Nick Saban-to-Texas rumors abound, but Texas still has a head coach, and Longhorns booster Red McCombs believes that Mack Brown should have the opportunity to decide whether or not he returns next year. According to several media reports, Brown is expected to resign.
His support for Brown aside, McCombs isn't shy in his appreciation of Saban, or his belief that Texas could land him.
McCombs on if Texas can get Saban: "I don't think there's any question. All the money that's not in the Vatican is up at UT."
— Max Olson (@max_olson) December 12, 2013
McCombs is the embodiment of that statement -- the former owner of the Vikings, Spurs and Nuggets has a net worth of more than a billion dollars. Texas' business school is named in his honor after he donated $50 million to UT in 2000. He is the sort of backer who could essentially allow Saban to name his price and make it happen, which is why there's some reason for worry in Tuscaloosa despite the fact that Saban is the highest-paid coach in college football.
Saban is due for another raise that will push his annual salary into the $7 million range, but that hasn't done anything to hush whispers of a potential move to Texas. He has that raise waiting for him, and both he and his wife have denied interest in leaving Alabama, but still there are substantial rumors suggesting that a move to Austin is very much plausible.
An OB source has confirmed that Nick Saban has initiated the vetting process of trying to see what a staff at Texas might look like.
— Geoff Ketchum (@gkketch) December 12, 2013
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