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Bengals deemed a potential landing spot for Alabama Crimson Tide football coaching legend Nick Saban

Bengals deemed a potential landing spot for Alabama Crimson Tide football coaching legend Nick Saban

Yahoo24-07-2025
The Cincinnati Bengals are approaching an uncomfortable crossroads as a franchise.
Owner Mike Brown's reluctance to timely pay stars and improve the infrastructure around the team has not aligned with a squad led by an elite quarterback who is desperately trying to return to the Super Bowl.
Beyond roster construction, particularly on defense, coach Zac Taylor has been a source of frustration for underachieving campaigns and some questionable late-game execution.
If the Bengals have another substandard season, one national media talking head thinks the Bengals should part ways with Taylor and target a college football icon.
In a recent episode of "The Herd," Nick Wright suggested Nick Saban should come out of retirement to take the headset in Cincinnati.
"I think Nick Saban could be an interesting idea for Cincinnati," Wright said. "He has to coach up the defense and have someone to have as big a voice as Mike Brown. Let Joe and Ja'Marr handle the offense. If I'm Nick Saban and want to do this, I'm interested in having a contender immediately."
Wright alluded to the fact that Saban still clearly has an elite football mind and has a sharp attention to detail, likely referring to his stellar work on ESPN's "College Gameday."
Saban was just 15-17 as a head coach in the NFL during his brief stint with the Miami Dolphins two decades ago and could have a desire to prove he can succeed at the next level.
At 73, the question is whether he wants the stress of running a professional organization when he could just continue his career as a beloved television analyst.
If Saban wants a job, he's getting it.
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Back to Seattle: Carroll and Smith return in Raiders-Seahawks preseason game
Back to Seattle: Carroll and Smith return in Raiders-Seahawks preseason game

Associated Press

timea minute ago

  • Associated Press

Back to Seattle: Carroll and Smith return in Raiders-Seahawks preseason game

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NFL has banned smelling salts, ‘distraught' George Kittle reveals on live TV
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NFL has banned smelling salts, ‘distraught' George Kittle reveals on live TV

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Merab Dvalishvili a lock for 2025 Fighter of the Year? UFC analyst explains why he isn't
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Yahoo

time29 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Merab Dvalishvili a lock for 2025 Fighter of the Year? UFC analyst explains why he isn't

Outside of UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, Chael Sonnen still sees several fighters in the running to be Fighter of the Year. Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) is currently one of the frontrunners for 2025 Fighter of the Year after title defenses over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January and a finish of Sean O'Malley at UFC 316 in June. Dvalishvili won the "Best UFC Fighter" at the most recent ESPYs last month, but Sonnen isn't ready to give him the Fighter of the Year award just yet. "Fighter of the Year is going to be very tough," Sonnen told MMA Junkie. "It's very tough. Merab has done a very good job, but to get in front of Ilia (Topuria)? There's a buzz around Ilia that's almost unlike anything I ever felt. (Khamzat) Chimaev is going to be of interest. Should Alex Pereira come back and get it over (Magomed) Ankalaev. No, Merab doesn't have it locked up. A lot of that list comes down to popularity, which Merab has now. "That dude is a star. I was at International Fight Week. The mobs and the crowd, they mobbed everyone through there. Dana (White) himself got more, but for active fighters, the crowd and the interest, Merab could not move around. He is over. He is very popular, and people are going to vote for him. But no, activity alone, no, it will not get you Fighter of the Year." Dvalishvili, who is currently scheduled to defend his belt against Cory Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the UFC 320 co-main event on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas, has plans of squeezing one more title defense before the end of the year. "That's very impressive (if he can get a fourth title defense in 2025)," Sonnen said. "Those stats do matter. Any time you're setting history, it moves you to the front of the list. Merab is a wonderful person. That's a nice man behind all this. One thing that takes fighters off their perch quickly is when they start believing what's being said about them. They go to practice a little less. You don't meet better people as you become bigger and better in life. You meet a higher quality scumbag. ... It doesn't seem like Merab is falling for any of that. He's in Las Vegas, which is a very difficult place to not meet a lot of scumbags. He seems very focused. He seems to know who he is. He seems to be still be hungry. I think he deserves credit for that. I think one thing that would help Merab is if people got to know him more. "He really is a kind gentleman. You can't say that about a lot of fighters. Most of them are scumbags, too. He's in a different category. I only bring that up because of his popularity and where it could go. If people simply get to know him, if he finds a way to get his message out, he comes across what he is, which is very nice, but he's so nice that people think it's an act. But it's not. So if he does a little bit more time, I would love to see Merab coach 'The Ultimate Fighter.' ... I think that kind of exposure where people got him in the living room every day, I think Merab has the potential to be the top draw in the sport. That's a big claim for a 135 pounder. But O'Malley had it. It can definitely be done." To hear more from Sonnen, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC analyst: Merab Dvalishvili not a lock for 2025 Fighter of the Year

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