The Dallas Cowboys may soon be in the market for a new head coach, and one name that would turn heads in the football world is former Alabama Crimson Tide legend Nick Saban. The Cowboys still have head coach Mike McCarthy under contract.
Yet, the team’s blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC wild-card round on January 14 calls into question McCarthy’s future. Could Saban want another chance to improve the one blemish — the lack of NFL success — on his otherwise impeccable resume?
ESPN’s Kevin Clark has former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll as Dallas’ best replacement option, an idea worthy of its own discussion. Clark also listed Saban as a close second for Dallas. Given that Saban just retired on January 10, it feels like a long shot that owner Jerry Jones would be able to lure the coach to Big D.
“The second person I would call is Nick Saban, one of the greatest coaches in the history of football,” Clark said on the January 15, 2024, episode of “This Is Football.” “[A] bad rap in Miami. …Some people say, ‘He couldn’t relate to millionaire athletes.’ That is not what happened, he said, referring to Saban’s two-year stint (2005 and 2006) as coach of the Dolphins.
“He left [for] the college game because he felt he couldn’t control his own destiny once the [Dolphins] doctors said he couldn’t sign Drew Brees. So, he said, if you do everything right in the NFL, you may not win, which is 100% true,” Clark said.
“Whereas in college, he knew if you do everything right, you get the five stars. You get the national championships. You cook. Draft, free agency, all that stuff makes it a little bit muddied [in the NFL].”
Nick Saban Signed a $93 Million Contract Extension as Alabama Football Coach in 2022
Nick Saban at Alabama:
• 17 seasons
• 206 career wins
• $120 million in pay
• 124 NFL Draft picks
• 11 SEC Championships
• 2x AP Coach of the Year
• 5x SEC Coach of the Year
• Six National Championships
It is hard to argue with Saban’s resume, which includes seven national titles and 11 SEC championships. Not to mention the countless Alabama players under Saban who have gone on to have standout NFL careers.
The cost of luring Saban out of retirement would be pricey for Jones. Saban signed a $93.6 million contract extension with Bama in 2022, per CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee. This means the starting point for any NFL discussion would need to be a lucrative contract from the Cowboys.
Cowboys Rumors: Could Jerry Jones Lure Nick Saban Back to the NFL to Take Care of Unfinished Business?
It is not as if Saban was a complete disaster in the NFL. He went 15-17 in his two seasons with no playoff appearances as Dolphins head coach. Could Jones lure Saban back to the NFL to take care of unfinished business?
Weeks before announcing his retirement, Saban admitted that the quality of life for NFL coaches is greater than it is in college. Being a college football head coach became much more complicated with the introduction of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness compensation for players.
“Sometimes on occasion, especially guys that have been on our staff before, they ask a lot about what it’s like coaching in the NFL,” Saban noted during a January 4 interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.” “And I think it’s great to coach in the NFL. I think there was a time when coaching in college, the lifestyle was probably a little better. I think right now based on the circumstances that we’ve created in college football, lifestyle is a little bit better in the NFL.
“Some guys love recruiting. They like relationships. They like trying to help guys develop when they’re young people, which I’ve always kind of enjoyed that part of it in college football,” Saban added.
“But I also really enjoy the competitive edge that the NFL has. You got the best teams, the best players competing against each other and 70% of the games are decided by a touchdown or less. So, it’s really, really great coaching those kind of competitors and those kind of players. So, there’s good and bad in both.”
All of this is dependent on the Cowboys moving on from McCarthy. With so many NFL teams already well into their coaching search, Dallas would be wise to make a decision sooner rather than later.
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Cowboys Urged to Make Wild Move for Former $93 Million Coach