SABAN HAS NO REASON TO LEAVE ALABAMA
In pursuit of title No. 6, coach has nothing to prove
Nick Saban doesn’t need to go to the NFL. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
If Alabama wins the national title Monday night, there will be folks trying to pack him off to the NFL or some other reclamation project. Going back to the NFL would allow him to redeem himself in the one place he has failed. Resurrecting a powerhouse that has been beaten down — Notre Dame, perhaps? — would cement his status as the greatest college coach in history.
Both notions are ridiculous. Saban has nothing to prove — aside from showing that his hand won’t break from the weight of his championship rings.
If Alabama beats Clemson in a rematch of last year’s title game, it will be Saban’s sixth national championship. That would tie Bear Bryant atop the career list, and an argument can be made Saban has won his at a time when college football is more competitive and scholarship reductions have made it harder to win.
He also has claimed his titles at a faster pace. The Bear’s were spread over 19 seasons; Saban has won all of his since 2003 — and that’s with him taking a two-year hiatus while coaching in the NFL.
Saban has much to lose — and little to gain — by picking up and starting over, be it in the NFL or another college program.
And at 65, as the king of college football, why would he even want to try?
Saban has his pick of players, with more five-star recruits warming the bench than some coaches have on their entire teams. Compare that with the NFL, where rosters are a crapshoot. Instead of making the call on who gets signed, Saban would have to make do with what he was given in the NFL. The bulk of his players would be inherited and the rest would be whoever he or his general manager draft or sign in free agency.
Saban has joked that things might have been better for him with the Miami Dolphins with Drew Brees instead of Daunte Culpepper. Forgetting for a moment that Saban had a say in that choice, those shoulda, coulda, woulda scenarios are a daily occurrence in the NFL, as roster restrictions make it tough to recover from personnel mistakes.
It’s not as if an NFL team could really make it worth his while, either. Saban is making close to $8 million at Alabama, about the same as Sean Payton and Pete Carroll, the highest-paid coaches in the NFL.
And I can guarantee that $8 million goes a lot further in Tuscaloosa than it does in New Orleans, Seattle and pretty much everywhere else in the NFL besides maybe Green Bay.
Those empty seats at the end of the season might make Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke desperate enough to break open his wallet and give Saban $10 million a year. But he’d still have the roster headaches — to say nothing of the headaches on his roster.
College programs are like dictatorships, with few options for players who are unhappy or clash with coaches. The NFL is a business, with contracts and a union giving players leverage — stars and skill players in particular.
Imagine Saban trying to get a career malcontent such as Jay Cutler to buy into his famous “process.” Yeah, that would work.
This isn’t to say Saban couldn’t do it. Carroll won a Super Bowl in Seattle after refashioning himself at Southern California following washouts with the New York Jets and New England Patriots. But their loves of defense aside, Carroll and Saban are very different, and there’s no guarantee Saban would be in an organization tailor-made for him as Carroll is.
Besides, it doesn’t sound as if the idea even appeals to Saban. Asked Saturday about the Dolphins making the playoffs for the first time since 2008, he confessed that he barely pays attention to the NFL. When he does, it’s to check how his former players and coaches are doing.
“I don’t know that I’ve watched an NFL game all season long, so other than checking the scores on Monday for five minutes, I couldn’t tell you much about who’s doing what,” he said.
As for another college job, that would simply be redundant. Saban has turned around three programs — Michigan State, LSU and Alabama — and nothing can ever top what he has done in the glare of the spotlight in Tuscaloosa.
But the biggest reason Saban should stay put is because he’s happy at Alabama. Or as happy as Nick Saban can be.
“You enjoy the challenge when you’re in this position,” Saban said Saturday. “Players have done a wonderful job all year of creating an opportunity for themselves, and as a coach, you want to do the best job that you can to try to put them in the best position where they have a chance to be successful.
“That’s always challenging. But it’s always a lot of fun.”