My opinion is that Nick Saban should remain at the University of Alabama to coach the Crimson Tide football team for as long as he and his employers see fit.
My guess is that he will do so.
Because my inclination is to believe Saban — who has lied about this sort of thing more than once — when he says what he said Saturday morning, which was this: “I don’t have any unfinished business in the NFL … That’s not something I’m concerned about. It’s not something I’m thinking about. It’s not even something I want to do. I want to be a college coach.
“I’m not looking for new challenges.”
Strong words, those.
But they don’t carry as much weight as they might had Saban not been such a Fibber McGee on the subject so often previously.
He once told his Michigan State players he wasn’t leaving them for LSU, and promptly left them for LSU.
He eventually left LSU for the NFL and the Dolphins, and was near the end of his second season with them in 2006 when rumors surfaced that Saban would be heading back to the college scene with ‘Bama.
Asked frequently to confirm or deny interest, Saban was evasive until he finally responded emphatically.
“I guess I have to say it. I’m not going to be the Alabama coach,” Saban said at the time.
Two weeks later, Saban was the Alabama coach.
Ironically, the Saturday setting for Saban’s statement of apparent allegiance to the Tide was the Dolphins’ home in Sun Life Stadium where Alabama – seeking its second consecutive national title and third in four years – will meet Notre Dame for the championship Monday night.
If he was bothered by memories of the 15-17 record he compiled with the Dolphins, Saban didn’t show it during an affable hour-long media session. He even struck a contrite tone when speaking of the “honesty and integrity” he hopes are trademarks of the Alabama program while admitting he has been “accused, and perhaps rightfully so” of not displaying the same characteristics when making an exit from a job.
And all of that came in the wake of a recent Miami radio interview on 790-AM The Ticket when Saban said he regretted having made a mess of his departure from the Dolphins, but feels attached to Alabama.
“The big thing with me is not handling the way I left well,” Saban told the station. “I’ve never felt good about it. I’ll probably never feel good about it.”
But the 61-year-old Saban, who is signed through 2020 under a contract that will pay him almost $50 million, also spoke fondly of Alabama. He’s in his sixth season there, which is the longest time he has worked anywhere as a coach.
The reality, though, is that it’s difficult to believe that Saban, a supremely intelligent guy and a master of manipulation, will stay until he’s actually on an Alabama sideline next season.
Saban knows it, but he’s sure scooping out heaping portions of the commitment talk these days.
But has he set the bar so high at Alabama that anything less than winning a national crown, or at least playing for it, now amounts to disappointment? That’s a harsh scale of measurement even if the Tide usually has superior talent compared to most of its opponents.
And might Saban yet feel the need to prove himself in the NFL where coaching matters more than it does on campus simply because there’s usually not such an imbalance of talent?
Saban repeated his teaching mantra several times Saturday morning.
“Be all you can be,” he said again and again.
Has he been all he can be in the college game with three crystal ball trophies, including one won at LSU, and an upcoming chance for a fourth? Will the constant NFL rumors, which always attach themselves to Saban, become too difficult to ignore?
The questions Saban must ask himself have to do with personal satisfaction and self-fulfillment. He’s a man driven by the pursuit of excellence and fascinated by the “process” required to achieve it. He has reached an age at which it soon enough will be time to set the course for whatever remains of his coaching career.
Saban hinted that he knows which path he’ll follow, but taking him at his word remains a foolish endeavor. It’s easier to doubt him than trust him, but that doesn’t mean he’s lying again.
Saban has rebuilt the Alabama kingdom, and seems to have come to the realization that he neither needs nor desires another NFL opportunity.
If he’s not speaking the truth, well, it’s familiar Saban territory.
But count me among the believers this time.
About the Author
