BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU football coach Nick Saban says he is not a candidate for the head coaching job with the Detroit Lions.

Saban issued a statement Tuesday after reports surfaced in Detroit that Saban is among several coaches being considered for the opening created when Marty Mornhinweg was fired Monday.

"As I've stated before, it's very flattering to be mentioned for these types of jobs, but I'm very happy here at LSU," said Saban, who was out of town on a recruiting trip. "I'm not interested in the Detroit Lions coaching job and I'm certainly not a candidate for the position."

Saban interviewed with the Lions in 1997 when he was head coach at Michigan State, but the Lions hired Bobby Ross.

Saban met with the Jacksonville Jaguars two weeks ago about the heading coaching job with that team. Saban, a former NFL assistant, said the meeting was done as a courtesy to the team. Jacksonville later hired Carolina assistant Jack Del Rio.

LSU athletics director Skip Bertman said he does not believe Saban is a candidate for the Lions' post and has not discussed the matter with him.

"I'm not too worried," Bertman said. "I've been very patient, he's been very patient. It's always good to be wanted."

Saban was the secondary coach of the Houston Oilers in 1988-89, and was defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns from 1991 to 1994.