IMO, Saban has always left the door open to the NFL. He has interviewed for head coaching jobs, both formally and informally. If Saban truly wanted all the rumors to stop, he would tell Sexton to put out the word that he has absolutely no interest in coaching in the NFL and will retire as a college coach.
Resign before you even have another job, wouldn't that be a stupid move? If they are going to make something up with no facts they could do a little better.
I'm not inside his head or anything, but I would think it would be to prove to himself that he can win on the highest level doing things his way. Personally, I don't think he would be "heard" by his players as much in the NFL as he is in college. I believe the reason he doesn't do this is because a) he does want to coach in the NFL when the right situation comes along and b) it gives him leverage when his name is mentioned for every NFL vacancy that comes along.
From aprofessional stand point that's carrer suicide. Also some people judge thier self worth or judge themself by how much they can draw on an open market. Sort of a career gauge. I don't see that much into an interview as long as LSU is doing what they said they would do.
An interview is much different from his agent fielding calls. An interview means he is interested in another job while his agent talking just means he is listening.
I really don't know what Saban is thinking but.... if you regularly listen to his Wednesday night shows he gives the impression he really likes coaching at LSU and isn't interested in leaving. On his show a few weeks ago Jim Hawthorne brought up the Dolphins job. Saban said "I ain't going anywhere " and then he went on to say that as he gets older its important to him to have a place to call home, and Baton Rouge was his home. Other comments he has made in recent weeks include "LSU is the best job hes ever had" and that LSU's current team is going to "be really good when we come around". I know many fans of other schools that hope for Saban to leave will discount such remarks and say that he was just playing to the audience. I disagree. Saban seems to take the approach of just not saying much on a subject if its an open possibility. I really can't recall him basically saying things to make the fans happy, i.e. lying. What it comes across as is a guy who loves his job, and is loving it more and more the longer he stays here. My opinion is that when he took the job he didn't know what the future held so he kept the door open. The longer he stays at LSU and the longer the situation at LSU remains positive with respect to the administration and its support of the football program, the more Saban closes that door on leaving. My opinion is that he knows he can continue to win here, he is financially set, and he and his family appear to grow fonder of the area each year. Saban commented that his wife was calling the shots (we know hes prolly exagerating on that a bit ;-) ) and she isn't leaving. In reality her input certainly does matter and that a feather in our cap. Sorry to ramble, just wanted to throw a positive view of things out there. I think Saban can compare LSU to many pro jobs and we come out on top. The longer he stays the better chance we have at keeping him here. I don't worry about these things any longer because if you listen to the man himself he seems genuine in his remarks that he is truly very happy here. thats good enough for me.
I also think Saban's got the perfect gig right now. Last year, when his name was swirling around for NFL jobs, someone stated - paraphrase: The attraction of the NFL is that it is considered an elite Gentleman's club that coaches want to prove that they can win there. I believe Saban sees the successes of Bill Bellicheck and some others and wants to know if he can do the same at the "next level". That being said, I believe that there is still much more that Saban wants to accomplish at LSU. I believe he wants to leave behind a legacy and a dynasty. Also - he's stated in the past that he uses the NFL rumors to his advantage when recruiting - "Why isn't the coach of the school you're considering going to being mentioned for NFL coaching jobs?"
