Nick Canepa: Nick Saban says celebrity coaches don’t work. But is he a candidate at LSU?

Sez Me … 

It has become perfectly reasonable to believe Nick Saban has become college football’s voice of reason. At least at this unreasonable stage.

Saban, who won six national championships at Alabama and one prior at LSU, was talking about the virulent college football carousel, and the money being spent, and how the quest to hire a name coach — namely Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin — to fill positions is a waste of time.

“Jobs that weren’t great jobs before, are now,” he says. “Lane is the first name up for Florida State and the first name up for LSU, but I think you can have a long debate on whether either of those jobs is actually better than the job he has now, because he has some guys over there at Ole Miss that give him pretty much what he wants from a roster standpoint.

“Maybe you have some alumni who are passionate about football, but are they willing to invest what you have to invest to win? Because a lot of people don’t believe in this (crap).”

Think maybe Nick’s just trying to keep Lane away?

Granted, the LSU job usually is a great one, usually with unlimited funding. Not now. It’s a mess. The governor, who says he’s tired of rewarding failure, is running the show.

Coach Brian Kelly, who will get tens of millions in a buyout, has been canned (he never was a good fit). Athletic director Scott Woodward, who awarded Kelly a $54 million buyout (it won’t be that big, but Woodward also was responsible for a $75 million one in 2023 to Jimbo Fisher when both were at Texas A&M), also has been pink-slipped. They’re searching for a school president.

LSU’s stew has no meat and potatoes. But, despite being ranked as the nation’s second-poorest state, money seems unlimited — for football, anyway.

Word came Friday —and I don’t know how true it is, but I can see it —that LSU has offered Saban $20 million over three years, then he becomes AD and gets to handpick his successor. Saban sure doesn’t need the dough.

But let’s see how he reacts. Nick has been a beyond-vocal critic of the new system, which he has said is why he left the Tide. Remember, he’s 74.

As we speak, 10 major college coaches have been fired since the season’s start, with more to come. Over $160 million in buyouts.  But is it money well spent? Hell no.

Kiffin is a good coach. What has he won? What have any of these guys won, outside of Saban?

Matt Rhule was a hot favorite, until Nebraska re-upped him for two more years. Prior to playing USC Saturday, he was 0-17 vs. ranked teams at Baylor and Nebraska.

Most coaches just aren’t worth the money. Maybe all of them. …

Did the Padres really do a 9 ½-hour interview with Albert Pujols? If he’s smart — and I think that he is — and gets the managerial job, he won’t talk to A.J. Preller that long in total while he’s here. …

Is it true that Preller and CEO Erik Greupner are Cain and Abel? What a shock. ….

Blake Snell says he was “unlucky” allowing five earned runs to Toronto in Game 5. Yeah, as Rommel was at El Alamein. No gas. …

Would Ohtani have pitched after that 93-inning game if he actually picked up a glove and played defense? The DH stinks. Always has, always will. …

Kirk Herbstreit was right: nobody paid attention to Ohtani when he was in Anaheim. Just as nobody paid attention to Mike Trout, who was the best baseball player for years. …

The NFL season begins today. First games in November. It’s when the men separate themselves from the lads. …

I love Cam Skattebo, but he was an injury in waiting. …

Detroit gives Aidan Hutchinson four years and $180 million. Not bad for six sacks. …

Remember when Deion Sanders was Toast of the Country? Now he’s “dumbfounded” after his Colorados got John Wayne’d 53-7 by Utah. Genius is fleeting, and Prime (minus-18 yards at the half to Utah’s 398) is off the hot list. …

Yeah, I want my coach to care. I want my coach to go out on the field and see how an injured player is doing. Yeah. I do. Get your damn face out of the play sheet. …

“I think there’s a contractual obligation for every network to talk about the Cowboys,” says Troy Aikman, quite a Cowboy, his own self, agreeing with Charles Barkley’s hyperbole. ESPN, also Troy’s network, can’t take a bathroom break without mentioning them. Why? They haven’t won a thing in 30 years. …

Officials simply must be ordered to pay more attention to offensive pass interference. The prima donnas have enough of an advantage as it is. If you think a big, strong, athletic man shoving a smaller defender isn’t a big deal, you haven’t been around these big, strong athletic men. …

When does it stop being a “learning situation” for quarterbacks? …

There is slow. Continental Drift slow. And there is Steelers Slow. Pittsburgh was put together by a banana slug. …

If Diego Pavia is a Heisman guy, so is Don Diego Vega, who at least had the hidden, terribly athletic Zorro going for him. …

Super Bowl viewers: Around 128 million. World Series viewers: About 100 million less. Baseball is a bad gambling sport. …

I don’t care that Justin Herbert and Madison Beer are dating and attending Lakers and World Series games and Hollywood parties.  But does Justin ever say: “Hold my Beer?” Doubt it. …

The NCAA will demand teams submit player availability reports the night before 2026 men’s and women’s basketball NCAA Tournament games. They talk about gambling and getting away from it? Sure. Injury reports are information for bettors. Mama mia. …

RIP, Nick Mangold. A great center, and center is the most underrated position in football. …

G League players should not be allowed back on college basketball courts. G should be for “Gone,” as in, “Gone from university consideration.” They had their chances. …

College coaches should welcome all the bad habits G League players picked up from the NBA. Like taking four, maybe five steps. …

Google-up the Greek Freak’s travel. …

Hopefully, the real Air Force thinks much more clearly than those fliers it flew out there at the end of the Army game. …

Saturday was the first day Miami the college played a football game outside of the state of Florida. Sounds right? Lost to SMU. …

Stephen A. Smith really stepped in it, showing his ire because the Dolphins fired GM Chis Grier, who is Black, and yet are keeping coach Mike McDaniel, who is white. Except McDaniel has a white mother and a Black father. …

Jerry Jones is being criticized for saying he’s been paying more attention to his $100 billion natural gas investment than his Cowboys’ personnel problems. It’s what happens when the owner is GM. …

Bless the greatest, Dan Jenkins, as they say in Texas: “It’s bidness.”