Joel Klatt Reveals Why Nick Saban Never Took Texas Longhorns Job

There aren’t many head coaches in college football that the Texas Longhorns would trade Steve Sarkisian for. However, before Sarkisian was even a candidate for the job, the Longhorns appeared to be on the brink of landing the sport’s consensus best-ever head coach.

Sarkisian’s mentor and now ESPN College Gameday analyst, Nick Saban, was rumored to be interested in taking the Texas job back in 2013. This would have not only potentially reshaped the next decade of Texas and Alabama football, but also rewritten the history of the sport.

During a recent edition of his podcast: “The Joel Klatt Show,” Fox Sports color commentator, Joel Klatt talked through what is now maybe the Longhorns’ biggest what-if.

“There was a moment back in, I believe it was 2013, Nick Saban had won three national championships at Alabama, and he had won one at LSU, so he had four national titles under his belt,” Klatt said. “And guys, I’m telling you, that deal of him taking the Texas head job post Mack Brown was, I mean, all but signed, sealed, and delivered. It was right there.”

Nick Saban and Mack Brown — Jan 7, 2010; Pasadena, CA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban (left) shakes hands with Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown after the 2010 BCS national championship game at the Rose Bowl. Aalbama won 37-21. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The rumors of Saban to Austin first began to swirl in November of 2013, amidst what would be an 11-2 season for the Crimson Tide and 8-5 for Texas, that the legendary head coach was open to leaving Tuscaloosa.

Reports at the time claimed that Jimmy Sexton, Saban’s agent, told representatives at Texas he would consider leaving Alabama for Texas. Even after winning three national championships at Alabama, Saban was willing to jump ship, and according to multiple reports, Texas was ready to pay the hefty price tag.

“They were looking for real estate, actively, in Austin, Texas. Like it was happening,” Klatt said.

According to Paul Finebaum’s book "My Conference Can Beat Your Conference," the Longhorns were ready to give Saban a $100 million contract. A precedent that would’ve inflated the head coaching market eight years before USC’s Lincoln Riley became the first $100 million head coach.

“The problem was that everybody at Texas got so excited, and then the news started to leak, and it became overwhelming to the point where Saban had to go out there and be like, ‘You know what? Nope, I’m not going. I’m staying right here at Alabama.’ Now, Bama fans will probably push back on this, but that is the story. That is absolutely the case. It was that close,” Klatt said.

Thus, leaving this as a what-if and not reality. Instead, Saban stayed in Tuscaloosa for another 10 years, winning three more national championships in the process, before retiring after the 2023 season.

Meanwhile, Saban’s decision not to jump ship started the revolving door at head coach in Austin, as Charlie Strong and Tom Herman both failed to lift Texas out of its funk before Saban’s former assistant Sarkisian took the reins.

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