Alabama coach Nick Saban talks things over with safety Justin Woodall (David Butler/Crimson Confidential)
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It's another telltale sign that Saban means it when he says there are no other horizons for him in coaching.
Granted, he's been a coaching nomad for much of his career, but those closest to him insist that he wants to finish his career at Alabama.
He's equally eager to get the word out to recruits in the face of this latest NCAA probation for the Crimson Tide that he's as committed as he ever was to bringing a championship trophy back to Tuscaloosa.
What better way to do that than for the two sides to commit to each other for a few more years?
Several people close to the situation said it would probably be later this summer before a new deal was finalized, but Alabama officials have made it clear that they're interested in extending Saban's contract, which currently runs through the 2014 season.
Alabama signed him to an eight-year, $32 million deal in 2007. He's scheduled to make $3.9 million this coming season, $4.1 million in 2010, $4.15 million in 2011 and $4.2 million in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Of course, the more Saban makes, the better it is for LSU's Les Miles, who has a clause in his contract that says he must be paid $1,000 more than the SEC's highest-paid coach.
Miles is poised to soar to an even higher tax bracket once Florida's Urban Meyer gets his bump, and he's certainly going to get a big one from his current salary of $3.25 million. Florida president Bernie Machen has already said that Meyer deserves to be the SEC's highest-paid coach.
What that means is that we're probably going to have three coaches in this league making more than $4 million per year by the time they kick it off for the 2010 season.
The cash just keeps flowing in the SEC.
For more from Low's SEC blog, click HERE.