Last week, Colin Cowherd loudly proclaimed that he believed Nick Saban would be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. This came in the aftermath of Greg McElroy starting the rumor of Saban being interested in a return to coaching. Despite plenty of people in the know stating they don't believe Saban will coach again, Cowherd isn't giving up.
He is actually doubling down.
Instead of the Cowboys, it's now the Cleveland Browns. It's not a rumor, says Cowherd, but a poorly kept secret that Saban is interested in the Browns, but only if they are able to draft a quarterback. Not just any quarterback, but Texas QB Arch Manning, who has yet to prove he's even a capable starting QB in college, much less worthy of a top NFL Draft pick.
Grab your tinfoil hats before you listen to this one, folks:
"This is not a conspiracy theory… this story is a poorly kept secret. The Mannings, Haslem, Jimmy Sexton, Nick Saban" – Colin Cowherd on the Cleveland Browns chasing Arch Manning and Nick Saban pic.twitter.com/BzIBfBeyRM
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 23, 2025
Cowherd connects the dots as so: Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is a Tennessee grad, thus good pals with the Mannings (despite the fact that Peyton is the only Manning who attended Tennessee, whatever), who happen to be close with Jimmy Sexton, who happens to be Nick Saban's agent, who happens to also be close to the Mannings, but not close enough to keep Arch from spurning the Crimson Tide in order to play for Texas.
Oh, and if it's not the Browns for Saban, it's totally the New Orleans Saints, who will also be bad, but also have the opportunity to draft Arch Manning (a Louisiana native) next year, despite the fact that most believe there's a pretty good chance that Manning will not enter the 2026 NFL Draft.
But if he does, the soon-to-be 74-year-old Saban is ready to hitch his wagon to an unproven rookie who may or may not even be a good college quarterback. With rosters in both Cleveland and New Orleans that are full of holes, regardless of whether Arch is Uncle Peyton reincarnated. Do I have all this correct, Colin?
I suppose the secret wasn't so poorly kept, though, if Cowherd was touting Saban to the Cowboys just last week.
The Nick Saban coaching rumors are not going away
At least for a few more weeks until everyone is fully focused on this football season, the Saban return to coaching rumors are going to continue full force. There's just not a lot else to talk about, and guys like Cowherd have to fill hours of time on the radio every day.
Let me be clear: I have zero inside information on this. I'm not friends with anyone inside Saban's circle, and I'm not privy to what his thoughts might be on a return to coaching. The clearest evidence yet of him NOT returning came last week from a social media post made by his daughter, Kristen.
That doesn't mean he's 100% against the idea, either. If he does decide to return, the NFL makes the most sense. But he'll turn 75 during the 2026 NFL season, and it's hard to imagine him hitching his wagon to a rookie QB at that age with only a few realistic years left if he picked back up the headset. If he was going to return, doing it somewhere with an established veteran option at QB makes more sense.