The rumors trying to connect Nick Saban to a potential vacancy at Texas are mildly entertaining, but if we are to take the Alabama head coach at his word we can probably put them all to rest. Saban says his age will prevent him from even thinking about starting with a clean slate at any other program.
“Every year it’s something. Last year it was the Cleveland Browns,” Saban said Thursday night on his weekly radio show, according to AL.com. “And, quite frankly, I’m just too damn old to start over somewhere else.”
So there you go. Forget about Saban going to Texas to replace Mack Brown in 2014. Well, maybe. Who knows, after all, didn’t Saban say similar things when he was with the Miami Dolphins? Yes, he did. Never say never, right?
But Saban has a bit of a point here. Saban is 61 years old, and will turn 62 before the end of this season. At his age it is certainly not impossible to move to a new program and try to turn things around, but we are entering an age where coaches probably are not going to be coaching well in to their 60s any more. Unless Saban were to give the NFL one more crack, Alabama certainly feels as though it will be his final coaching job.
And make no mistake, Saban would be starting over at Texas. The Longhorns are looking more and more like a rebuilding project, but it is not the type of rebuilding project that would need a structured fie-year plan. Given the resources available at Texas and the large talent pool to swim in and Saban’s coaching profile, Texas would be a national title contender rather quickly.
Saban’s comments were inspired by reports from earlier in the day saying regents at Texas had made an attempt to reach out to Saban to gauge his interest. It’s a long shot for Texas, but given the situation brewing in Austin, it is a move Texas would absolutely have to make. If Texas calls Saban and Saban says “Thanks, but no thanks,” so be it. At least an effort was made to drastically change the image of the Texas program. Saban did rebuff those reports during his radio show as well.
“Nothing went on that I know of,” Saban said. “I don’t know about any of this stuff. I haven’t talked to anybody about that particular situation. They have a coach there.”