As an LSU alum, and being a student there while Nick Saban was the head coach of the Tigers, I saw his work first hand. LSU went from being the joke of the SEC West to becoming a football winning machine who was perennially in contention for an SEC Championship. Little Nicky was signing the nation's best high school talent to come to Baton Rouge, and play football for the Tigers.
Blue chip prospects like Marquis Hill, Jamarcus Russell, Marcus Spears, Ben Wilkerson, Glen Dorsey, and Dwayne Bowe, among numerous others were bought in by Nick to become Tigers, and wholeheartedly bought into his philosophy, better known as "the process."
It didn't take long for LSU football players to take on the personality of their coach. They were focused. They were driven. They learned Nick's "one game at a time" mentality, became winners, and spewed "the process" to the media, just like Nick.
They were tough. Their toughness and focus was almost inhuman, because every single one of the other football teams simply didn't have it game in and game out, like Nick's Tigers did.
It seemed like Nick Saban was the perfect football coach. When a person praised him, they were able to call him many things, but "loyal" was never one of them. That is one thing Nick is most certainly not. At LSU, it seemed like every single year, around bowl season, Nick was rumored to be interested in NFL jobs. I remember rumors about the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and the Miami Dolphins, which was the one that turned out to be the truest.
I vehemently believed Nick whenever he said, "Terry and I are happy in Baton Rouge." I used those words in emails to various national reporters, like Chris Mortensen, and I berated them for their "irresponsible journalism," because how could these rumors be possibly true, if Nick is happy in Baton Rouge? How dare they start up unfounded rumors about a coach who is "happy" at LSU!
As a young, brash, and misguided college student, I believed in Nick, and blindly believed him, simply because he was winning. I theorized that the national media hated Louisiana and LSU so much that they would start rumors of Nick Saban leaving for the NFL in order to stop these blue chip prospects from signing with the Tigers, and ultimately bring down the LSU program.
I was wrong. Nick is who he is, and I was unable to see it at the time. I should have known that as the old saying goes, "Where there is smoke, there is fire." And Nick ultimately took the job as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. I was heart broken. I felt betrayed. I felt like an idiot for vehemently standing on the statement, "Terry and I are happy in Baton Rouge."
It is quite fascinating to see it play out all over again in Tuscaloosa from the outside looking in as a man who is a little older, wiser, less brash, and more realistic. Make no mistake about it, just like the Tigers of the early 2000's, and even more so than the Tigers were, the University of Alabama football program is a football winning machine. Everyone associated with that program has the same drive that those at LSU had. The best high school football players in America are all signing to play football at the University of Alabama to play for Nick, because they know it is their ticket to millions of dollars playing in the NFL.
Alabama players all have Nick's focus, and spout "one game at at time," and other Nickisms from "the process" to the media the same way LSU players did.
And also, unfortunately for Alabama fans, as LSU fans in the early 2000's did, they have to deal with rumors of Nick being interested in other jobs. I laugh every time I hear an Alabama fan proclaim in a thick southern accent, "Nick and Terry are happy in Tuscaloosa."
They had to deal with it last year with the Cleveland Browns rumors, and they are currently dealing with it with the University of Texas rumors, and even if Nick ultimately turns down the Texas job, Bama fans will have to deal with it next year, because make no mistake about it, Nick is always looking for more money, greener pastures, and the next challenge, and the past has proven that he has Terry's full support in that pursuit.
If he leaves for Texas, he will build them into a powerhouse a lot faster than he did at LSU, and at Alabama, which means UT supporters will have to deal with rumors of him going to the NFL that much quicker, because for being such a small man in stature, he has such an enormous ego, and I believe it eats him alive knowing he has that blemish from the NFL on his resume, while former peers like Pete Carroll, and Jim Harbaugh are succeeding.
He would have to coach a lot longer at Alabama for that NFL blemish to be forgotten, or overlooked by NFL gm's and owners. The move to Texas, although lateral in terms of prominence, sort of speeds that process up, and brings him closer to rectifying that blemish, because his previous job, before Bama was the Miami Dolphins, where at Texas, his previous stint would be Alabama, so that would make him look a lot better.
It's easier for front office people to say "What have you done for me lately?" when he has turned two consecutive programs into football winning machines, instead of one. As the coach who put Texas where it should be perennially, with a previous stint of domination at Bama, Nick Saban would look like less of a risk as an NFL head coach, and people in NFL front offices would be more inclined to take another chance on him.
Nick Saban: One of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and a program savior? No question. Nick Saban: Calculated? No question. Nick Saban: Loyal? He is most certainly not.
It seemed like Nick Saban was the perfect football coach. When a person praised him, they were able to call him many things, but "loyal" was never one of them. That is one thing Nick is most certainly not. At LSU, it seemed like every single year, around bowl season, Nick was rumored to be interested in NFL jobs. I remember rumors about the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and the Miami Dolphins, which was the one that turned out to be the truest.
I vehemently believed Nick whenever he said, "Terry and I are happy in Baton Rouge." I used those words in emails to various national reporters, like Chris Mortensen, and I berated them for their "irresponsible journalism," because how could these rumors be possibly true, if Nick is happy in Baton Rouge? How dare they start up unfounded rumors about a coach who is "happy" at LSU!
As a young, brash, and misguided college student, I believed in Nick, and blindly believed him, simply because he was winning. I theorized that the national media hated Louisiana and LSU so much that they would start rumors of Nick Saban leaving for the NFL in order to stop these blue chip prospects from signing with the Tigers, and ultimately bring down the LSU program.
I was wrong. Nick is who he is, and I was unable to see it at the time. I should have known that as the old saying goes, "Where there is smoke, there is fire." And Nick ultimately took the job as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. I was heart broken. I felt betrayed. I felt like an idiot for vehemently standing on the statement, "Terry and I are happy in Baton Rouge."
It is quite fascinating to see it play out all over again in Tuscaloosa from the outside looking in as a man who is a little older, wiser, less brash, and more realistic. Make no mistake about it, just like the Tigers of the early 2000's, and even more so than the Tigers were, the University of Alabama football program is a football winning machine. Everyone associated with that program has the same drive that those at LSU had. The best high school football players in America are all signing to play football at the University of Alabama to play for Nick, because they know it is their ticket to millions of dollars playing in the NFL.
Alabama players all have Nick's focus, and spout "one game at at time," and other Nickisms from "the process" to the media the same way LSU players did.
And also, unfortunately for Alabama fans, as LSU fans in the early 2000's did, they have to deal with rumors of Nick being interested in other jobs. I laugh every time I hear an Alabama fan proclaim in a thick southern accent, "Nick and Terry are happy in Tuscaloosa."
They had to deal with it last year with the Cleveland Browns rumors, and they are currently dealing with it with the University of Texas rumors, and even if Nick ultimately turns down the Texas job, Bama fans will have to deal with it next year, because make no mistake about it, Nick is always looking for more money, greener pastures, and the next challenge, and the past has proven that he has Terry's full support in that pursuit.
If he leaves for Texas, he will build them into a powerhouse a lot faster than he did at LSU, and at Alabama, which means UT supporters will have to deal with rumors of him going to the NFL that much quicker, because for being such a small man in stature, he has such an enormous ego, and I believe it eats him alive knowing he has that blemish from the NFL on his resume, while former peers like Pete Carroll, and Jim Harbaugh are succeeding.
He would have to coach a lot longer at Alabama for that NFL blemish to be forgotten, or overlooked by NFL gm's and owners. The move to Texas, although lateral in terms of prominence, sort of speeds that process up, and brings him closer to rectifying that blemish, because his previous job, before Bama was the Miami Dolphins, where at Texas, his previous stint would be Alabama, so that would make him look a lot better.
It's easier for front office people to say "What have you done for me lately?" when he has turned two consecutive programs into football winning machines, instead of one. As the coach who put Texas where it should be perennially, with a previous stint of domination at Bama, Nick Saban would look like less of a risk as an NFL head coach, and people in NFL front offices would be more inclined to take another chance on him.
Nick Saban: One of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and a program savior? No question. Nick Saban: Calculated? No question. Nick Saban: Loyal? He is most certainly not.
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