LOUISIANA HALL OF FAME finds spot for Saban.
Some LSU fans never will forgive Nick Saban for returning to college football as Alabama’s coach.
But there’s no denying Saban’s imprint at LSU.
Taking over a program that had consistently underachieved, Saban came from Michigan State to lead LSU to a 48-16 record from 2000-04, including two SEC titles and the 2003 national championship. He also recruited the bulk of the LSU team that won the 2007 national title under Les Miles, his successor.
Saban’s fantastic fiveyear run at LSU has earned him a spot in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He’ll be inducted as part of the 2020 class on June 27 at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches, La.
“It’s a fantastic honor for me,” Saban said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. “It’s a very humbling thing … because so many people contributed to any success we’ve ever had anywhere we’ve ever been.
“Certainly we had a great team of people at LSU and a great coaching staff. A lot of players that did a wonderful job. I feel that when you get an honor like this, you’re really just accepting it on behalf of all those folks.”
Saban is 10-3 against LSU as Alabama’s coach, including an eight-game winning streak that started when the Tide beat the Tigers 21-0 to win the 2011 national championship.
The current domination makes it somewhat surprising the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame would announce Saban’s induction now.
“I don’t know,” Saban said. “I can’t really answer that. I guess you’d have to ask them.”
Doug Ireland, chairman of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, said it’s an honor Saban deserves.
“We understand that LSU fans are conditioned to cheer against Alabama and Nick Saban, and Nick understands that as well as anyone,” Ireland told the Shreveport Times. “But any LSU fan who looks at it objectively has to realize where LSU was when Nick arrived, where he brought LSU, and where it still is now.
“He brought in players, coaches, facilities and a philosophy. He brought in the golden era of LSU football. If Nick doesn’t come to Baton Rouge, one has to wonder where LSU would be right now.”
The Tigers are 3-0 and ranked No. 4 nationally under Coach Ed Orgeron. They were 6-16 in the two seasons before Saban’s arrival.
Saban left LSU for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, where he had records of 9-7 and 6-10 before taking the Alabama job.
Saban, who has a 14421 record with the Tide and won five national championships at the school, has said he regrets leaving LSU for Miami.
“To those who do not like Saban getting in, I would say take away everything Nick did after LSU, and would you be advocating he be selected to the Hall of Fame? Without question,” Ireland said. “They’d be clamoring for it. He is tremendously deserving and may be the greatest college coach ever.”
Saban was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.