Report: Nick Saban Nearly Took New York Giants Coaching Job In January

According to one report in the New Jersey Record, Nick Saban could have found himself working in the NFL rather than in the NCAA.

Report: Nick Saban Nearly Took New York Giants Coaching Job In January

The Alabama head coach, who turned 65 on Monday, reportedly came close to taking the head coaching job vacated by the New York Giants’ Tom Coughlin in January.

The whole thing began when comedian Tom Arnold told Paul Finebaum that Saban contacted the owners of the Giants in January and expressed interest in the position. Although the move didn’t ultimately pan out (Ben McAdoo now coaches the Giants), boxing promoter Bob Arum confirmed some of the details involving Saban’s interest with the Record over the weekend.

“I get a call from Nick Khan, who’s an agent at CAA, and is a good friend of mine. He says, ‘Bob, I know you’re a good friend of (Giants co-owner) Steve Tisch. I have a colleague here at CAA,’ and I forget the guy’s name, ‘who represents Nick Saban. And Saban would be very interested in the Giants job,’” Arum told the paper. “I guess [Tisch] talked to (fellow co-owner John Mara)… because he called me back and he said, ‘Yes, we would be very interested. But we’re on a deadline. We’re about to hire somebody else.’

“They came back and said, ‘Nick is delighted. Now he’s talking to his wife.’ They went so far as to contact real estate agents in New Jersey, for homes in New Jersey. Then Nick [Khan] called back the next day and said, ‘Call Steve. Tell him Nick can’t do it. His wife loves Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She doesn’t want to move, so Nick can’t take the job.’”

Rumors that Saban has been seeking to return to the NFL have circulated nearly every season he’s been in Tuscaloosa, and it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that he’s looking for a greater challenge after winning his fifth national title.

The lofty Giants coaching gig would certainly be a good fit given how he operates. Even the timing makes some sense, as the Crimson Tide last defeated Clemson on January 11th, three days before New York named McAdoo as their new head coach.

Saban may not have ultimately gotten the job, but he nonetheless has a long list of accomplishments to brag about. This season alone, Alabama is the top-ranked college football program in the nation, and the Crimson Tide is undefeated (8-0).

They last defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 33-14 on Oct. 22, and will next visit the 15th-ranked LSU Tigers (5-2) on Saturday.

Alabama coach Nick Saban during the All State Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana.