When Mack Brown left Texas in 2013, Nick Saban was immediately mentioned as a possible replacement. While there were reports that Saban gave serious thought to starting a new chapter with the Longhorns, the four-time national champion insists he never contemplated leaving Alabama.
Last week, an excerpt from a new book about Saban quoted Texas athletic director Steve Patterson as saying the Longhorns never made an offer to Saban. On Tuesday, Saban says he was never interested in the job despite his agent contacting him about it numerous times.
“I have an agent (Jimmy Sexton), which most coaches have, and when somebody is interested in you, they call your agent, which they did,” Saban said, per D.C. Reeves of The Tuscaloosa News. “The agent calls you, and you tell the agent ‘I’m interested’ or ‘I’m not interested.’ So (Sexton) called me about 15 times about Texas, and every time he called I said I’m not interested in talking to them, and I never will be. That’s the story. He did his job, I did my job.”
Patterson had said he did not want Saban using him for leverage against Alabama.
“I told (Sexton) if he wanted to come here and drink bourbon and eat barbecue and talk about Saban, that’d be fine,” the Texas AD said. “But I told him not to come here if he just wanted to get Saban an extension and a raise at Alabama, which I thought was his intention all along.”
There were rumors that Saban turned down a massive offer from Texas, but it sounds like it never got to that point. We wouldn’t be surprised if he used the Longhorns’ interest as leverage to get more money, but most people would have done the same.
H/T Dr. Saturday
