Consider the titanic power shift if Saban were to suddenly retire, as Cowherd openly considers in this piece from a month ago after Bama lost to LSU.
”I think Nick Saban does think about retirement now, and I think he's closer to it than anybody in the media would acknowledge. I think there are seven reasons. No. 1, his age. He's 68 ... No. 2, he likes power, and the transfer portal is driving him nuts ... No. 3, and this is a real thing, the recruiting (cycle) in college football is now non-stop .... the other thing (No. 4) is Tua is leaving. He's easily been the best quarterback Saban has ever had and he's leaving ... No. 5, there are seven-figure TV jobs lined up for him. He's going to be a TV star, and they're all lined up ... No. 6, college football is so offensive-minded now, he can't stop anybody ... he had a bye week and he couldn't stop LSU. He had six weeks and he couldn't stop Trevor Lawrence or DeShaun Watson ... and then (No. 7) when you become a glamour program like Alabama, you can't keep your best assistants around. You get cherry-picked every year.
"So he's losing assistants, players are transferring, he's close to 70, Tua is leaving, TV jobs are available and ugly losses are piling up. The game is moving away from Nick ... “
Dabo’s buyout is a minuscule 4M, 6M if he leaves for Bama, who probably already has that sitting in an interest-bearing account ready to go.
Just sharing a thought on Monday morning