Paul Finebaum discusses Nick Saban's salary, why he rejected Texas

With unprecedented coaching turnover and record contracts, the college football coaching landscape is changing rapidly. Any time a new record deal is signed, people point to Nick Saban, wondering how much his leadership is really worth.

During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum broke down Nick Saban’s value and the idea of a potential raise.

“He should,” said Paul Finebaum. “And I wonder if Saban is calling his agent Jimmy Sexton going, ‘does somebody want me? I’m available for $150 million.’ And by the way, Nick Saban is worth $100 million per year, forget for 10 years. What he’s done for college football, for his school, for his league – you put Nick Saban up as a CEO on Wall Street or a California tech company, he’s making, with stock options, he’s making $100 million per year easy.”

Paul @Finebaum explains why he thinks Nick Saban is worth $100 million a year. #SEC #RollTide

For Paul's full appearance: https://t.co/HOSbOtVUoW pic.twitter.com/MdNKWs9ae7

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) December 2, 2021

According to ESPN college football insider Alex Scarborough’s August report about Nick Saban’s latest contract extension, he could be in line for a raise thanks to everyone else’s pay day. A clause which states Saban must make the average of the SEC’s top three contracts or college football’s top five could provide a boost.

Paul Finebaum on 2013 Nick Saban to Texas rumors

While discussing potential Nick Saban movement, the one instance which always comes to light is Texas. In 2013, when long-time head coach Mack Brown – now at North Carolina – temporarily retired, the program took a run at Alabama’s coach. While it eventually went nowhere, Finebaum holds firm believes about that situation almost a decade later.

“I think he was close,” Finebaum said. “They offered him – based on the people with whom I’ve spoken – about $100 million back then. That was in 2012 or 2013. He told me once that he did not want to deal with the Texas boosters, meaning that there’s too many people. When he went to Alabama, he laid the law down. ‘I’m running this program, don’t bother me.’ And that was always the problem at Alabama, it’s been the problem at a lot of schools. He has total control.”

At the conclusion of the conversation, Finebaum and Patrick also made one final observation about Saban.

“But he just turned 70, I don’t think he’s ready to walk away but he does seem a little restless this year,” Finebaum said. Patrick agreed, calling those Saban gets frustrated with “minions,” while laughing about the perceived frustration.