FROM CRIMSON TO BLUE FOR SABAN?
Arians wouldn’t be shocked if Saban left for Giants, but source tells News idea is ‘ludicrous’
GETTY IF THE Giants can’t lure Bill Belichick to the Meadowlands, perhaps they could go for Nick Saban instead.
Recently retired Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians told Colin Cowherd on FS1 that Saban “covets” the Giants job, but a source told the Daily News that any Giants interest in Saban is “ludicrous.”
The Alabama head coach won his sixth championship (fifth with Alabama) on Monday night and Arians opened the floodgates with comments Tuesday that he would not be shocked if Saban left for the Giants.
“There’s a job he covets. It just happens to be open,” Arians said. “But he’s got a dynasty right now. Another dynamite recruiting class. Why he would do it? I don’t know. But it would not shock me if he did.”
Saban has earned the reputation as one of the legendary coaches in college football history, but Arians added there is a certain nostalgia attached to coaching the Giants.
“Because they’re the New York Giants,” he said. “And when we grew up, they were the thing.”
Saban has shown interest in becoming the Giants coach in the past.
Two years ago, when Tom Coughlin stepped down and the Giants hired Ben McAdoo, Saban and the Giants reportedly contacted each other for a day before cutting off negotiations because Saban’s wife reportedly wanted to stay in Alabama.
He was also nearly hired as the Giants head coach in 1997 and was discussed as a candidate in 2004.
Whether or not Saban still has interest in the Giants, the logistics of making a potential deal happen would be complicated.
The Giants would reportedly need to pay $26.9 million to buy out Saban from his contract with Alabama before they even begin their own contract negotiations. Saban also recently signed an extension that will reportedly pay him $65 million over the next eight years and possibly another $5.6 million in incentives.
During those brief negotiations two years ago, Saban reportedly wanted $10 million per season, which would match Raiders coach Jon Gruden as the highest annually paid head coach in the NFL.
In other words, Saban comes with a hefty price tag and the Giants would have to pay that for a guy who has not had the same kind of success in the NFL has he has in college.
In two seasons as head coach of the Dolphins, Saban went 9-7 and 6-10 before ditching the franchise for Alabama after insisting he would not do that.