Saturday will be the first time Nick Saban will coach on the sidelines of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which is a relief to Alabama fans.
Rumors swirled back in 2013, that Texas was the only school in play if Saban ever wanted to leave the Crimson Tide, and with Mack Brown stepping away from the program the speculation intensified around that time.
Saban clearly remained at Alabama where he’s now won six national championships, but there was still worry amongst fans that he may have once had feelings of leaving.
But during an appearance on his weekly radio show on Thursday, Saban clarified that he was never interested in the Texas position.
“There was really nothing to be concerned about,” Saban said. “You can blame your colleagues on that because they created that.”
Saban also discussed the damage the rumors did to his relationship with Brown.
“I mean, I never talked to these people, and you damage relationships like that,” Saban said. “Mack Brown was a good friend of mine and somebody that I have a tremendous amount of respect for. And he’s the coach there and all everybody is talking about is me going to take his place.
“I don’t think that’s fair to me, especially when I never even talked to them and wasn’t interested in the place. But I guess you all need to find something to talk about.”
Alabama kicks off against Texas at 11 a.m. CT this Saturday in the first meeting between the two since the 2009 national championship game. And Crimson Tide fans are glad to have Saban still patrolling their sidelines.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
