Nick Saban never was going to leave Alabama, his quarterback believes.
The rampant rumors connecting Saban to Texas with longtime coach Mack Brown’s job status in doubt over the last few weeks did benefit the successful coach, who agreed to a long-term contract extension with Alabama on Friday that will reportedly pay him $7 million per year.
“I’ll tell you what, the media — not you guys, but the bigger media, ESPN — blew that up,” Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron said Saturday night at a pre-Heisman Trophy press conference at the Marriott in Midtown. “Coach is going to thank them in the end because they probably made him a little bit more money. I guess that’s good for him.”
Saban, who has won three of the past four national championships, told ESPN his agent, Jimmy Sexton, had been discussing a contract discussion with Alabama officials before the regular season came to a close two weeks ago. He received an eight-year deal in March 2012 worth about $5.6 million annually.
“The way this sort of got spun, it was a little bit more like, ‘OK, he got a new contract at Alabama, so he’s going to stay at Alabama instead of going to Texas,’ ” Saban told ESPN. “I never considered going to Texas. That wasn’t even a conversation.
“I knew that if Mack stepped down, there would probably be an opportunity, but it wasn’t something I was interested in doing, not at this stage in my career.”
Brown, ironically, stepped down Saturday night after 16 seasons.
Two of the Heisman finalists — McCarron and Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel — could be making New York City their permanent home with the Jets possibly looking for a quarterback in the draft.
“If I were to come out, the Jets would be a neat team to go to,” said Manziel, who had indicated he is leaning toward going pro. “I love it here, I love New York City. I’ve probably been here five, six times now and had a great experience every time.”