchange at Texas A&M
