Add the Indianapolis Colts to the list of NFL teams — including the Bears — that had brushes with Nick Saban but weren’t willing to cede to him the kind of organizational control, or money, that he has brandished at successful coaching stints with LSU and Alabama.
Based on an upcoming biography of Saban, the Colts were close to offering their head coaching job to Saban in 1998, the same year that they would choose Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf with the top pick of the draft. Like the New York Giants two years earlier, the Colts eventually veered away after Saban insisted on roster and staff control that the Giants refused to give to a coach.