Monday Morning QB Sound familiar? Saban might go By John Niyo / The Detroit News Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery It's November, and that can mean only one thing: Nick Saban's name has surfaced again in connection with an NFL coaching job. Not that Michigan State fans needed something more to smile about this week, but their former coach, whose NFL flirtations infuriated the Spartans' faithful during his MSU tenure, could be headed for another winter of discontent. This latest rumor actually started before Saban's second season at Louisiana State did. Jerry Angelo was a finalist for the general manager's job with the New York Jets this summer. The two names mentioned for the Jets' coaching job if Angelo was hired: Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and Saban. But Angelo instead became general manager of the Chicago Bears, and he inherited Coach Dick Jauron. Soon after, speculation about a possible successor in Chicago produced the same names -- Kiffin and Saban. Last week, despite the Bears' impressive start -- 6-1 after Sunday's overtime victory against Cleveland -- Angelo refused to give Jauron a public vote of confidence. In fact, Angelo began his media powwow Wednesday with an unsolicited recap of his phone conversation with Saban that morning. It was something about the coach missing the changing seasons and falling leaves in the Midwest. Saban, meanwhile, was busy defending himself against an angry mob in Baton Rouge this past week. He was booed off the field by LSU fans in a 35-24 loss to Mississippi on Oct. 27. Tom Izzo even phoned in to his weekly call-in show to offer support and wish his friend a happy 50th birthday. Saban, who did get a big victory at Alabama on Saturday, is in the second year of a five-year contract that pays him $1.2 million annually. Whether he'll finish that contract remains to be seen.
He told the NFL NO before he came here, I don't see any reason he wouldn't do it again. Especially if he keeps winning here. Saban likes LSU and LSU likes Saban, I don't see anything happening anytime soon to change that. Remember, Saban has coached in the NFL so he knows what he is missing and there is probably a very good reason he got out of the NFL. We are lucky to have him and I think he will be here for a long time to come.
I hope it doesn't happen, of course, but I also realize that anything is possible. If we lose Saban to the Bears, we should thank him and wish him well. At least that's a better way to lose a coach than we've been going through. It's nice to have a coach that someone else wants, for a change.
