Alabama vs. Texas is a seldom-played series between two of college football's premier programs — and one that has created several points of tension between the two fan bases.
In part, that tension is derived from a number of controversial plays that occurred in previous contests.
Crimson Tide fans claim Joe Namath actually scored on a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak in the 1965 Orange Bowl. Likewise, Texas' fans claim the outcome of the 2010 BCS national championship game would have turned out differently if quarterback Colt McCoy hadn't been early in the game.
But one rumor that has vexed both Texas and Alabama over the years has nothing to do with on-field play. It instead centers around Nick Saban: Just how close was he to leaving the Crimson Tide to take over the Longhorns following the 2012 season?
The question hasn't mattered in several years, as Saban and his wife — affectionately known by the fan base as Miss Terry — are seemingly rooted in Tuscaloosa and Alabama. (That, and Saban has signed a massive extension with Alabama that will see him coach through the 2029 season).
Saban, on his Thursday radio show, finally addressed his rumored interest in the Texas job following the 2012 season, telling host Chris Stewart that he never spoke with Texas and had no interest in coaching the Longhorns.
“You know there was really nothing to be concerned about,” Saban said (via AL.com). “You can blame your colleagues on that because they created that.
I never talked to these people and you damage relationships when you do that. Mack Brown was a good friend of mine and somebody that I have a tremendous amount of respect for and he’s the coach there and all anybody can talk about is me going to take his place.
“I don’t think that’s fair to me, especially when I never even talked to them and I wasn’t interested in the place.”
As Saban noted, Texas was close to moving on from Hall of Fame coach Mack Brown (who resigned from the program in December 2013). Moreover, Saban had developed a not-unfounded reputation for leaving schools after only a few years leading the program.
He stayed only one year at Toledo (1990); five years each at Michigan State (1995-99) and LSU (2000-04); and two years with the NFL's Miami Dolphins (2005-06). Following the 2012 season — in which he won his third championship in four seasons — Saban had stayed with Alabama for longer than any other program: six years.
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While Saban claims to have had no interest in the Texas job, documents retrieved by The Associated Press confirmed his agent, Jimmy Sexton, had unofficial communications about Saban coaching the Longhorns with former Texas regents Tom Hicks and Wallace Hall.
Sexton — during a 45-minute call to Hicks and Hall in January 2013 — claimed Texas was the only job for which Saban would consider leaving Alabama. Hicks reportedly approached Brown two days after the call took place to broach the subject of retirement.
Per a Sept. 24, 2013 from Hicks (obtained by The AP through an open-records request):
"Sexton confirmed that UT is the only job Nick would possibly consider leaving Alabama for, and that his success there created special pressure for him," Hicks wrote.
Saban at the time said he did not know about the meeting and said he was too old to start somewhere new. (He turned 62 on Oct. 31, 2013).
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Radio host Paul Finebaum — in a 2021 appearance on the Saturday Down South podcast — added more details to Texas and Saban's rumored flirtation, saying the school did indeed offer him. He also claims Saban considered it, but ultimately decided he didn't want to coach there.
“I did a book with Gene Wojciechowski, and we had a nugget in the book that said that Texas boosters had tried to hire Nick Saban, which I think most people knew, but we had a source that said they had offered him more than $100 million and Texas fans acted like they didn’t want Nick Saban,” Finebaum said. “The bottom line is they did want Saban and Saban was offered the job, and he considered it.
"He said to me and to anybody who would confront him with this, that the reason he didn’t go to Texas — he said this privately, he didn’t say this publicly — was he did not want to have to answer to 10 or 15 different boosters who all felt like they owned the franchise. It was a little of a Jerry Jones complex or a T. Boone Pickens complex in college football in the past."
On Dec. 13, 2013, Saban signed a multi-year contract extension with Alabama that reportedly paid between $7 million and $7.5 million per year. The next day, Brown announced his decision to resign from Texas.
The Longhorns have since gone through coaches Charlie Strong (16-21 record from 2014-16); Tom Herman (32-18 record from 2017-20); and Steve Sarkisian (6-7 record starting in 2021). Saban, meanwhile, has gone 105-11 since his extension. He also has led three more national title runs.
Said Saban on Thursday: “I guess y'all need to find something to talk about."
