The Alabama Crimson Tide are coming off the first year of the Kalen DeBoer era, and it wasn’t the kind of season anyone in Tuscaloosa had hoped for. The team suffered a shocking road loss to Vanderbilt while ranked No. 1 in the country, dropped a heartbreaker in Knoxville, and was thoroughly embarrassed at Oklahoma.
Now, rumors are swirling that a familiar face could return to coaching — and those whispers are coming from a former Alabama quarterback.
“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,” Greg McElroy said. “He’s pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again.”
Saban has been linked to several potential openings in both the college and professional ranks. Urban Meyer, however, believes Saban is more likely to entertain opportunities in the NFL than return to the NCAA.
“I would say very little to no chance he would get involved in college, but I think he would take phone calls from the NFL,” Meyer said.
Still, Sportsnaut’s Jason Burgos believes that if Alabama were to call, Saban might seriously consider a return — especially if DeBoer fails to show significant progress in his second year.
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“Let’s be real. If Kalen DeBoer doesn’t show progress in his second season as the coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, the school’s decision-makers would jump at the chance to replace him with the man he replaced. Saban created an absurd standard for the program by winning six national championships in Tuscaloosa. The only person who could realistically maintain it would be the individual who set it,” Burgos wrote.
A return to Tuscaloosa for Saban, where he built a dynasty with six national titles, would certainly make headlines. But if DeBoer proves he belongs, a comeback likely won’t be in the cards. Then again, in today’s era of college football — never say never.
