By Steve DelVecchio
About two years ago, Nick Saban reportedly gave serious thought to coaching at Texas before signing a lucrative extension with Alabama. What was the offer from the Longhorns that had him thinking?
According to Texas athletic director Steve Patterson, there wasn’t one.
In a new book about Saban titled “Saban: The Making of a Coach,” Patterson admits that he spoke to Saban’s agent Jimmy Sexton but says a formal offer was never made. Patterson said he did not want to be used as leverage if Saban was simply trying to get more money from Alabama.
“I’ve known Jimmy for 30 years,” Patterson said, via Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman. “I told him if he wanted to come here and drink bourbon and eat barbecue and talk about Saban, that’d be fine. 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.
“Of course, Jimmy took great affront to that, which is fine. He was just doing his job. But that was the end of the conversation. I never talked to Saban and we never made an offer.”
In a book that was published last year, radio and TV host Paul Finebaum said Saban turned down a massive offer from Texas. It’s unclear if the offer was ever a formal one or if numbers were just tossed around.
Saban ultimately decided that he was too old to start over at a new school, which makes sense. And while Texas may not have made an actual offer, it’s probably safe to assume they were willing to pay more than Alabama. Saban may have had no intention of leaving from the start, as Patterson suspected.
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