Since Greg McElroy said last week that he had heard Nick Saban could be interested in returning to coaching, the rumor mill has been swirling about the former Alabama head coach’s next move.
On Wednesday’s episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, the longtime host made a bold prediction about where Saban could land — and how it could tie into Texas quarterback Arch Manning leaving for the NFL Draft after this season.
“This is the worst kept secret in the South,” Cowherd said. “Haslam, Jimmy, owner of the Browns — huge SEC, Tennessee booster, leans heavily on the Manning family. Very close to the Manning family.
“[Nick] Saban is incredibly close not only to Jimmy Haslam, but also to the Manning family as well. So, Saban, if he could land, I'm told, a top quarterback — like Harbaugh going to the Chargers for [Justin] Herbert — he would take a phone call from the NFL. ...This is not a conspiracy theory."
Cowherd went on to say there were two teams “guaranteed to be awful” in 2025: the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints.
The Browns connection is notable. Saban was Cleveland’s defensive coordinator from 1991 to 1994 before becoming Michigan State’s head coach. Five years later, he took the LSU job, where he won a national championship, then departed for the NFL to coach the Miami Dolphins.
But the Dolphins stint lasted just two seasons. It’s that unfinished business that might be motivating a comeback, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“I would say, like maybe, there's an itch he wants to scratch and maybe he wants to explore scratching in the NFL,” Breer said this week on The Dan Patrick Show. “I think the possibility exists that maybe he looks at it and says, ‘If there is a situation where I can win quickly, where there's a QB, I don't feel completely satisfied with what happened in Miami 20 years ago.’”
The pairing of Saban and Manning would be seismic. Manning, despite limited playing time so far at Texas, is viewed as one of the top quarterback prospects in the country. He’s now the Longhorns' starter entering the 2025 season, with lofty expectations that include a national championship run and a potential Heisman campaign.