Nick Saban Considered Leaving Alabama for ESPN After the Kick Six, According to New Book

New York Post — In 2014, Nick Saban had meetings about potentially leaving Alabama to work for ESPN.

That’s according to the new book, “The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban,” from AL.com senior sports editor John Talty. 

Prior to the 2013 season, Saban met with Nick Khan, who was then a sports media talent agent at CAA who represented Kirk Herbstreit, Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd, Mike Greenberg, and numerous others, Talty reports.

Late into the season, however, Alabama’s national championship aspirations ended with a devastating loss to in-state rival Auburn. The game, often referred to as the “Kick Six,” saw Auburn’s Chris Davis catch a short field-goal attempt from Alabama kicker Adam Griffith, which he ran back for a touchdown to put the Tigers on top, 34-28.

When the season ended, Saban is said to have “empowered Khan to reach out to ESPN with the message Saban was thinking about the next chapter in his career and considering whether media should be a part of that.”

What is already one of the handful of the greatest plays in the history of college football was apparently almost made 10,000 times better after the fact.

Obviously Nick Saban leaving Alabama for a spot on College Gameday never came to fruition, but it seems to good to be true that he'd have even entertained the idea. Sure, he had already won three national championships in Tuscaloosa, but it's been the eight seasons since that have cemented him as the best college football coach ever. And if you'll recall, that same offseason is when Saban also reportedly thoroughly considered replacing Mack Brown at Texas.

So it seems Saban may have been looking at multiple different paths to leaving Bama, though he didn't end up taking one.

The rest, obviously, is history. In less than a decade since the Kick Six, the Crimson Tide have won three more national titles and appeared in the national championship game three other times. Saban has established the greatest dynasty in college football history and doesn't seem intent on slowing down anytime soon.

Can you imagine if the Kick Six was the last play of the Saban era at Alabama, though? We can dream, I guess.