The folks at the University of Alabama already have plenty to be thankful for when it comes to Nick Saban. He led them to an undefeated regular season, and their recruiting is as solid as it has been in the entirety of their storied history.
Their recent contract extension for Saban was a demonstration of their confidence and faith in Saban... but was it too much? It doesn't include the one thing that you would think should be the most important thing in ANY Saban contract: a buyout.
As the contract stands now, Saban could leave at any time. If he felt like leaving Alabama right now and coaching... say... USC, if Pete Carroll were to leave for an NFL job, then he could do so, without giving Alabama a single penny. That's obviously a stretch, because Pete Carroll has no plans (that we know of) to leave for the NFL, and we have no idea if USC would be interested in Saban anyway. However, if they were, imagine the appeal for someone like Nick Saban. With his recruiting skills and the unlimited resources at USC, combined with the relatively weak conference opponents, Saban could be in the title game on an annual basis. That definitely has some appeal.
So why wouldn't Alabama include a buyout clause in his contract, especially with his history of ditching a team as soon as a better offer comes along, like he did at LSU and Miami?
I understand that they want to show him some love with his new contract extension, but this might be taking it a bit too far.
Nick Saban contract has less teeth than front row at Neyland Stadium [Press-Register]
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