Which program would most likely hire Saban if he comes out of retirement?

Biggest storyline of the summer is out as former Alabama coach is a free agent again

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban stands on the turf inside Bryant-Denny Stadium during media day Saturday, August 3, 2019 in Bryant-Denny Stadium. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ATLANTA — It always seems like one Monday headline sets the tone on the first day of SEC Media Days.

From the Texas-Oklahoma bombshell in 2021 or Bobby Petrino's return to Arkansas last year, there always seems to be a major talking point.

This year it's legendary coach Nick Saban being a rumored participant in the coaching carousel five months early.

The former Alabama coach will turn 74 this October and spent the first part of his retirement spent as a panelist for College Football Gameday on ESPN.

His first national championship winning quarterback in Tuscaloosa, Greg McElroy, finds it on good authority that Saban will coach once again.

Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban tees off on No. 14 during the Workday Golden Bear Pro-Am at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio on May 28, 2025. Saban was paired with Ryan Day and Justin Thomas. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"A very much in the know person that I have a lot of respect for and have spent a lot of time around, and just really, really admire -- they seem to think Nick Saban is not done coaching," McElroy said on his morning show Mac and Cube. "He's pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again."

McElroy's finished his captivating statement doubling down his trust in the "source."

"If it wasn't someone notable, I would never say a word. He is of firm belief that Nick Saban will coach in college football again."

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder initially retired at 65-years-old before returning to the Wildcats' sideline for a second stint at 69 for 10 more seasons.

Saban still seems to be fired up while on television, he has several coaches who would likely jump at the chance to work with him once again.

The question is, where in tarnation he'd actually coach if he decides to come out of retirement for the 2026 or 2027 season?

Arkansas Razorbacks

The one coach who was given a level five job security threat last week, Sam Pittman, seems to be on a short leash by those who cover the sport nationally.

However, Pittman has holds no reservation about his perceived hot seat since he's meeting the minimum qualifications to continue coaching at Arkansas.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman watching spring practice at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Arkansas Communications

"I’ve never one time worried about my job, I promise you not one time," Pittman said. "So am I happy that we are bowl eligible? Yes, for everybody in the building and that staff besides me. 

"I've never worried about that. Still don't. I'm going to be fine one way or the other, but I'm going to fight like hell for the University of Arkansas the entire time that I'm head coach."

Pittman is 30-31 overall at Arkansas, including a 7-17 record in one possession games which is the worst among active coaches in the SEC.

SEC head coaches record in one possession ball games at current school

Kalen DeBoer: 2-3
Sam Pittman: 7-17
Hugh Freeze: 2-6
Billy Napier: 5-6
Kirby Smart: 22-9
Mark Stoops 26-21
Brian Kelly: 8-3
Jeff Lebby: 0-1
Eli Drinkwitz: 17-7
Brent Venables: 5-9
Lane Kiffin: 12-7 pic.twitter.com/cnTZzsxsQ2

— All SEC Football (@All_SECFB) July 14, 2025

While many will laugh at the thought of Saban coaching the Razorbacks, it should at least be considered. Should the Arkansas boosters find a coach they really like, they'll piece together the money to get them to town.

Look at John Tyson's swoon of long-time friend John Calipari, who took a slight paycut to get away from Kentucky after 16 seasons.

Even former NFL coach Jon Gruden was offered an astronomical amount to leave the booth at ESPN and be hired as Arkansas' coach after the firing of Bobby Petrino in 2012.

While that never came to fruition, it's certainly a fun "what-if" scenario to look back on.

LSU Tigers

Current coach Brian Kelly has plenty of talent to work with in Baton Rouge this fall, but needs to make the 12-team College Football Playoff. If he doesn't, Tigers fans will start to become a bit restless.

The LSU fanbase is ferocious and if a coach isn't meeting lofty expectations that Saban himself set way back in 2003.

It's crazy to think that Kelly hasn't experienced immediate success despite the national title game appearances Notre Dame previously,

LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly talks to the media during SEC Media Day at Omni Atlanta Hotel. | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Les Miles won a title in 2007, but was run out of town because he couldn't recapture the magic of that season. Ed Orgeron was able to assemble a championship level staff capable of turning it's "regular Joe" quarterback into Heisman Trophy winner and overall No. 1 pick Joe Burrow in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Kelly was even asked during his podium session at SEC Media Days about the potential return of Saban.

"It'd be better for college football if Nick Saban is coaching. Period," said Kelly. "There's nobody better to develop players and certainly build championship programs... It'd be a great day if he was back in it."

Texas Longhorns

Fifth-year coach Steve Sarkisian has rebuilt the Longhorns program into a winner again after a dormant 12-season run from 2010-2021.

Back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances are great for the Texas brand, but Sarkisian is going to need to find a way to get to the mountaintop before fans aren't so patient knowing a legend could be waiting behind him.

Saban has been linked to the Texas job many times through the years but remained true to Alabama through it all. If there's any other program with the funds, talent and tradition at his disposal it happens to be the Longhorns.

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian during their first practice of the spring season on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. | Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While Saban didn't receive a formal offer, don't think for a second he didn't consider the Longhorns job around 2013. SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum mentioned in a podcast with Saturday Down South that it was close.

“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."

Now, that was 12 years ago when this all took place. Things can change and so can other people.

Florida State Seminoles

If there's any team in the country outside the SEC landscape that could potentially hire Saban away it would be Florida State.

The Seminoles brand is recognizable anywhere and have national championship aspirations each season, even if they happen to flop like last season.

The biggest sell is how easy it might be to turnaround a struggling team in a conference that's really not that competitive.

All Saban would have to do is beat out Clemson, Louisville and Miami most years while being just competitive enough to defeat the likes of Boston College, Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest.