Nick Saban took some time waffling between Texas and Alabama last year, and now we have a better understanding of what may have made the choice so difficult.
According to radio/TV host Paul Finebaum, Texas was prepared to give Saban a $100 million offer to coach the Longhorns football team.
Below is an excerpt from Finebaum’s upcoming book “My Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football,” which was co-written by ESPN’s Gene Wojchiechowski. According to AL.com, which received an advance copy of the book, Finebaum says Texas going to offer Saban a $15 million signing bonus and total package that would pay him $100 million-plus.
Here’s what AL.com says:
“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).”
Saban instead signed a contract extension with Alabama in December which pays him at least $6.9 million per year through 2022.
What do you make of this Texas offer? Did the Longhorns actually give him this offer and did he turn it down? Or did talks never get to that stage? If Saban were really told by Texas he could get $100 million, that would have to have commanded his attention and caused him to consider the job, which he did. Who can blame him for that?
Saban ultimately said he was too old to start over somewhere else, and that does make sense. How long would he have had to stay at Texas to see all of that money? 10 years? At this point for Saban it probably is not about the cash but about maintaining his dynasty and building a legacy of one of the greatest college football coaches ever.
