Bruce Arians was trolling when he said Nick Saban ‘covets’ Giants job?

Bruce Arians did his part to stoke the NFL rumor mill in a big way on Tuesday when he said Nick Saban has interest in the New York Giants’ head coaching vacancy. As it turns out, the former Arizona Cardinals coach was just trying to get us all going.

Or, so he says.

Shortly after Arians appeared on Colin Cowherd’s show and said Saban “covets” the Giants job, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports said Arians told him he had no inside information and was “just messing” with everyone.

Unbelievable. @jayglazer just told us the reason Bruce Arians said Nick Saban would leave for the NFL? "Ah, I was just messing with everyone. I had no insight. I was just having fun."

— Jason Smith (@howaboutafresca) January 10, 2018

That seems hard to believe. Arians, who coached at Alabama as a running backs coach in the 1980s and offensive coordinator in 1997, has ties to Tuscaloosa. It would not be tough to imagine him having some knowledge of Saban’s thinking, and he seemed pretty convincing:

"It wouldn't surprise me. There's a job he covets and it just happens to be open… The Giants." — @BruceArians on Nick Saban returning to the NFL pic.twitter.com/BWcZl8lrNz

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 9, 2018

Saban just won his sixth championship with the Tide, and he has a freshman quarterback who looks like he could be a star next season. He’s also 66 and already tried coaching in the NFL once, failing pretty miserably with the Miami Dolphins. Even if Arians does know something the rest of us don’t, we’re more likely to believe this report about Saban’s future.