.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Charlie Strong isn't even out the door yet, and he might not be, but that isn't stopping the Nick Saban-to-Texas rumors from flying yet again.
While Strong is feeling the heat during this 4-6 campaign, Saban, already college football's highest-paid coach at $7 million per season, has No. 2 Alabama positioned to make another run at the national championship.
CBS Sports college football analyst and radio host Brian Jones says if Strong leaves Texas after the season, Texas will "break the bank" to lure Saban away from Tuscaloosa.
Rumors persist that Strong would listen to Miami if it calls about its head coaching vacancy. Strong has continually denied he has interest, even as recently as Wednesday when he was asked about it during a weekly press conference after another report surfaced indicating that Miami is moving forward as if Strong is it's No. 1 target.
Here's what Jones said about a potential courtship between Texas and Saban:
“It’s come to me that someone in his camp may or may not have reached out to Miami prior to the Oklahoma game when Charlie was really feeling it,” Jones said. “Since that ball game, he’s feeling it again, the heat. But there are a number of layers to this one. One, prior to the Oklahoma game once again, someone in his camp may have reached out to Miami to see if there’s an interest. Two, Charlie was undercut by his former athletic director. It’s well reported about Steve Patterson, the things he did. He was nickel-and-diming the program, he wasn’t paying quality assistant coaches what they deserved. So Charlie is still a little perturbed about that. Additionally, Coach Strong and his staff haven’t really endeared themselves to the Texas high school coaches and it was pretty much a slap in the face when they said a year ago we’re going to go to Florida and do the bulk of our recruiting.”
Texas football is a mess at the moment with the team failing on the field, recruiting not going as well as hoped and continuous rumors regarding its second-year coach's future. The Longhorns have two games remaining, against Texas Tech on Thanksgiving night and Baylor on Dec. 5
The Longhorns must win both just to match last season's win total and to become bowl eligible.
