May 21, 2021
680 THE FAN, ATLANTA – There is a college football commissioner: His name is Greg Sankey

Ask and you shall receive college football fans. You wanted a college football commissioner for Power Five football and I’ve found them. 

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is the man for this fictitious job. He has proven time and time again to be a proactive leader, rather than being a reactive one. 

The SEC’s leader did not need to provide for $23 million in COVID-19 aid to go to their 14 member schools for relief from pandemic financial losses. But, he looked at the upcoming TV contract and said we can help them all now. 

That money he just gave the schools is going to go a long way towards protecting their universities crown jewel… Football. Like it or not, football moves the meter on these college campuses. 

Think about how many facility construction projects can now become a reality from this front of cash? Think about the trickle down effect and how non-revenue sports programs are being able to survive at these schools? 

Sankey’s first recent act of being able to showcase his strong leadership skills came in the summer of 2020. On the day that the Big Ten/PAC 12 announced that fall football was not going to take place, the cancellation mob was coming for the largest target of all… The SEC. It was Sankey who said they were going to wait, use the time allowed to them to get more information from the medical experts and then decide on whether fall 2020 was a viable option for football. They waited, got the information and decided to hold practices and play the games. 

Make no mistake about it, college football was played in 2020 because of Sankey. His green light for funds to go to their schools in hopes of offsetting financial losses is one that other conferences are envious of seeing from the SEC. 

I said it on the Chuck Oliver Show yesterday, that Sankey being college football’s “commissioner” is like a part in the movie War Dogs. I’ll explain and it’ll make since. 

The movie is about a couple of friends played by Jonah Hill and Miles Teller who won a three hundred million dollar contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan. Long story short, they get involved with some shady people, exploited a government initiative and soon got into legal trouble with the authorities. 

The part that reminds me of Sankey’s unofficial role, involves an element of surprise. Teller and Hill are getting into a fight while riding in an elevator. Once they get to their floor, the Feds are there to arrest the, The Feds were dressed in their tactical gear and had their automatic guns with them. The officers are pleasantly surprised to see the two and one of them says something to the effect of “that saves us the trouble,” of going upstairs to arrest them. 

Sankey is Teller and Hill being brought to the authorities (college football fans). The connection is that Sankey is the man for this job by surprise. 

The SEC has been a leader for the rest of college football. While Greg Sankey is in charge, that will not change. Other conferences will continue to follow and try to match their success.