Typically, in the coaching community, a rumor needs only a sliver of hope to ignite a burning flame and former Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy has recently provided exactly that when it comes to Nick Saban.
On McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, the former Alabama signal caller shared that someone "very much in the know" when it comes to Saban shared that they believe the 73-year old former Tide leader will return to coaching at some point.
“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, they seem to think Nick Saban’s not done coaching."
"He’s pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again," McElroy shared, adding that if it wasn't coming from someone notable, he'd have never mentioned this word publicly.
Paul Finebaum hopped in to dispute the notion that Saban would return to coaching at all, whether that be in college football or for another crack in the NFL, adding that Saban is having the time of his life golfing at some of the best places in America.
It would be a tough argument to make that there's any program out there now in a better spot now than the Alabama program was when Nick Saban retired from coaching and took a job as an analyst for ESPN. So for him to come back to the college game would be a massive surprise, and we all know how his short stint in the NFL went - and has gone for recent college coaches who step away for a bit only to take an NFL head coaching job (read: Urban Meyer).
Then again, he's talked at length about how much he loved coaching at LSU and how he often thinks maybe he shouldn't have left Baton Rouge at all. Brian Kelly is entering a critical year four with what he believes is a championship caliber roster with plenty of returning talent, and the previous three leaders of the Tigers had brought a national title back to The Bayou by year four in a stretch that includes Saban, Les Miles, and Ed Orgeron.
Whether there's anything to what McElroy has heard, or its all worthless smoke, its exactly the type of chatter during what has become known as "talking season" that can add unnecessary pressure on coaches who are already operating in a pressure-cooker.
The former Toledo, Michigan State, LSU, Miami Dolphins and Alabama leader will enter his second fall on stage for ESPN's hit College GameDay set, in a role he's done a really impressive job with early on.