James Franklin’s ideas for overhauling college football include a commissioner and NFL collaboration

James Franklin is calling for someone higher-up to fix several issues in college football because they’re becoming a headache.

ATLANTA — Penn State head coach James Franklin runs a traditional recruiting model that is the foundation for how he lands and develops top talent. Still, Franklin was fired up Friday over how the transfer portal has affected his ability to build his program.

The transfer portal has recently been a hot topic in college football circles. Tuesday, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin lamented the transfer portal system, comparing it to free agency starting before the NFL playoffs.

Kiffin reinforced those thoughts when asked more questions about the portal on Friday during media availability ahead of Saturday’s Peach Bowl. Franklin was part of the joint press conference with Kiffin, and the Nittany Lions coach did not hold back when asked to comment.

Franklin seemingly agreed with Kiffin and echoed his thoughts that the current system is not great, despite having very different approaches to recruiting.

What’s more, Franklin didn’t appear convinced that a lot of thought went into how the portal currently runs and offered up his suggestion to start the process of fixing it.

Franklin explained how he thinks having a commissioner would help:

“Chip Kelly made some comments a few weeks ago, and I think he said some things publicly that a lot of coaches have been talking about privately for a while. I think Lane obviously brings up some really good points as well.

“I think at the end of the day, and I’ve said this before, I think the reality is a commissioner of college football would be valuable. I think there’s a reason for a commissioner of college football to be able to work with the commissioner of the NFL because I think the NFL should be working with college football.”

“Right now, the way I see it, the commissioners of the conferences are the best people to solve these problems. Get them all into a room together. You could have representation from the NCAA as well, the NFL, and sit down and really start from scratch, a whole new calendar, a whole new model, recommendations. I think that’s how this is really going to get done moving forward.”