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Odds for Bama’s next head coach after Nick Saban

Kevin Cunningham

By Kevin Cunningham

Published:

Alabama’s great, right?

Of course. And, so is Clemson. So is Michigan, Ohio State, etc. We know the great programs within college football.

What Nick Saban has done is remarkable. He has been the coach that everyone looks up at in the sport for the past decade — yes, Dabo Swinney is right there, too.

However, Saban is 67-years-old. He’ll be turning 68 this upcoming season. At the end of the day, what is there really left for Saban to accomplish with the Crimson Tide?

So, when he eventually does move on or retire, who will succeed Saban and be Alabama’s next head coach to try and continue the greatness?

According to oddsmakers at SportsLine, here are the guys that have the best chance:

  • Dabo Swinney: 3/1
  • Kirby Smart: 5/1
  • Lincoln Riley: 5/1
  • Mark Dantonio: 5/1
  • Jeremy Pruitt: 6/1
  • Will Muschamp: 6/1
  • Urban Meyer: 8/1
  • Jimbo Fisher: 8/1
  • Pete Carroll: 10/1
  • Bob Stoops: 15/1

As you can see — and as to be expected — there are some huge names on this list. Swinney leads the pack at 3/1, but then again, does he really need to leave Clemson? Oddsmakers certainly think if the opportunity arose, he would.

Right behind Swinney and three names that people recognize: Kirby Smart (Georgia), Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma) and Mark Dantonio (Michigan State). Dantonio, according to the odds, has the second-best odds to succeed Saban.

Could he? We’ll have to wait and see, but Dantonio is 63-years-old and seems to love where he’s at.

There are other names on this list, but another that jumps out — with B1G ties — is Urban Meyer, the previous head coach at Ohio State. It’s always rumored that Meyer will eventually take another head coaching gig somewhere, so could Bama be the spot?

Again, we’ll have to wait and see. As for now, Saban is going to continue to dominate 90 percent of opposing teams put in front of him.

Hopefully this will be the season in which we get to see him go against a Big Ten school in the College Football Playoff. We’ve seen it in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, but haven’t seen it happen since.

Kevin Cunningham

Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.