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Kirk Herbstreit pumps brakes on Nick Saban coaching rumors after links to LSU, other jobs

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs23 hours agogrant_grubbs_
Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch
Kirk Herbstreit and Nick Saban sit on the ESPN College Gameday set prior to the NCAA football game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.

With nine head coach openings at the Power Four level, there’s been plenty of rumors about Nick Saban returning to the sideline. On Monday, Saban’s ESPN College GameDay co-host Kirk Herbstreit shot down the idea of the college football legend coaching again.

“You couldn’t pull Nick Saban off the GameDay desk. ‘Coach, maybe this job!’ No. ‘What about this job?’ No,” Herbstreit said on his podcast, Nonstop. “Guys, you got to stop bringing up Nick Saban for all these. He’s not going anywhere. My man is enjoying his life.

“He told me, ‘For 50 years, I’ve been in a hurry. I’ve been late to something for 50 years.’ Now, he’s got Mercedes-Benz dealerships and Ferrari dealerships. … He’s the happiest he’s probably been in a long, long time; he and Miss Terry.”

Saban has particularly been linked to the opening at LSU. Saban was LSU’s head coach from 2000-04, and won the national championship in 2003.

In a recent interview with US Weekly, LSU legend Shaquille O’Neal revealed he’s heard LSU has held conversations with Saban about its head coach opening. Saban retired in January 2023 after Alabama was eliminated from the College Football Playoff.

He won seven national titles as a head coach, six at Alabama and one at LSU. Saban joined the ESPN College GameDay crew in retirement and has become a fan favorite on the weekly pregame show.

He’s had no shortage of success on television, either. After his first year on the weekly pregame show, Saban won an Emmy for “Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent.” During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show in October, Saban seemingly dismissed the idea of returning to coaching.

“You know, I want to stay retired,” Saban said. “I do not want (Jimmy Sexton) anywhere near Miss Terry. Because when she hears some of these numbers, she gets interested. And I’m not interested… I have so much fun working with you (directed at McAfee). Why would I go do that?”

Nick Saban’s jokes about his wife, Miss Terry, may not be entirely accurate. She also told McAfee she doesn’t want her husband to coach again.

“I have no doubt if Nick wanted to go back to coaching, he could win his eighth national championship,” Miss Terry said. “But we’re having too much fun, and we wouldn’t want to take that opportunity away from all of our baby coaches, like Kirby (Smart) and Lane (Kiffin).”