When Nick Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007, the Crimson Tide was not yet the powerhouse it would become. He had to build that roster himself, starting with the kind of elite quarterback who could anchor his program. By the time Jameis Winston emerged as one of the country’s top recruits, Saban had his eyes on the Alabama native. But Winston was not looking at football alone.

The two-sport star wanted to keep playing baseball in college, and the Texas Rangers had already selected him in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB Draft. Florida State was willing to let him pursue both sports, leaving Saban with another hurdle to clear as he tried to win over a quarterback who had not yet made his final decision. According to Winston, Saban responded by making an unusual demand of Alabama’s baseball program in an effort to land him.

“It was Stanford, it was LSU, and it was Florida State,” said Winston on the Where’s Jameis podcast. “Alabama was in contention….One thing that a lot of people don’t realize, Saban told the baseball coach to build a whole new facility in hopes that they would land me to come to Alabama,” said Winston. “But I still ain’t going; it just was too close.”
For a quarterback Alabama had been chasing for months, even that reportedly wasn’t enough to change his mind.

Alabama had been recruiting him long before the final stretch of his senior year and kept pushing even after he publicly committed to Florida State in August 2011. He returned to Tuscaloosa for an official visit in December, while Alabama continued working on him into January.

Florida State, meanwhile, had built a pitch around the parts of Winston’s future that went beyond quarterback: he could develop behind E.J. Manuel, play baseball and eventually take over the offense. His relationship with Seminoles quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator Dameyune Craig also became a major part of the recruitment.

That made Winston a particularly difficult recruit to flip. He was not just an elite in-state quarterback; he was a player whose college choice had to accommodate two sports. Florida State’s own signing announcement called him the nation’s top-ranked quarterback and the No. 22 baseball prospect in the 2012 class, while noting that he would play both outfield and pitcher.

Winston had already made clear how seriously he took baseball. As a high-school senior, he hit .424 with seven home runs and went 8-3 with a 1.92 ERA, and the Rangers later selected him in the MLB Draft.

The “too close” part of Winston’s explanation also needs some context. Alabama was the in-state option, but it was not automatically the favorite. His family had taken the school seriously, and Winston had continued considering Alabama even after committing to Florida State. The Crimson Tide had A.J. McCarron already established at quarterback after leading Alabama to the 2011 national title, while Florida State could offer Winston a slower path into the starting job. That difference mattered:

Craig could sell Winston on redshirting and learning behind E.J. Manuel, while Alabama meant eventually competing for the job behind a quarterback who had just won a championship.

Winston ultimately stayed with Florida State and signed on February 3, 2012. His choice would soon become one of the more painful recruiting “what-ifs” of the Saban era. Two years later, Winston was standing on the other side of the sport’s biggest stage with a Heisman Trophy and a national championship.

The two-sport dream lasted longer than his college recruitment did. Winston had once talked openly about wanting to follow athletes such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders into professional football and baseball, but the NFL eventually forced the issue. After Winston became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put a clause in his rookie contract prohibiting him from playing professional baseball during the deal.

A Journey from First Draft to Backup

Tampa Bay chose Winston ahead of Marcus Mariota. He started immediately and earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie, beginning a career that would become as unpredictable as his college rise.

His most statistically explosive season came in 2019, when he became the first quarterback in Buccaneers history to throw for more than 5,000 yards. He finished with 5,109 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions, a combination that captured both the big-play ability and volatility that defined his time in Tampa Bay.

After five seasons with the Buccaneers, Winston moved to New Orleans in 2020 and later joined Cleveland in 2024. He signed with the New York Giants in 2025, entering a quarterback room that also included rookie Jaxson Dart.

Winston’s role with the Giants has remained that of a veteran quarterback behind the team’s younger options, but his arm has never stopped being one of his defining traits. In August 2026, he was still with New York under head coach John Harbaugh and produced 150 passing yards and a rushing touchdown in a preseason win over Miami.

Yet, there is one final twist to the Alabama what-if: after losing Winston, Saban eventually landed another Florida State quarterback. Jake Coker, who had been Winston’s backup in Tallahassee, transferred to Alabama and became the starter on Saban’s 2015 national championship team.