New book: Texas, boosters offered Nick Saban $100 million-plus to leave Tide

This ought to be fun.

During the run-up to Mack Brown stepping down as the head coach at Texas, there were rumors and speculation cropping up on a seemingly daily basis that Texas was prepared -- or already had -- made a significant run at Nick Saban. The Alabama head coach brushed off the talk at every turn, and ultimately agreed to a contract extension with UA that, along with Charlie Strong‘s hiring, ended the rumblings once and for all.

It didn’t, though, end all of the Saban-to-UT talk completely.

Controversial radio and television personality Paul Finebaum has co-written a new book -- “My Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football” along with ESPN‘s Gene Wojchiechowski -- that is set for release in the coming weeks. Al.com, however, has obtained an advance copy of the book.

According to that advance copy, Texas and its boosters were hellbent on bringing the best coach in college football to Austin. So much so, in fact, that they had put together a financial package worth in excess of nine figures in an attempt to lure Saban to the Longhorns. From the website:

“Texas was dead serious about trying to money-whip Saban,” Finebaum and Wojchiechowski write. “Depending on whom you talk to -- Bama big hitters or Texas big hitters -- the Longhorns were prepared to give Saban somewhere between a $12 and $15 million signing bonus and a salary package worth $100 million (plus performances).”

That’s, uh, a lot of money Saban (reportedly) spurned. Even on a 10-year deal, that’s $10 million annually; Saban’s new deal pays him “just” $6.9 million a year on average.

Whether that portion of Finebaum’s book is 100-percent accurate could very well be up for debate. What there should be no doubt about is that UT was serious about its pursuit, and its boosters had put their considerable money where their collective mouths were before being rebuffed.