Could Nick Saban return to the sideline as a coach? Apparently, it’s not out of the question.
To begin 2025 SEC Football Media Days on Monday, two people who have worked alongside Saban floated the idea. Early in the day, ESPN analyst and host of ‘Always College Football‘, Greg McElroy, who was a former quarterback with Alabama under the legendary coach, got the ball rolling.
“This is a little bit out of left field, but the question was asked of me… a very much in-the-know person that I have a lot of respect for and have spent a lot of time around and just really, really admire,” McElroy said. “They seem to think Nick Saban’s not done coaching. I had a similar reaction. He’s pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again.”
While McElroy went on later to say he doesn’t think Saban, who is now 73 years old, will coach again, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin added to the fire. He was asked if he would hire Saban to his staff with the Rebels, and took the chance to continue the conversation.
“He’s not going to need me to hire him,” Kiffin said in a report from Sam Hutchens of the Clarion Ledger. “I don’t think he’s done. I think he’ll be back. Whether that’s college or NFL I think he’ll be back.”
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Saban last coached during the 2023 season. He was atop the Alabama program from 2007-23, where he won six national titles. He lost just one game to Tennessee in that span, in 2022, but was just 1-2 against Josh Heupel. Both losses were reasonably contested by the Vols, including a halftime lead on the road in the final season.
McElroy was the quarterback for the Tide under Saban from 2007-10. He was a national champion in that final season.
Kiffin gets his insight as a former assistant coach under Saban. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Tuscaloosa from 2014-16 after a one-year stint with the Vols and four years with USC as a head coach.
Saban, now a member of ESPN as an analyst, is not a part of this year’s SEC Media Days coverage. To this point, he has yet to make a comment on the validity of the rumors of him returning to coaching.
In his replacement at Alabama, Kalen DeBoer heads into his second season as head coach. He lost his first game to Tennessee in the historic rivalry, 24-17, in Knoxville.
