Alabama Football: Other football teams wanted Nick Saban following BCS Championship; Saban addresses no pay raise for Stoutland

Alabama Crimson Tide Football Coach Nick Saban said he signed his contract extension and raise with the University of Alabama despite interest from “others” during the off season. Saban revealed this during his Monday press conference when asked about his contract extension.

“From my standpoint, the acceptance of this extension expresses our commitment, (my commitment, Terry’s commitment, our family’s commitment) to the University of Alabama for the rest of our career,” Saban said. “We made that decision after the season when other people were interested.”

Saban declined to name the others. He did not specify whether the others were college or professional teams and instead focused on the University of Alabama.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Saban said when asked about the others. “We wanted to stay at Alabama and we are staying in Alabama and we aren’t interested in going anyplace else. We weren’t interested in going anyplace else at the end of the season, so it really doesn’t matter. We just appreciate the commitment the University of Alabama has made to having a successful program. And we are really pleased and happy to be here.”

Saban praised the leadership team of Dr. Robert Witt, Mal Moore and the entire administration for “making the kind of commitment we need to be successful here competitively with our staff.”

Saban said the market for assistant coaches plays a large role in today’s coaching salaries.

“I think it is imperative we keep continuity,” Saban said. “We have the opportunity to be competitive salary wise with other schools who are trying to hire our coaches. It doesn’t really matter what my opinion is or anybody else’s opinion, the market is what it is. And if we are not willing to pay that to the best people that we have then they are not going to be here. Everybody loves the University of Alabama and coaching here, but there is a business side here that everybody has got to be aware of too, and I’m just happy our administration understands that and will be competitive to keep our best people here.”

One member of the Alabama football coaching staff did not receive a pay increase—Jeff Stoutland.

Saban was asked why this was the case and if it related to the scandal involving the Miami athletic department.

“I think as a university we make decisions to do things because we think it is the right thing to do,” Saban said. “In the future, I think Jeff Stoutland deserves to get a raise based on the merit of the work that he has done here, but I also think it wouldn’t be smart on our part to ignore other things that have happened. So it is what it is.”