Photo courtesy of Alabama Athletics

There’s no question Nick Saban left Alabama at the top of his game, which is why predictions of his return to coaching have been rabid the past several weeks even coming from his former players.

To the dismay of many, Saban’s daughter Kristen extinguished any sparks that the seven-time national champion would be returning to the sidelines. But that hasn’t stopped Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd from sharing his prediction on where Saban could land next.

During a segment on his show “The Herd” on Wednesday, Cowherd revealed his theory that Saban would not be looking to take a college coaching job but rather make a jump back to the NFL.

“The worst kept secret in the south is Jimmy Haslam leans heavily on the Manning family. Arch Manning is part of the family. Nick Saban is close to Haslam and the Mannings,” Cowherd said. “If Saban could land a top 10, he would take a phone call from the NFL. Two teams are guaranteed to be awful in the NFL, the Browns and Saints. Saan coached in Cleveland and at LSU. The Mannings are royalty in New Orleans and the Mannings are royalty to Haslam, who loves headlines. This is not a conspiracy theory.”

“This is the worst-kept secret in the South.”@colincowherd connects the dots between the Cleveland Browns, Arch Manning, and Nick Saban pic.twitter.com/8maicxrtph

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 23, 2025

Saban teaming up with Texas quarterback and (the third) family prodigy Arch Manning is quite the script for the next chapter of his coaching legacy.

Saban last served on the Browns staff from 1991 to 1994 where he was the defensive coordinator under legendary head coach Bill Belichick.

As of today, and likely moving forward, Saban will be manning the desk on ESPN’s College Gameday this fall.

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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77