USA TODAY International Edition
Saban makes his case as greatest coach
The greatest head coaches in history are not found in a scrapbook. They are right here, right now.
They are Nick Saban and Bill Belichick. Joyless and indomitable. Wholly confident and annoyingly empty. Stockpiling championships inside cutthroat professions. Well-fed but never satisfied.
They are making the sport of football surrender. And they will not stop.
After a riveting conclusion to the College Football Playoff, there has also been a shift at the top. Saban has won five championships in nine seasons at Alabama and could’ve had seven. His gambit in Monday’s title game was one of the riskiest bets and greatest payoffs in the annals of coaching.
Down 13-0 at halftime, Saban benched his starting quarterback for a true freshman, a five-star recruit who had played only in blowouts. The second-stringer from Honolulu — Tua Tagovailoa — went from unknown to legend overnight, throwing one of the most exquisite passes in college football history.
He put instant sizzle in a program known for bludgeoning and boring you to death, elevating his head coach with one perfect spiral.
Imagine how Saban would’ve been roasted had his freshman failed in overtime. Or if Blake Barnett hadn’t transferred from Alabama to Arizona State before the 2017 season. Would that have been his big chance?
Belichick was once the unquestioned master of pigskin. He once employed Saban as his defensive coordinator in Cleveland, where even two geniuses couldn’t make a difference. His five Super Bowl victories in New England mock the NFL’s blueprint for parity, and his impact is staggering, despite the occasional allegations of cheating.
But something has changed in Belichick’s world. An ESPN report details how Tom Brady might have forced his successor, Jimmy Garoppolo, out of the organization against Belichick’s will. There are denials and deflections, but the ring of truth remains.
Brady wants to play for many more years. He was fearful of Belichick’s ruthless history of cutting or trading local icons for long-term purposes. Brady used his unbreakable alliance with owner Robert Kraft to effectively remove the growing threat of Garoppolo. Just like that, the backup was traded to the 49ers for a second-round pick in a deal that looked lopsided from the start.
The Arizona Cardinals have received criticism for not beating the 49ers in the chase for Garoppolo. The Browns coaching staff was reportedly livid at the front office for being frozen out of any possible negotiations. But if there was a growing rift in New England, where Belichick lost a power play and was forced to trade his next quarterback, it would explain the hasty maneuver.
Especially since Belichick spoke so glowingly about Garoppolo and clearly wanted him out of the AFC.
“Bill, beyond thinking this kid was a special football player, thought he was a special person,” 49ers general manager John Lynch told the MMQB. “And he just said, ‘You’re going to love the player, guys respond to him.’ I didn’t know what that meant. You think you know, but (we saw) that right away, even when he wasn’t playing.”
The implications are frightening. Garoppolo went 5-0 as a starter in San Francisco, infusing great optimism for the future. If Belichick steered his coveted backup to the franchise of his choice, thereby securing San Francisco’s backup (Brian Hoyer) in return, his actions will clearly damage the Cardinals.
They are now the only team in the NFC West without a franchise quarterback and have to deal with Garoppolo for years to come.
Until now, Belichick had always ranked above Saban. The Patriots head coach has dominated a league where victory is fleeting, where dynasties are toppled by revenue sharing and salary caps. Saban knows this well, struggling mightily in his two years as NFL head coach, losing nearly as many games with the Miami Dolphins (15-17 record) as he has with Alabama (133-20).
But Saban’s triumph Monday has changed the equation. Supporters correctly claim that Saban has mostly won championships with pedestrian quarterbacks and low-risk game managers. Meanwhile, Belichick has been gifted one of the greatest quarterbacks in history, just like Phil Jackson was once blessed by Michael Jordan.
Both have refined their sport. The older looks younger, as Saban is 66 and Belichick 65. They are equally infuriating and condescending, simply intolerable at news conferences. Saban once complained that a national championship run at Alabama cost him precious recruiting time. Belichick ruined the Patriots’ championship parade by repeatedly screaming, “No Days Off!”
Nobody can relate to that. Except Saban, who was surely back at work on Tuesday morning.
Belichick’s crowning moment seemed to arrive at last year’s Super Bowl, when his Patriots rallied from a 25-point deficit to win in overtime. Now he’s being challenged like never before. For the first time ever, the two current dynasties of football — Alabama and New England — can win championships in the same season.
Now that Saban has circled the bases, it’s the only way Belichick can regain his throne. Maybe for the last time.