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Nick Saban Receives Job 'Offer' Amid Coaching Return Speculation
Nick Saban Receives Job 'Offer' Amid Coaching Return Speculation originally appeared on The Spun.
Even though he's in his mid-70s and been out of coaching for a year now, Nick Saban is still getting "job offers" to come back into college football. The latest one comes from a former star pupil.
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In a recent interview, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart - who previously worked under Saban for years - said that he called Saban and offered to give him assistant Will Muschamp's job of defensive analyst. He said that Saban was "overqualified" and "wasn't interested."
Granted, Smart was joking. But Smart still feels that the game is better with Saban coaching it.
"Yeah, I called and offered him (Will) Muschamp's job, but he was overqualified, so he wasn't interested," Smart joked. "No, I heard all the scuttlebutt and everything about it. I almost laughed. It was like somebody needed something interesting to talk about yesterday, so they chose to go to Coach Saban to do it.
"The game is better with him involved, and he is involved. He is passionate about it. He and I still talk and share ideas from time to time about defensive philosophies and the way to do things, and he's still watching tape and very, very involved in football. He loves it. His brilliance, as brilliant as he is in many ways, is around football. It's around scheming. It's around another way to do something to stay ahead of the offensive minds, and I think that's one of the elite talents he has, and he still loves that. He's still passionate about that."
Saban retired from coaching at the University of Alabama following the 2023 season.
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The Crimson Tide hired Kalen DeBoer after an exemplary spell at Washington, but the team struggled to retain recruits and struggled even harder to replicate Saban's success in their first year without him.
Alabama went 9-3 in the regular season and lost the ReliaQuest Bowl to finish 9-4 on the year. It was their first season since Saban's first year at the helm where Alabama suffered four losses in a year.
TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - SEPTEMBER 28: Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban looks on before the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 28, 2024 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Alabama could certainly use Saban a lot more than Smart can right about now.
Related: Kirby Smart Expresses Respect and Jokes About Retirement with Nick Saban
Nick Saban Receives Job 'Offer' Amid Coaching Return Speculation first appeared on The Spun on Jul 15, 2025
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This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
