re: Saban tried to leave for Texas, but Texas said, "no"

He tries to leave bama every year, but some booster has the goods on him and extorted him each time.

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Back when all this went down my division officer at the time, who was from Texas and was the prototypical a-hole “everything is better in Texas” guy, assured me that UTex was getting Saban because they could pay more than Alabama. I told him that while Texas certainly could pay more for a football coach than Alabama, Alabama would pay more for one than Texas. He laughed his smarmy douchebag laugh.

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Truth.

Texas always has enough money to buy any coach or anything...but they never actually do it.

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Bullshite. Texas power brokers wouldn't have let Mack Brown stand in the way. Saban didn't want to deal with said people.

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That last part could very well be true, and the faculty might've revolted if Saban came to Austin... But one more time:

Mack Brown had a lot of friends among the boosters, one of whom was the most powerful one -- Joe Jamail, one of the wealthiest attorneys in America (he's dead now).

Jamail was threatening to sue UT if they fired Brown. In fact, Jamail negotiated a bigger buyout than Mack Brown was contractually afforded when he was eventually pushed out the door.

I don't think you people remember how this happened. ESPN showed the Longhorn football banquet live and when Mack Brown entered, he was heavily applauded.

Within minutes, the ticker announced that Saban had accepted Alabama's new contract extension.

Mack Brown saved the UT football program and for better or for worse, many powerful boosters were forever grateful (and loved him to death). He is a great guy.

It was definitely a bitch move for Mack to cockblock Saban then "resign" just a few weeks later. But make no mistake, if Mack Brown would've gone quietly, Saban would be coaching in Austin.

Hence why I put "resigned" in quote marks. He was pushed out but did not want Saban to succeed him. He got his wish.

They would've had to fire him straight up to get Saban, and that would've been very messy.

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I didn't claim he had the power to avoid being pushed out, I claimed he had the power to avoid being straight-up fired to allow Saban to take over the program.

He had the most powerful booster as his personal attorney threatening to sue if he was fired, stopping such action cold. He gloated about that long enough to make Saban lose interest. This is all fact.

To clarify: Brown knew he was going to resign but made it perfectly clear he would have to be fired to allow Saban to take over, and that legal action would ensue.

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It's not fact because Mack Brown was fired. So you can't say someone had the power to avoid being straight up fired, when he was straight up fired.

And what the frick could any attorney do anyway? Coaches are fired all the time, the contract ends and the coach gets a buyout. Which is exactly what happened with Mack Brown. Attorney's aren't magic genies that grant wishes, there is literally no case.

Furthermore, Mack Brown denied it all.

And then on top of all this I'm supposed to believe that the coach being fired stopped the school from picking the best possible replacement so they could go on to end up with Charlie Strong instead.

How in the hell can you believe this shite? More importantly - why do Texas fans want to believe it so badly?

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I know personally, for a fact, that is not what happened. It is true that Mack Brown didnt want Saban in Austin but Texas was going to hire him anyway.

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Do you know why it fell through? From what I'd read secondhand, I'd thought it was initially because Mack Brown didn't want to step down...and then when it leaked out, that was the final straw and Saban signed the extension at Bama...

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Mack Brown found out and held onto the job until Alabama gave Saban an extension. As soon as Saban got a raise, Brown resigned.

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Longhorn fans should be furious at Mack Brown for putting his ego over the interests of their football program.

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Nah. We have a lot more than $. Location, academic prestige, the number one brand in college football, etc.

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1) Money- a lot of schools have more money

2) Location- that is laughable since everybody thinks they have location

3) Academic Prestige- A UT degree is valuable, in Texas, outside it is just another college degree. If an EE from Texas, EE from Washington, EE from Auburn, EE from Rutgers applied for job in the NE, the Rutgers graduate would get it, in the NW, the Washington graduate would get it, etc.

4) Number one brand in college football-

Thanks for making my day.


By the way, I have Texas-Exs in my family and even they do not agree with you (and they graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Texas.) They had trouble getting jobs outside Texas.

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So I guess you’re calling former University of Texas Regent Tom Hicks a liar?

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I am not sure why Tom Hicks should be viewed as some straight shooter. He has always been a dodgy business guy. I was working overseas with a bunch of Liverpool fans when he took over the squad. Everyone of the guys called Hicks and his clan a huge liar and the worst thing to ever happen to the club.

Tom Hicks Liverpool Bankruptcy

Read about his prevarications, dodges, and sleazy tactics he employed while running the Rangers into bankruptcy.

Hicks Rangers Bankruptcy

He is just off a failed attempt to sell his $20 Million dollar Dallas estate for $120 Million. He has always been an attention whore with an active PR staff and dubious ethics.

Stack him on top of a used car sales guy in Red McCombs and an ambulance chasing legal parasite like Joe Jamail and you have pretty good insight into the Longhorn alumni culture.