It seems to me that this may have been what happened and it backfired. We are talking about events almost a year old. Back shortly after it all went down, Saban treated it, publicly and truthfully, by saying he and Terry had considered "other opportunities," but had decided to stay at Bama. In particular, he said that Terry was happy in Tuscaloosa. It was a open secret that the opportunities were UT and a pro team. End of story. Not quite. Months later, the embattled Regent lets it out that he had conversations with Sexton - far more detail than known or rumored to date. The rumor mill continues to churn along. Now, for the hypothesis - Saban calls Sexton and says "fix it." Sexton scratches his head and finally lets an email be leaked in which he says that UT would have been the only place Saban would have left Bama for, still referring to the events of 11+ months ago. Instead of fixing the problem, it's red meat for the sports news outlets - "breaking news!," etc., knowing that the big game coming up will give their speculations big play. Saban then issues another affirmation of his intention to stay put. At this point, nothing that Saban or Sexton can say will stop the speculation. It's just a hopeless situation. Above all, Saban can't utter "I will not be the head coach at the University of Texas." That would be seen as confirmation that he will. I expect both Saban and Sexton to remain silent and wait for it to blow over...