Alabama’s Nick Saban: ‘I never considered going to Texas’
By Mike Dyce
The Alabama Crimson Tide locked down head coach Nick Saban with a long-term extension on Friday. It put to end a wild season of speculation that he was going to leave, or at least be tempted to leave, for the Texas Longhorns head coaching job. From reports that the Texas Board of Regents met with his manager Jimmy Sexton to reports his week that Mack Brown was stepping down, it was a wild ride.
Saban said he didn’t want to leave at this point in his career, saying he was too old to start over, but those comments weren’t ever taken seriously. Since signing the extension he has reiterated that Texas was never an option for him.
“The way this sort of got spun, it was a little bit more like, ‘OK, he got a new contract at Alabama, so he’s going to stay at Alabama instead of going to Texas,'” Saban told Chris Low ESPN.com on Saturday. “I never considered going to Texas. That wasn’t even a conversation.
“I knew that if Mack stepped down, there would probably be an opportunity, but it wasn’t something I was interested in doing, not at this stage in my career.”
In a statement after the signing of his extension, Saban said he plans on ending his career with Alabama.
“We are very pleased to have this agreement completed,” Saban said in his statement.. “Terry and our family are very happy in Tuscaloosa. It has become home to us. This agreement allows us to continue to build on the tremendous success that we have enjoyed to this point – successes that have transcended the football field. We are excited about the future and the University of Alabama is where I plan to end my coaching career.