Potential names for the next head coach of LSU football are flying fast and furious, but there’s one who stands out as perhaps the ultimate pipe dream.
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, the sport’s all-time leader in national championships with seven, has been floated as a possible — if unlikely — option to replace fired coach Brian Kelly.
Before Saban became the head coach of the Crimson Tide, he led LSU from 2000 to 2004 and elevated it to the level it’s at today. His team won the 2003 national championship, the program’s first since 1958.
In an interview with On3, Saban was asked his take on the LSU job and if it’s the best head coach opening available this offseason.
“What used to make a job great was facilities, fan support, good academic support, recruiting base and being able to create value for the players,” Saban said. “Now that has been minimized to, how much money do you have to spend on building a roster? That’s by far the most important thing.”
LSU’s roster this season cost $18 million to assemble, Kelly said in August. The team brought in what was widely considered the top transfer portal class in the nation.
Saban was also asked about Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, currently the most talked-about candidate for both the LSU and Florida openings.
“I think you can have a long debate on whether either one of those jobs is actually better than the job he has now, because he has some guys over there at Ole Miss that give him pretty much whatever he wants from a roster standpoint,” Saban said. “He may not necessarily have the same thing at Florida or LSU.”
Kiffin was Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2014 to 2016.
As for Saban himself returning to coaching, he shut that down last week on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“I want to stay retired,” Saban said. “And I do not want (Saban’s agent Jimmy Sexton) anywhere near (Saban’s wife) Miss Terry, because when she hears some of these numbers, she gets interested. And I ain’t interested.”
Despite that, the talk hasn’t quieted.
SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum said Tuesday on his show that he thought Saban would consider returning to LSU if asked.
