When former Alabama head coach Nick Saban was linked to the Texas Longhorns job in 2013, the college football world held its breath. ESPN analyst Joel Klatt, who has tracked the saga for years, recounted how close the deal came and why it ultimately slipped away.
By the fall of 2013, Saban had already cemented his legacy with four national championships — three at Alabama and one at LSU — making him one of the most coveted coaches in the sport. Rumors swirled that Texas, fresh off Mack Brown’s exit, was prepared to present a $100 million contract that would have dwarfed any previous coaching salary.
The negotiations intensified in November, when Alabama was riding an 11‑2 season and Texas hovered at 8‑5. Jimmy Sexton, Saban’s agent, reportedly told Texas officials that the coach was open to listening, a signal that set off a chain of speculation across the SEC and Big 12.
The leak of the potential agreement turned the conversation into a media circus, and Saban, known for his meticulous approach, found the scrutiny overwhelming. He chose to remain in Tuscaloosa, where he would go on to add three more titles before retiring in 2023, while the Longhorns entered a revolving door of coaches, from Charlie Strong to Tom Herman.
Eventually, Steve Sarkisian, a former assistant of Saban’s, was hired to lead Texas, inheriting a program still feeling the aftershocks of the near‑miss. The episode illustrates how a single near‑appointment can reverberate across conferences, shaping recruiting, broadcasting narratives, and the financial calculus of college athletics.
A Near‑Miss That Reshaped Two Programs
The fallout extended beyond the field. Recruiting pipelines that once pointed toward Alabama now faced competition from a Texas program eager to prove its ambition, while SEC fans debated the what‑if scenario that could have altered the balance of power in college football for a decade.