Saban negotiating with Bammer for $7MM/yr

[Coach34]

What a fool I was for listening to my ex-wife and not going off to accept that GA position back in 1997.

Gil Brandt say "Just told by source Nick Saban in contract negotiations w #Alabama for extension in $7M/year range."


7 million/year....wow

SEC money right now is insane- and that 7 million would pay our entire football staff

[Dawg61]

He's probably brought that school $7 billion dollars.

[ShotgunDawg]

Dean Blevins ‏@DeanBlevins 1h
Texas source tells me:
"Saban sitting on 10-yr deal worth $100M & 1% of #LonghornNetwork."
Smart way 2 get cooperation w non-stop TV cams

[Dawg61]

Who wants to figure out how much 1% of LN is worth? If that's a 1% share for life I'd have to take that deal if I'm Saban. Please let this happen. I'm so sick of Bama in football.

[ShotgunDawg]

Who wants to figure out how much 1% of LN is worth?

Texas gets 11,000,000 from the Longhorn Network per year, and that amount increases by 3% each year.

The Longhorn Network is obviously worth far more than this, but I can't imagine that Texas can use anything more than the 11,000,000 to negotiate a coach's contract with.

So in the first year, Saban's share would be a mere $110,000 that should escalate at 3% per year.

Now, this may not seem like much money, but the key to this is that Saban WILL OWN a 1% stake in this. Meaning that it lasts forever and the amount that Saban or his family receives should grown with the network.

What if in 20 years, the Longhorn Network makes 100 MIL a year? Saban will still own the 1% stake.

Really, it's a great long term investment for Saban that he has no risk in.

[bulldogcountry1]

7 million/year....wow

SEC money right now is insane- and that 7 million would pay our entire football staff

Well. If you look at what Saban has done for $5.3 mil these past few years, and you look at what Mullen has done with $2.6, you would have to admit that Saban is either underpaid or Mullen is overpaid.

[smootness]

Well. If you look at what Saban has done for $5.3 mil these past few years, and you look at what Mullen has done with $2.6, you would have to admit that Saban is either underpaid or Mullen is overpaid.

Yep. You could pay Saban $15 million/year and he would be underpaid for what he means to an athletic department.

[slickdawg]

Got this in email:


In talking to various sources plugged into the Alabama and Texas sides, it seems Nick Saban is roughly $20 million in the hole due to investments with LSU and Alabama alums. These investments are predominantly in the commercial real estate space. For his trouble, Nick Saban is not a happy camper with these two alumni bases and has a hole in his retirement plan that Mark Ingram could run through. Additionally, I'm told Texas and the Longhorn Foundation have "passed the hat" to provide a dollar amount up front that nearly makes Nick Saban whole after these defunct investments. Call it the Lamarr Houston/Roy Miller investment strategy. The mechanism used to fund this "bonus" will be off the books in order to make the total compensation package more politically palatable when it's officially announced. Texas does not want to be perceived as the Yankees and again, I don't want to help negotiations with enemy.


As far as conventional compensation, look for the number to be right around eight million a year for six years with a two-year option. This structure makes it more acceptable to the BOR and the academics in the school. Don't tell them how much the athletic department contributes to the general fund because they won't listen. Just know that the football men understand how the perception game is played.

Trust me, I understand that there's always a counter offer in these deals, but I'm told that the Bama president does not want to get in a bidding war against Texas because she doesn't want it to seem like Bama is a semi-pro team. Again, this is the academic's mindset at work. She's, after all, Bill Powers' peer or at least is attempting to be. Add this item to the fact that Bama's Athletic Director Bill Battle has gotten sideways with Saban, and it doesn't bode well for the Tide. One final piece is Chancellor Witt.

Dr. Witt is the only ally that Saban has at the administrative level at Bama and he happens to be a Texas guy. Yes, Dr. Witt has a soft spot in his heart for Texas, and has told folks close to the Texas AD that he thinks Saban is headed to Austin.

If Saban is announced as the Texas head football coach in the next few days, fans will be in line to enjoy an historic change in culture and football operations in general.

Like you, I will enjoy the process.

In other words, I will look forward to Nick Saban's process.

[Coach34]

Well. If you look at what Saban has done for $5.3 mil these past few years, and you look at what Mullen has done with $2.6, you would have to admit that Saban is either underpaid or Mullen is overpaid.

Well, Mullen is now the 13th highest paid coach in the SEC- so by that measure- Mullen is underpaid.

[The Croom Diaries]

Well, Mullen is now the 13th highest paid coach in the SEC- so by that measure- Mullen is underpaid.

You can look at it like we need to pay him commiserate to the success he's had compared to his counterparts, or base it on what the market demands. I'd do the latter because we need to pump much more money into the assistants right now. Who has a better chance of leaving for more money, Mullen or Collins? No one is about to swoop in and hire Mullen at a rate worthy of making a move (probably $3.5-4 mil)....hell no one would want him outside of low-level BCS teams and non-BCS. Collins is highly underpaid considering the defense he just put on the field this year. Much of our staff is, like Turner, Townsend, etc. We need to throw about $1 mil into that assistant coaching pool rather than bump Mullen's pay. If he proves that he's a winner next year we can bump him up to $3.5 or $4 million, but until then we need to concentrate on the guys who may actually leave for more money.

[CooterDavenport]

That appears to be from Jesus Shuttlesworth: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/football/2013/12/the-most-outragous-saban-to-texas-rumor-yet

[Coach34]

I'm not saying we should give Mullen a raise- just pointing out where he stands in the conference vs results. Mullen will get his raise anyway after winning 8-9 games next season.

I agree 100% that we need to boost assistant salaries- but our University does do certain things to offset lagging salaries as much as possible.

[CooterDavenport]

but our University does do certain things to offset lagging salaries as much as possible.

Hookers and blow at Stricklin's house?

[AROB44]

Got this in email:


In talking to various sources plugged into the Alabama and Texas sides, it seems Nick Saban is roughly $20 million in the hole due to investments with LSU and Alabama alums. These investments are predominantly in the commercial real estate space. For his trouble, Nick Saban is not a happy camper with these two alumni bases and has a hole in his retirement plan that Mark Ingram could run through. Additionally, I'm told Texas and the Longhorn Foundation have "passed the hat" to provide a dollar amount up front that nearly makes Nick Saban whole after these defunct investments. Call it the Lamarr Houston/Roy Miller investment strategy. The mechanism used to fund this "bonus" will be off the books in order to make the total compensation package more politically palatable when it's officially announced. Texas does not want to be perceived as the Yankees and again, I don't want to help negotiations with enemy.


As far as conventional compensation, look for the number to be right around eight million a year for six years with a two-year option. This structure makes it more acceptable to the BOR and the academics in the school. Don't tell them how much the athletic department contributes to the general fund because they won't listen. Just know that the football men understand how the perception game is played.

Trust me, I understand that there's always a counter offer in these deals, but I'm told that the Bama president does not want to get in a bidding war against Texas because she doesn't want it to seem like Bama is a semi-pro team. Again, this is the academic's mindset at work. She's, after all, Bill Powers' peer or at least is attempting to be. Add this item to the fact that Bama's Athletic Director Bill Battle has gotten sideways with Saban, and it doesn't bode well for the Tide. One final piece is Chancellor Witt.

Dr. Witt is the only ally that Saban has at the administrative level at Bama and he happens to be a Texas guy. Yes, Dr. Witt has a soft spot in his heart for Texas, and has told folks close to the Texas AD that he thinks Saban is headed to Austin.

If Saban is announced as the Texas head football coach in the next few days, fans will be in line to enjoy an historic change in culture and football operations in general.

Like you, I will enjoy the process.

In other words, I will look forward to Nick Saban's process.


No one considers Bama a "semi-pro" team. Everyone knows they are really in the NFL South. As for Nick making bad investments, he joins a long list of coaches that have done the same.

[Dawg61]

This +1

[BrunswickDawg]

No one considers Bama a "semi-pro" team. Everyone knows they are really in the NFL South. As for Nick making bad investments, he joins a long list of coaches that have done the same.
Jim Donnan approves this message

[defiantdog]

Got this in email:


In talking to various sources plugged into the Alabama and Texas sides, it seems Nick Saban is roughly $20 million in the hole due to investments with LSU and Alabama alums. These investments are predominantly in the commercial real estate space. For his trouble, Nick Saban is not a happy camper with these two alumni bases and has a hole in his retirement plan that Mark Ingram could run through. Additionally, I'm told Texas and the Longhorn Foundation have "passed the hat" to provide a dollar amount up front that nearly makes Nick Saban whole after these defunct investments. Call it the Lamarr Houston/Roy Miller investment strategy. The mechanism used to fund this "bonus" will be off the books in order to make the total compensation package more politically palatable when it's officially announced. Texas does not want to be perceived as the Yankees and again, I don't want to help negotiations with enemy.


As far as conventional compensation, look for the number to be right around eight million a year for six years with a two-year option. This structure makes it more acceptable to the BOR and the academics in the school. Don't tell them how much the athletic department contributes to the general fund because they won't listen. Just know that the football men understand how the perception game is played.

Trust me, I understand that there's always a counter offer in these deals, but I'm told that the Bama president does not want to get in a bidding war against Texas because she doesn't want it to seem like Bama is a semi-pro team. Again, this is the academic's mindset at work. She's, after all, Bill Powers' peer or at least is attempting to be. Add this item to the fact that Bama's Athletic Director Bill Battle has gotten sideways with Saban, and it doesn't bode well for the Tide. One final piece is Chancellor Witt.

Dr. Witt is the only ally that Saban has at the administrative level at Bama and he happens to be a Texas guy. Yes, Dr. Witt has a soft spot in his heart for Texas, and has told folks close to the Texas AD that he thinks Saban is headed to Austin.

If Saban is announced as the Texas head football coach in the next few days, fans will be in line to enjoy an historic change in culture and football operations in general.

Like you, I will enjoy the process.

In other words, I will look forward to Nick Saban's process.


You forgot to mention the big hit Saban took when he sold his lake house here in Alabama. It seriously hurt him financially.

Now these Alabama boosters are not too happy with Saban's negotiations for 7 or even 8 million a year. They like him as a coach, but I'm getting the feeling they don't enjoy going into their own pockets as much as they are. Truthfully, the passing of Mal Moore has really created the tension between Saban and the athletic department more than anything else.