Skip to content

Alabama AD Battle recalls 'tense' time amid Saban-Texas rumors

Marvin Gentry / USA TODAY Sports

Alabama athletic director Bill Battle said Thursday the rumors connecting Nick Saban to Texas in 2013 led to some of his most stressful moments in office.

Battle, who's stepping away from the Crimson Tide when his contract expires in March, said he was determined not to let Saban leave the dynasty he'd built, but at one point wondered if there was anything he could do to prevent it.

"Well, they were very intense," Battle told Michael Casagrande of AL.com of the speculation involving his heralded football coach. "He never told me that he had any interest, he was going. But I was reading he was offered $10 million and a percent of the Longhorn Network."

With the rumors running rampant, Battle said he called the Saban household to speak with the coach directly. However, Saban was out recruiting, and Battle was left to sit by the phone and wait for a return call. When the phone finally rang, the conversation was rather short.

"'Look, I'm recruiting and trying to get ready for Oklahoma,'" Battle recalled Saban saying. "I said, 'Well, that's what I want to hear.' That's what I said and that's what I thought. But you never knew. I didn't want to lose Nick Saban under my watch. So, until (a contract extension) got done, it was tense."

Saban and Battle eventually worked out a new deal, one that has the coach still planted in Tuscaloosa.

Battle, 75, has been the Crimson Tide's athletic director for four years. He's set to hand the reigns over to Arizona's Greg Byrne.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox