ICYMI: Saban Speculation Over: Staying at Alabama

If any of you live outside of Alabama, we want to explain to you where…and why the people of Alabama rate football higher than any other thing that happens anywhere else in the world.

The lead story on the late local news last night?

Not the school shooting in Colorado, no, the lead…and breaking news cut-ins were all about one thing: Nick Saban signs a contract extension.

Despite rampant speculation the University of Alabama head coach would take the money from Texas and run, he didn't. And the more the stories began surfacing that he would, the less we really believed them.

Late last night, Saban's people and the University's people agreed to an extension of his current contract, which now runs through the year 2020 at over $7 million a year.

Yes, he's getting paid $7 million-plus to coach a college football team.

In case you don't follow college football, the rampant speculation and belief by many was the University of Texas would ask coach Mack Brown to step aside. That still may happen, but as of the day we write this, Brown is still the coach.

If Brown had stepped aside, the conspiracy theorists all believed Texas, though not the best, but certainly the richest program in the country would send a Brink's truck to the Saban residence and he'd leave.

And maybe 5 or 10 years ago, it might have happened.

But Saban, for all the bridges he burned behind him, is now 62 years old. The end of his career journey is a lot closer than the beginning. And it became obvious, that for all his ladder climbing ways, he didn't want to go somewhere and start all over.

We may never know how close he came to leaving Alabama and heading to Austin, Texas or if it was even an option. Our suspicion, as most people believe, is that his people were contacted to gauge interest. And heck, he may have thought about it for a minute or two.

But no Alabama fan, you have nothing to fear. Your savior is not leaving. Not now, not next year, not until he's good and ready.

God knows how much money he'll be getting at the time that happens. Schools…and the University systems in many states may be one step away from being broke, But the almighty college football coach, he gets to sit in his palatial office waiting for the peasants to bring him offerings, all while he gets to lean back and count his money.

Enjoy the ride Tide fans….just remember eventually it will come to an end.