Nick Saban's daughter speaks out on rumors legendary coach is coming out of retirement

Nick Saban is not coming out of retirement, his daughter has insisted.

Rumors swirled earlier this week that the seven-time national champion at Louisiana State and Alabama was eying a return to the sidelines a couple of years after his final season in Tuscaloosa.

'A very much in-the-know person that I have a lot of respect for and have spent a lot of time around, and just really, really admire – they seem to think Nick Saban is not done coaching,' former Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McIlroy sad on Monday's 'Mac and Cube' show in Birmingham.

'He's pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again.'

Asked for his source, McIlroy opted against revealing too much but did emphasize this person is definitely a high-level college football insider.

'If it wasn't someone notable, I would never say a word,' McIlroy said. 'He is of firm belief that Nick Saban will coach in college football again.'

But some would say there are no sources more reliable than Saban's own family and his daughter, Kristen, has refuted those claims.

She posted a picture on her Instagram story of her dad walking onto the field with the caption: 'Damn, I miss this.' 

Fans thought she was fueling those claims that Saban was going to return to the sideline. But it seems she was not.

'Apparently, some of y'all feel trolled by my last story of Nick's walkout… he's not coming back to coaching, hate to break it to you,' Kristen then said in another post.

'You had your time.'

Saban retired after the 2023-24 college football season, which saw his Alabama team lose to the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl. 

Now a co-host on ESPN's College GameDay, Saban was replaced at Alabama by former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer, who went 9-4 in his first season at the helm. 

Many speculated on social media that Saban's possible return was down to reports that Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order for NIL standards.

Since 2021, and under pressure from states and the courts, the NCAA has allowed student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). Student-athletes can now be compensated for merely showing up to play and can earn a profit for spokesperson gigs, clothing and autograph sales and more.

Additionally, a legal ruling on June 6 allowed colleges to directly pay players via revenue sharing for the first time. The settlement of House v. NCAA marked the end of the NCAA's previous model of amateurism, in which athletes were not allowed to earn money while in school. Schools can now share up to $20.5million of their revenues with their athletes.

The reports of an upcoming executive order come one day after a House subcommittee advanced a bill along party lines that would establish national standards for student-athlete sponsorships. 

Called the SCORE Act, the proposed legislation would supersede current state laws regulating NIL.

The White House has not commented on the latest report of an NIL-related executive order, but President Trump has a long history of expressing interest in sports. He has attended many major sporting events, including several prominent college football games like the Army-Navy football game last December.

Saban has been critical of the NIL funding in the past, largely because he was concerned about the effect on college football. 

The NIL era also has brought a rise to the transfer portal era, with thousands of students across all sports seeking to move schools - some of them for bigger paydays.