NEW ORLEANS - Rumors of his impending departure for the NFL have followed Nick Saban for much of his coaching tenure at LSU.
Now that the Tigers are playing for the national championship, and with several NFL openings, Saban's name is being mentioned often.
In his fourth season at LSU after five as coach at Michigan State, Saban, 52, is considered prime NFL material because he spent several years in the league.
Before taking the MSU job, Saban was the defensive coordinator from 1991-94 for the Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick, now coach of the New England Patriots. He also spent two years on the defensive staff of the Houston Oilers.
LSU athletic director Skip Bertman approached Saban during the season about a contract extension, a gesture Saban appreciated but one he asked to be put off until the offseason.
"I've just kind of learned to deal with it over time," Saban said of the persistent NFL talk. "My family has learned to deal with it. I think our players have learned to deal with it. We've learned to deal with it in recruiting."
Saban is paid $1.5-million a year. Should the Tigers win the national title, his contract stipulates he be paid $1 more than his coaching counterpart, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, who is the highest-paid college coach at $2.5-million.
CHANGING ROLES: Brett Venables shared the defensive coordinator duties at Oklahoma with Mike Stoops, brother of the head coach. But last month, Mike Stoops accepted the head coaching position at Arizona.
Mike Stoops has been in New Orleans this week as an adviser to the OU defensive staff, although he has begun his duties for Arizona. He plans to be on the sideline Sunday, but Venables will call the defensive plays, with help from Bob Stoops.
"Mike had a great deal of influence on game days with his game planning and playcalling," Venables said. "And he has been very instrumental in our success. Hopefully I've been paying attention for the last 10 years that he and I have been working together."
MOONLIGHTING: Anthony "Booger" McFarland, a defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Bucs who starred at LSU from 1995-98, will be at the Sugar Bowl as a correspondent for the Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports.
