Paul Payne
It was 17 years ago yesterday that Nick Saban was named Alabama’s football coach. A frenzied mob greeted Saban at the Tuscaloosa airport in a scene that was borderline surreal, as if both The Beatles and Elvis were making a surprise concert appearance on the tarmac.
Legions of Crimson Tide faithful were desperate for a savior to return their program to national prominence. The previous decade featured a revolving-door of four different head coaches that made Tennessee’s coaching turmoil prior to Josh Heupel’s arrival seem stable.
The three Mikes who followed Gene Stallings at the helm – DuBose, Shula and the infamous Price, who was fired before he coached a game – plus Dennis Franchione all had glimmers of success with ten-win seasons. But their cumulative record of 67-55 left Tide fans begging for someone to stabilize the program and return it to glory.
Little did anyone realize the impact Saban’s hire would make. After a pedestrian 7-6 season his first season in 2007 – although five wins were later vacated by the NCAA due to actions during Shula’s regime - Saban has since won 199 games against only 23 losses while leading the Crimson Tide to six national championships. Alabama made it to the championship game another three times but lost, making a total of nine appearances in the deciding contest.
Never has a coaching hire single-handedly changed the fortunes of a program. Saban built a dynasty that was viewed as the “Death Star”, an impregnable force envied and despised by the rest of college football. Dabo Swinney had a nice run leading Clemson to a pair of titles, and Kirby Smart has Georgia on a similar trajectory with back-to-back championships entering this season.
Maybe the Dawgs will continue their run of success for years to come to rival Alabama’s, but the numbers Saban has amassed are staggering. Sixteen straight years with double-digit wins, the 10-3 mark in 2010 considered a down year. Four Heisman Trophy winners. A gaudy 44 first-round picks in the NFL draft.
But after Alabama’s overtime loss to Michigan in Monday’s Rose Bowl semifinal in the College Football Playoff, Tide fans are grumbling that maybe it’s time for change. Saban is now 72, and message boards were full of angst about the direction of the program. Concerns were voiced that Saban had mellowed, no longer displaying the fiery demeanor that Bama faithful had come to expect. Maybe, some whispered, the modern game has passed him by.
The advent of NIL and the transfer portal have leveled the playing field for sure, as Saban no longer has multiple years to develop and indoctrinate players into his fabled “process”. This season Alabama failed to earn a No. 1 ranking at some point during the campaign for the first time since Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa. Alabama will enter next season four years removed from their last national title, another first that leaves Bama loyalists frustrated and antsy.
Saban’s success has created overwhelming – even unreasonable – expectations. Anything short of a national title is considered a failed season in the eye’s of many Alabama fans. But it’s hard to imagine anyone else roaming the sidelines for the Crimson Tide. He will remain at Alabama as long as he wants, and has certainly earned that right. As long as he’s leading the Tide, they will always be in the mix to add to his record seven championships.
Personally, I hope that he remains for years to come. Saban is the standard by which all other coaches are measured, and we should consider ourselves fortunate to be college football fans during his era in Tuscaloosa. The sport will truly miss his presence once he’s decided it’s time to walk away.
Saban’s greatness can be compared that of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods in their prime. The main difference is that Saban doesn’t have the baggage away from the arena that tarnished his reputation like Jordan and Woods suffered. He can be prickly at times, and his sideline rants are meme-worthy for opposing fans, but his character remains uncompromised.
During my time living in Alabama, I had the privilege to cover Alabama for several years for the Montgomery newspaper and USA Today affiliates. While I don’t pretend to know Saban, I had the opportunity to have a front-row seat to witness Alabama’s success from 2014 through 2019 and better understand his positive impact on many that never made headlines.
I was able to learn more about Saban’s influence on lives that went beyond the gridiron. Former Alabama kicker Adam Griffith had a few early season misfires his senior year in 2016 that had shaken his confidence. But Griffith shared how Saban reassured him that his job was not in jeopardy, reminding the kicker that he’d overcome far more difficult challenges in his life and to keep things in perspective. Griffith was raised in an orphanage in Poland before being adopting by a family in Calhoun, Ga. He became an two-time all-state kicker that led to a stellar career with the Crimson Tide. It’s one example of how Saban has a compassionate side that’s rarely seen or discussed.
There was also the time I sat down with a family in Dallas whose lives had been forever impacted by Saban’s empathy. Ashley Harrison was a student at Alabama dating the Crimson Tide’s long snapper, Carson Tinker, when she died in the tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa in 2011. Harrison’s family shared how Saban comforted their family and assigned staff members to help them through the loss of their only child, helping with funeral arrangements and helped establish a scholarship in Harrison’s memory.
The generosity of Saban and his wife, Terry, is well-documented. The Sabans’ Nicks Kids Foundation has donated in excess of $6 million to local students and teachers, and the pair has been instrumental in rebuilding 16 homes through Habitat for Humanity in Tuscaloosa. An additional $1 million gift was given to first-generation students attending Alabama.
Like him or not, Saban has had a profound impact on Alabama that stretches beyond his accomplishments as a coach. There’s not a football fan base in the country – with the possible exception of Georgia – that wouldn’t want him leading their program.
Alabama fans should think back to the decade of misery that preceded Saban’s arrival, and be thankful for the past 17 years. The day will arrive soon enough when he will retire, whether that’s next year or a ten years from now. But in the meantime, we should recognize the greatness we’ve witnessed in what Saban has accomplished at Alabama. He has set the standard by which all other football programs are measured. Like Jordan and Tiger, there will likely never be another Saban during our lifetimes. So let’s enjoy it while we can.
(Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com)
Alabama head coach Nick Saban.