I would not buy it for one second, but that would be the obvious, lazy media reporting b/c he is considered the best coach, along with Satan, in CFB. But look at Bama's history post Bear and their head coaching searches/hires pre Satan. All were either "Bama Men" or "Bear Men" and the only one who brought them what they care about was Gene Stallings. The only one outside that circle was Mike Price but he never walked the sidelines b/c the hookers derailed him. So finally they went and hired a guy with no Bama ties and no Bear ties, but one who was considered a very good coach with a great background. But on paper 1 national title in college and a 2 yr. stint as an NFL HC, but a lineage as a great NFL asst. Dabo has a better resume on paper than Satan had pre Bama college wise as would Leyer, college wise. Yet Satan has gone on to become the greatest college football coach, in my opinion, to have lived. Thus he has convinced the "Bear Men", that winning at the highest level trumps all and we shall fish from the entire ocean. So even tho the biggest of the big names on the college landscape would be mentioned, I think they look to the NFL, just as they did with Satan, whether the NFL guy spent time in college or not. And I am not saying it would be any of "these" guys, but I think this is how the Bama brain trusts thinks now. So let's say the day comes and Satan says bye-bye. Perhaps they think a guy who had a good run in the NFL yet may not reascend might listen to 10+MIL a year, say a Sean McVey or Kyle Shanahan. Maybe they think a guy like a Josh McDaniels or even a Brian Daboll might listen to what they have to say. And I am quite sure there is a list of dozens of another NFL names that I am not aware of, but that are considered HC guys in waiting at any level.
The one thing I know is this. If and when Satan rides off into the sunset, the Bama Trust will not tell some intern to bring in the records and stats from the mid major conferences and peruse them for 5 minutes, see who is making hay in those conferences, pick up the phone and offer one of those MAC hotshots 7 MIL. That is the FOOLEY way and BAMA will not use the FOOLEY method to hire their next HC.