The coach tells the Chicago Bears he is staying put.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Coach Nick Saban announced Saturday he will stay at LSU, one day after talking to the Chicago Bears about their job opening.

“I’m very happy to be the coach here,” Saban said. “We’re looking forward to the challenges of making LSU a dominant program in the future.”

Saban led the Tigers to a share of their first national title since 1958 season, triggering a clause in his contract that guarantees him becoming the highest-paid coach in college football.

Saban, the AP coach of the year, made $1.5 million last year and is in line for a raise to at least $1 more than Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, who makes $2.3 million a year.

The Tigers beat Stoops’ Sooners 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl last Sunday to win the Bowl Championship Series title.

LSU finished second to Southern California in The Associated Press poll.

Saban’s name had been linked to NFL openings because of his success at LSU and his experience as an assistant in the pros.

He met on Friday with Bears general manager Jerry Angelo – a longtime friend – but decided to stay in college.

“Things are a little different in the league now than when I was there,” Saban said. “After thinking about whether not that’s something I’m interested in doing right now, I’m very happy to be the coach here.”

Saban made the public announcement to ease the concerns of his current players and potential recruits.

“I didn’t want it to be rumor and innuendo out there,” he said.

“I didn’t want it to affect recruiting or our players on our team. I wanted to be proactive getting the information out to everyone.”

Saban took over a team that had gone 3-8 in 1999 and in his first season went 8-4 with a Peach Bowl victory.

LSU has been in bowl games all four of his seasons, winning two Southeastern Conference titles and two Sugar Bowls. The Tigers are 39-13 under Saban overall.