Bruce Feldman weighs Steve Sarkisian as candidate for Alabama after Nick Saban's retirement

Nick Saban is out at Alabama, stunning the entire college football world. Everyone’s first thought immediately goes to who is taking over, with one of the best jobs in the country available. You would have to imagine athletic director Greg Byrne will be able to choose whoever he pleases but the process could be more difficult than that.

One of the candidates will certainly be Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. A former assistant of the program, there are not too many people in the coaching world that Saban respects more than Sarkisian. When appearing on The Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic weighed Sarkisian as a candidate.

“I know he’s well regarded in Tuscaloosa,” Feldman said. “He’s got a big job. He’s built that place back up. He’s going into the same league that Alabama is in. It’s dealing with the shadow of Nick Saban. I think that’s just such a big thing.

“Yes, Texas is a terrific job and you can win national titles at both places. He wasn’t that far off from making a title run this year. And he has a team in the pipeline right now that should be a legit top-five talented team. I would be curious to see what he would think.”

Sarkisian joined the Alabama program at a low point in his life, recently being fired by USC. He joined as an offensive analyst before leaving in favor of the NFL. As mentioned, there has been nothing but respect between Sarkisian and Saban in their relationship.

“I just continue to thank Coach Saban, because I got into an environment where I was changing my personal life but at the same time I was changing my professional life,” Sarkisian said before this season’s Alabama-Texas matchup. “And the way he goes about his business is second to none.

“The discipline, the accountability in that program starts with him, because that’s the way he lives his life. There’s nothing for show with him. What he asks of the people in that organization is exactly what he asks of himself.”

When the Crimson Tide needed to hire a new offensive coordinator, Sarkisian was his call for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Alabama was dominant with Sarkisian calling plays, with Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones running the show. One of the seven national championships Saban won came in 2020 before Sarkisian left for Texas.

While things got off to a slow start in Austin, Sarkisian has Texas heading in the right direction. For the first time ever, they participated in the College Football Playoff and were one throw away from playing in the national championship game.

Three straight recruiting classes have landed in the top five as Austin officially becomes SEC territory. Everyone seemingly thinks Sarkisian is building something great at Texas but if there is one college job that could take him away, maybe it’s Alabama.