Kalen DeBoer needs this Nick Saban rumor like a drowned man needs a drink.
It was a matter of time before a media member introduced the rumor that Saban, DeBoer’s predecessor at Alabama, wants to return to coaching. Greg McElroy did the honors.
McElroy, one of Saban’s former players, said Monday morning on his radio show that he’d heard from someone “in the know” that Saban will coach again. McElroy later said “a couple of people” told him Saban returning to coaching remains a possibility.
McElroy ultimately denounced the rumor he introduced, saying he didn’t believe it.
Too late.
By then, the rumor had gained the necessary oxygen and made the rounds at SEC media days. Never mind the veracity of this speculation. This becomes catnip for the SEC’s four-day televised talkathon.
SEC football coaches run with Nick Saban rumor
Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin dubbed it “malpractice” for Saban to not be coaching. LSU’s Brian Kelly told On3 that Saban returning to coaching would be “a great day.” (The adage, “Careful what you wish for,” comes to mind.)
Georgia’s Kirby Smart quipped he’d have loved to hire Saban, if only Saban wasn’t so overqualified for an assistant job.
Media types mused whether Saban would resurface at an SEC school or reprise his role as coach of the Miami Dolphins.
What’s more likely is Saban, who will turn 74 this year, will keep teeing it up on the golf course and in his role on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” when he’s not posing for photos.
Multiple blue-chip recruits posted photos with Saban this summer while on recruiting visits. Who could blame them for wanting a quick pic with the GOAT, who retains an advisory job within Alabama athletics and an office on campus? As you can imagine, those photos laid groundwork for rival fans to introduce the theory that Saban remains the engine behind Alabama – and DeBoer’s just the guy who lost to Vanderbilt.
Auburn might need Nick Saban more than Alabama does
None of this is fair to DeBoer. He steered Alabama throughout a smooth offseason that included excellent recruiting, better gains than losses in the transfer market, and the smart hire of offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.
Will anyone want to discuss those developments when DeBoer takes the media days stage Wednesday in Atlanta? Not while the Saban rumor draws breath. Eighteen months after Saban’s retirement, he magnetizes attention like no other college football figure.
But, then, none of this was ever going to be fair to DeBoer, was it? This is why Kiffin once told me replacing Saban would be “the dumbest” move a coach could make.
DeBoer didn’t make the challenge any easier by missing the College Football Playoff and losing four games in his debut season.
“This is a program that expects to be front and center,” DeBoer told me in April, reaffirming that he understands the lofty expectations he failed to meet in Year 1. “That’s what I expect.”
Truth is, Alabama’s aura of invincibility started to wane throughout the years since its undefeated 2020 season.
An average Texas A&M team starting a below-average quarterback toppled Alabama in 2021. A year later, Alabama lost to Tennessee for the first time since 2006. Texas smashed Alabama inside Bryant-Denny Stadium in Saban’s final season.
Saban soured on an evolved college sports landscape within which coaches lost their omnipotence and athletes gained freedom and power, plus bigger-than-ever paychecks.
Still, it’s hard to imagine Saban, in this era or any other, blowing a playoff opportunity by losing to Vanderbilt or to a team as bad as Oklahoma looked throughout most of last season.
Those losses in DeBoer’s debut season helped create a breeding ground for rumors of a Saban comeback, unfounded though they may be.
The best DeBoer can do is ignore this rumor, keep securing commitments from blue-chip prospects, let the recruits take photos with Saban if they like, and play to the standard this season. He must reaffirm his quarterback development chops by making something of Ty Simpson. Instill the discipline and toughness Alabama lacked the past few years, after they once served as pillars of Saban’s dynasty.
Defend Alabama’s home turf against Tennessee and LSU. Smash Auburn and its embattled coach Hugh Freeze in the Iron Bowl. Make the playoff.
Even if DeBoer does all that, he can’t ensure the spotlight won’t find Saban.
After all, if Alabama wins the Iron Bowl, Auburn might find itself in the market for a new coach, and the rumor mill churns indefatigably during coaching searches.
Know anyone who’s proven himself in the SEC, who’s already left one SEC job only to be hired years later by a rival school?
Saban couldn’t possibly meet the bar he set at Alabama. But, reviving a proud SEC program that’s lost its way? That sounds up his alley. If only Saban would drag himself off the golf course.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.