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Report: Mack Brown To Step Down at Texas (Maybe)

He's not an SEC coach, but it's still news.

By David Wunderlich
Erich Schlegel

It's not conference realignment news, so this is probably pretty solid:

No, Texas isn't an SEC school, but it's a rival of Texas A&M's and one of the more visible programs nationwide, so it's notable.

This report naturally will reignite all of the Nick Saban-to-Texas talk that has percolated at times through the year. Despite Saban's pleas to drop it because he's "too damn old" to start over elsewhere, I fully expect to see plenty of talk about it. I personally don't see him leaving Tuscaloosa before he retires. He's got his system fully in place and cranked up to a level that few programs have ever attained.

I can't see a compelling reason for Saban to go to Austin. Anything you can say about Texas is either true or more true about Alabama. There have been some rumors online that he's going to sign an extension soon that will have a pay raise, so we'll have to see how soon that goes public officially if it's actually in the works. I can imagine he'd want that news to hit the wire before the ink dries just to stop people from asking, so watch out for that possibly in the next few days. Unless, of course, those rumors were bogus.

Anyway, the more likely SEC coach to take that job in my estimation is James Franklin. He's an energetic guy who has done wonders at Vanderbilt. He's also telegenic and seems to take to media tasks well, something that's a requirement for a school with its own network. I don't know what Texas will be looking for in its new hire, but they could do a lot worse than picking up Franklin.

UPDATE

On the one hand:

On the other:

Also this:

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