No limits
Commander in college sports?
Influential characters
Mission statement
Reading the tea leaves
Commission leaders
Saban’s statement
Bottom line
Mixed messaging
NCAA commentary
Help wanted
Laying the groundwork
Trump talks sports
A cup of sports

No limits

If one thing has become clear during Donald Trump’s second term in office, it’s that his influence and interest in domestic and global affairs has no limits.

Commander in college sports?

Trump and his administration have turned their attention to another area that many people were not expecting; college sports.

Influential characters

Dellenger wrote, “the group is expected to feature other college sports stakeholders, prominent businesspeople with deep connections to college football and, perhaps, even another former coach and administrator.”

Mission statement

Dellenger continued, “The commission is expected to deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports, including the frequency of player movement in the transfer portal, the unregulated booster compensation paid to athletes, the debate of college athlete employment, preserving the Olympic sport structure, the application of Title IX to school revenue-share payments” and many other topics.

Reading the tea leaves

It seemed something like this was bound to happen in 2025, as over 100 “college sports leaders” visited Capitol Hill to lobby. Former Auburn football coach and current senator Tommy Tuberville believed this was a likely outcome.

Commission leaders

Interestingly, the commission is reportedly going to be led by businessman Cody Campbell and former Alabama football coach Nick Saban. Saban has been outspoken on the changes that college sports have undergone, and how it has hurt amateur athletics.

Saban’s statement

He said on Capitol Hill in 2024, “All the things that I believed in, for all these years, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics. It was always about developing players, it was always about helping people be more successful in life.”

Bottom line

Saban revealed that his wife Terry made him realize that the game had changed. “All they care about is how much you’re gonna pay them, they don’t care about how much you’re gonna develop them, which is what we’ve always done, so why are we doing this?”

Mixed messaging

Saban has been coy about the existence of a federal college sports commission, and whether the need for one truly exists. He told the Paul Finebaum Show, “I don’t know a lot about the commission. Secondly, I’m not sure we really need a commission… The key to the drill is getting people together so that we can move it forward.”

NCAA commentary

It seems like the NCAA would welcome the Trump administration’s involvement. NCAA president Charlie Baker told ESPN, “I’m up for anything that can help us get somewhere.”

Help wanted

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said, “I think Congress can help us. I really do. We have been very bold in the desire for a national standard when it comes to name, image and likeness.”

Laying the groundwork

Despite Saban’s reticence to share what is happening with his potential commission involvement, Tuberville has not been shy to speak on the topic. He told CBS Sports, “I know that Nick and Cody are talking on the phone a lot.”

Trump talks sports

President Trump has been willing to discuss many sports related topics early on in his presidency. He posted on social media in February 2025 that former MLB star Pete Rose should be reinstated and eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. A few months later, MLB ruled that in accordance with that very wish, albeit posthumously for Rose.