Colin Cowherd lays out ‘poorly kept secret’ involving Nick Saban, Arch Manning and an NFL team
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Colin Cowherd says an NFL team will look to bring in Nick Saban and Arch Manning. The FOX Sports host says it is all based on a “poorly kept secret.”
Sports media has been buzzing since Greg McElroy revealed that he heard from an “in-the-know source” that Saban is not done coaching. The Saban rumor became the buzz of SEC Media Days.
One week ago, Saban’s daughter, Kristin, sought to put an end to the chatter by writing, “he’s not coming back to coaching” in an Instagram post. That hasn’t stopped everyone from pondering a Saban return to the sidelines in 2026.
Urban Meyer told Cowherd last week that he can’t see Saban returning to college, but thinks the former Miami Dolphins coach would take calls from NFL teams. Now Cowherd has identified an NFL team that could target Saban.
Cowherd sees Saban coaching Texas QB Arch Manning next year in Cleveland.
“In fact, this is the worst kept secret in the South. Haslam, Jimmy, owner of the Browns, huge SEC Tennessee booster, leans heavily on the Manning family. Very close to the Manning family,” Cowherd said.
“Yes, that’s not make-believe. Arch Manning is part of the Manning family, and this is where Nick Saban comes in. Saban is incredibly close to not only Jimmy Haslam, but Saban’s close to the Manning family as well.”
Cowherd says the opportunity to have Manning as his quarterback would interest Saban.
“And so Saban, if he could land, I’m told, a top quarterback like (Jim) Harbaugh going to the (Los Angeles) Charges for (Justin) Herbert, he would take a phone call for the NFL,” Cowherd continued. “And there are two teams guaranteed to be awful this year in the NFL, Cleveland and the Saints. Nick Saban has coached in Cleveland with the Browns under the Belichick staff, and he coached at LSU.
“This is not a conspiracy theory. Haslam’s circle of trust, according to an article in The Athletic last year, is the Manning family and Jimmy Sexton and Bill Parcells. Sexton is Nick Saban’s agent.”
Cowherd continued, pointing to past Browns decisions made by Haslam.
“Jimmy Haslam also loves headlines. It’s why he pushed to draft Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield,” Cowherd said. “They were the most talked about quarterbacks. It’s why he signed a ridiculous guaranteed contract for Deshaun Watson. It would get discussed.
“So this is not a conspiracy theory, okay? The circle of trust for Jimmy Haslam is the Manning family and Jimmy Sexton.”
Cowherd is confident that the Browns will be looking for a new coach and new quarterback in 2026.
“There’s two teams in this league that are going to be bad. The Saints are going to be bad, and the Browns are going to be bad. Now, that doesn’t mean Saban, if he doesn’t take the job, it’s all a loss for Cleveland. Kevin Stefanski, Andrew Barry, the GM, more than capable.
“But this story is a poorly kept secret. The Mannings, Haslam, Jimmy Sexton, Nick Saban, that’s why I ran with that thing last week.”
Considering all the moving parts here, including the fact that Manning isn’t a lock to declare for the 2026 NFL Draft, it’s more likely that your six-leg parlay wins six figures, but we’ll see how things play out over the next few months. If Cowherd turns out to be right, he’ll be reminding everyone that he called it in July.
"This is the worst-kept secret in the South."@colincowherd connects the dots between the Cleveland Browns, Arch Manning, and Nick Saban pic.twitter.com/8maicxrtph
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 23, 2025
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
