Freeze has been far less direct than this:
When the stories linking Alabama and Saban began circulating last month, almost immediately after Shula got fired following a 6-6 season, the former coach at Louisiana State said he was flattered but not interested.
He's bristled at nearly every suggestion about him leaving the Dolphins since.
"I don't know how many times I've got to respond to rumor and innuendo," Saban said. "I have no control over that. I've stated what my intentions are and they really haven't changed, so I don't know what the issue is. And I don't know why people keep asking about it. What they talk about over there is their business. But what's happening here is my business and our business, and that's what we're focused on."
Saban acknowledged this month that Alabama approached his agent about its coaching job, but he declined an invitation to talk to the Crimson Tide.
Saban agreed to a five-year contract worth at least $22.5 million with Miami on Christmas Day 2004. He'll celebrate the second anniversary of that deal Monday night, when the Dolphins -- 6-8 this season and 15-15 in their two seasons under Saban -- host the New York Jets.
It's the home finale for the season, but the players hardly expect it to be Saban's final game in Miami.
"He told us a couple weeks ago that he's proud to be a Dolphin and he's going to be sticking around," Dolphins quarterback Joey Harrington said. "So I take him at his word. I've taken him at his word ever since I came here. He's one of the reasons why I decided to come to Miami. And so, if he tells us he's going to say, I trust him. But on the other hand, there's a lot of job offers out there and he's a tremendous coach."
Saban went 48-16 in five seasons at LSU, won the 2003 BCS national championship and went 92-42-1 as a college head coach. He turned down several overtures from the NFL before coming to Miami.
"I don't control what people say," Saban said. "I don't control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I'm just telling you there's no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here."
