Nick Saban could end up coaching at this Power-4 school in 2025

Nick Saban is retired, or is he? The seven-time national championship head coach is seemingly enjoying retirement, smiling more than ever on ESPN’s College GameDay where he appears as an analyst each week alongside Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Pat McAfee and the rest of the crew. His wife, Terry Saban, also known as “Miss Terry” event appeared on a recent episode as the celebrity guest picker when the crew traveled to Tuscaloosa.

Saban also appeared as a member of ESPN’s crew covering the 2024 NFL Draft in April, as well as an analyst covering SEC Media Days this past summer. The 72-year-old seems to be staying busy and fully immersed into his current role. and appears to be fully immersed in his roles.

Aside from maybe his wife, one can truly not know if there is any itch for Saban to return to the game in some capacity. Right now, Saban does hold an office inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. So, on different fronts, Saban is still largely connected to college football in a few different ways. This could lend some insight that maybe the former coach is not ready to hang it up fully.

If indeed Saban wants to become even more involved, it could be in an on-field coaching role. With the coaching carousel ever-changing each year with assistants and head coaches, opportunities are always available at all levels in college football. And one program specifically has a strong chance of having some of those openings in 2025.

Where will Nick Saban coach in 2025?

Do not be surprised if Saban ends up coaching in some capacity for the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2025. While it may not be as head coach, an on-field assistant where he could have direct impact on the team may be something not totally off the table for him.

Considering as I mentioned he has far from totally separated himself from the game, this would just be one more step up whether it be a position coach, or a coordinator. Sure, it would be more of a time investment on a daily basis, but again Saban’s desire to be involved with the game in a direct coaching capacity is something we do not know at this point.

With current Mountaineers head coach, Neal Brown squarely on the hot seat with a 3-4 record in his sixth year in Morgantown, it is looking more and more like there is soon to be a head coaching vacancy in Morgantown is Brown is fired. And with a head coaching vacancy typically comes an entire new cast of assistants as well.

Nick Saban comes back home

Considering Saban has spent the majority of his career in the south as a head coach in the SEC, West Virginia both geographically and conference-wise being a member of the Big 12 may seem odd to many. But remember that Saban was born and raised in West Virginia and left the state for the first time when he went to college.

Expectations as an assistant would not be as strenuous one would think, as well as the fact that Saban would be not coaching in the pressure cooker that is the SEC.

Retired college football coaches that have returned to coaching

While this theory may seem crazy, remember that there have been several other former head coaches that have come back out of retirement to coach against- whether it be as an assistant or a head coach. Three more recent examples are former Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder and current North Carolina and former Texas head coach Mack Brown. Bob Stoops also return after retiring from the Oklahoma Sooners to coach the Arlington Renegades of the UFL.

Snyder was actually 69 years old when he returned to Kansas State for his second stint as head coach after his successor, Ron Prince, was fired.

Nick Saban will be contacted to coach in 2025

I say all of this to say, it has been and can be done. Time will tell, but one thing is for certain in that the retired coach will definitely get some phone calls. Whether or not he will be receptive is to be determined.