Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

According to reports, plans to create a presidential commission to oversee key issues in college sports have been placed on hold.

The commission championed by President Donald Trump was slated to be headed by former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and ex-Texas Tech offensive lineman Cody Campbell, who’s now the chairman of the Texas Tech Board of Regents.

The commission idea gained steam after May 1, when Trump spoke at the University of Alabama’s graduation ceremony that also included an address from Saban. With multiple issues clouding the college sports landscape – including powerful Name, Image, Likeness questions that the courts and Congress have been trying to answer – the presidential commission sounded like another avenue to find solutions.

But two weeks after meeting with Trump in Tuscaloosa, Saban appeared on “The Paul Finebaum Show” and claimed the commission might not be necessary.

“I think that a lot of people know exactly what the issues are in college football and exactly what we need to do to fix them,” Saban told Finebaum. “I think the key to the drill is getting people together so we can move it forward. I’m not opposed to players making money. I don’t want anybody to think that. I just think the system, the way it’s going right now, it’s not sustainable and probably not in the best interests of the student-athletes across the board or the game itself.”

Presumably, putting the presidential commission on the back burner suggests other legislative avenues are making headway. According to The Athletic, a bipartisan Congressional group led by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has devoted “hundreds of hours” to solving what ails college sports.

–Field Level Media