Nick Saban goes to Bama

[NJTank]

I think when he is introduced in Alabama the band should play the old OJ's song Backstabbers

[Braden]

Interesting commentary from Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline

Link

In South Florida, a cloud lifts

You can hear the music from the Wizard of Oz coming loudly from Miami Dolphins facility already.

Ding, Dong, the wicked witch is dead.

Let's face it, there won't be a lot of tears shed inside the organization over the decision by coach Nick Saban to leave the team and go to Alabama. Saban took what was once a comfortable place to work and turned it to spot where everybody walked on eggshells.

He made it miserable for his coaches, the staff, the media, the players -- everybody.

That's the Saban way. That's not to say he isn't a good coach, because he is, but men like him beat down an organization.

He turned sunny South Florida days into dark, dank times.

Harvey Greene, the Dolphins outstanding public relations director, was spade and neutered under Saban, seemingly living in a world of Nick fear. That wasn't fair to Greene or his staff.

Saban's coaching staff, which included two former NFL head coaches, constantly told their friends around the league how miserable they were working for the man. He browbeat them, made them feel inadequate and constantly insisted they stay in the building at all hours -- just for the sake of saying they did so.

Randy Mueller, the team's personnel director, is another who wasn't exactly too thrilled with the way Saban operated. Mueller told many of his friends in the league how tough it was to work for Saban.

The terms lunatic, control freak and some not-so-printable ones were often used by some in the organization.

Saban will be seared for the way he handled this move. He constantly denied he was interested in the job, but then took it. What the heck was he supposed to say? That he was going?

Let's face it, Saban left for the money. He will make a reported $32 million over eight years in guaranteed money. That's a lot of cheese.

Coaches are no different than CEOs of major companies who leave for better packages. This is a package that is too good to pass up, so he went.

End of story.

Saban tried to leverage more money from the Dolphins, but Wayne Huizenga didn't budge, especially since he was only 15-17 in two seasons, so off he goes. He leaves behind two non-playoff years, a roster with age and uncertainty and an owner now in search of a head coach.

But for many inside the Dolphins building, none of that matters. The most important thing is that Saban is gone, his iron-fist ways, indicative of the control-freak coaches in the NFL, going with him.

Ding, dong, the wicked witch is dead.

Can you hear the music?

[OB33]

From ESPN.com

A chronology of comments about Nick Saban taking the head coaching job at Alabama:

Nov. 27:

Saban: "When I was in college it was always about coming to the pros. This is the challenge I wanted. I had a good college job. Why would I have left that if I was going to be interested in other college jobs?

"I took this as a challenge. We certainly haven't seen this through and gotten where we want to go and finished the job here, so why would I be interested in something else?"

Dec. 5:

Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga (after giving Saban a vote of confidence): "I am completely sold on Nick Saban. I would admit we made a mistake if we did make a mistake, but I firmly believe in Nick Saban."

Dec. 7:

Saban: "I'm flattered that they may have been interested in me, but it never really progressed, because we just never let it progress."

Dec. 21:

Saban: "I guess I have to say it. I'm not going to be the Alabama coach. ... I don't control what people say. I don't control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I'm just telling you there's no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here."

Dec. 27:

Saban: "I'm just making a rule to never comment on something like that again because every time you comment on it, it just makes for another story. So I'm not going to comment on it five years from now, and I'm not going to comment on it next week."

Jan. 4:

Saban: "What I realized in the last two years is that we love college coaching because of the ability that it gives you to affect people, young people. ... If I knew that my heart was someplace else in what I wanted to do, I don't think it would be fair to the [Dolphins] organization if I stayed."

[whitedawg22]

Jan. 4:

Saban: "What I realized in the last two years is that we love college coaching because of the ability that it gives you to affect people, young people. ... If I knew that my heart was someplace else in what I wanted to do, I don't think it would be fair to the [Dolphins] organization if I stayed."

Oh, now I see that his primary consideration was for the welfare of the Dolphins organization. What a wonderful man.

[jkrdevil]

Peter King on Inside the NFL last night reported that the money that Saban is getting from Alabama is about eh same as he was making in Miami. So it appears this is more of not being able to cut it in the pros and instead of toughing it out to try and make it work he quit to go back to the easy thing of college coaching.

Marino, Collinsworth, Costas, and Carter all pretty much tore into Saban on Inside the NFL.

[leedsunited]

What happened to commitments

Ha ha, good one, man. Good one. Let's face it, he has another mediocre year in Miami, he's out of a job soon enough anyway. What's wrong with jumping off to another job that suits you better?

Saban ain't the first, and he sure as hell ain't gonna be the last coach to do this. What kills me is that people are actually surprised about all this.

Peter King on Inside the NFL last night reported that the money that Saban is getting from Alabama is about eh same as he was making in Miami. So it appears this is more of not being able to cut it in the pros and instead of toughing it out to try and make it work he quit to go back to the easy thing of college coaching.

Marino, Collinsworth, Costas, and Carter all pretty much tore into Saban on Inside the NFL.

Marino is clearly dumber than he looks. Saban was ruining that once-proud franchise, and they're ripping him for leaving? Shoot, Marino should be doing cartwheels at the news.

Dumb is as dumb does.

[OB33]

Peter King on Inside the NFL last night reported that the money that Saban is getting from Alabama is about eh same as he was making in Miami. So it appears this is more of not being able to cut it in the pros and instead of toughing it out to try and make it work he quit to go back to the easy thing of college coaching.

Marino, Collinsworth, Costas, and Carter all pretty much tore into Saban on Inside the NFL.

Marino is clearly dumber than he looks. Saban was ruining that once-proud franchise, and they're ripping him for leaving? Shoot, Marino should be doing cartwheels at the news.

Dumb is as dumb does.

Marino should be the last person to blast someone for taking a job with the Dolphins only to back out.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Nick Satan is pure scum, hes a lying weasel and a back stabber, hiring him in the first place was a mistake. I hope him nothing but failure in Alabama, and I hope he commits a recruiting violation that ends up putting Bama on a SMU type probation.

May they never beat Auburn, Tennessee may they never sniff the BCS.

If the NCAA keeps "doin what it do", Alabamer will never sniff another BCS game.

[sacker12]

Whether he denied interest in the Bama job or not, the media still would have ripped Saban a new one. If he admitted that he was interested in the Bama job, then he would have been blamed for the Dolphins falling out of playoff contention because of him being "distracted". Look at what happened to Jim Mora. This is exactly why Saban tried to talk down the rumors about the Bama job by denying that he had interest in it. However, the salary figure may have changed drastically from the time where he first began denying the reports to when he accepted the offer. I'm just saying. To me, he looked like he was in a Catch-22 from the beginning.

[Braden]

Look, I don't mind the fact of Nick Saban's departure. He made some good moves, he made some bad ones, overall he did okay. I'm just bothered by the way it all happened.

We all know how ruthless the big city sports media can be, and pestering Saban with the whole Alabama issue over and over and over again must have made things awkward for him. I just don't like how Saban handled the situation, and the BAD condition he leaves the Dolphins in. Talk about burning your bridges...

As far as his replacement, I wouldn't mind seeing Def. Co-ordinator Dom Capers give it another go at Head Coach. Not only did he do a great job with the defence this past season, now that him and Off. Co-ordinator Mike Mularkey aren't under the whip of Saban, I think they might do pretty well.

The next question is the QB mess they have YET AGAIN. It's painfully clear that Harrington is not a capable starter. And who knows how Culpepper's gonna be next year. Hopefully he'll get his mobility back and the O-line will protect him better, but that's gonna take alot to do.

You also have to look into Jason Taylor's retirement consideration. I think the Dolphins off-season will determine whether he stays or goes. I guess we'll have to see...

[Pat]

I sincerely hope the Dolphins hire Jim Bates. That man deserves to be a head coach in the NFL and would fit in well with his old team.

[NJTank]

I would not mind Bates getting the job I felt he deserved a shot back in 2004.

[BCBoy]

I'd be hooting and hollering if Saban left, he really didn't move this teams progression forward at all, they had a sub .500 record before Saban came, and in his past two years, the Phins have still managed a sub .500 record.

Change is good, although I think Saban was a dick about the whole situation.

[B-Rich]

My own personal thoughts on this....

First of all, have to be up front that I am an LSU grad and fan.

That being said, when Saban left LSU for the Dolphins, I didn't really hold it against him. Hey, he came to LSU, did what he wanted to do and what we wanted to do-- bring the team to the major level and win a national championship. He turned down several NFL overtures (Bears, Giants) and returned for his final season, then was finally given an offer and challenge he felt he had to take, and that was becoming the coach of the Dolphins. No problem; it's a move up in salary and a new challenge (become like Jimmy Johnson, coach both a college champion and a Super Bowl winner) I'd have loved to had him stay and become a coaching long-timer or legend like the Bear or Vince Dooley, but I could understand...

But then-- after only two years, the first of which was a fantastic 9-7 season and the second a disappointing 6-10-- and some mistakes of his OWN in terms of player personnel (going with Daunte Culpepper, who I think reminded him of an older Jamarcus Russell, instead of Drew Brees, who should of reminded him of Matt Mauck), he waffles, lies, and decides he made "a mistake" in leaving the college game, and comes back. Not just to college, not to Notre Dame or Penn State or UCLA, and not just to another SEC school, but to ALABAMA. Never in a million years would he have gone from LSU straight to 'Bama, or Georgia, or Auburn, but this way he winds up coaching a rival we will play every year? That is lame.

You know what it's like? It's like you've got this fantastic girlfriend, and things are really tight between you two -- she's THE ONE. She gets this great, once in-a-lifetime job opportunity in Europe that she has to take, but you can't go. You don't want to break up, but you don't want to hold her back; this is best for HER future, so you two end your relationship, and she moves away. Two years later, you find out Europe didn't work out, and not only is she back in America, but she's back in your home town, in your neighborhood, and has moved in with your overbearing self-serving co-worker or the loudmouth, no-class guy who lives down the block.

And for those who compare this to Spurrier and Florida, it isn't even close. For it to be close, Saban would have had to have taken a job with Mississippi State or Ole Miss, or Spurrier would've had to have taken a job with Florida State, Georgia or Tennessee.

Finally, let me just add that Saban showed little class, tact or smarts the way he went about it. He clearly LIED-- he could have hedged, said only "I'm not going to discuss it (now)", etc. And he clearly bailed on Miami. He hasn''t made many friends outside of Alabama (the state) and there are also a LOT of Auburn people can't wait to make Bam look foolish for spending all that dough on him... and for $32 million, Bama won't tolerate going 2-3 against Auburn the way he did at LSU...

[leopard88]

Finally, let me just add that Saban showed little class, tact or smarts the way he went about it. He clearly LIED-- he could have hedged, said only "I'm not going to discuss it (now)", etc.

You succinctly made the only point that I wanted to add. "I'm not going to discuss it" would have been 100% better that a flat denial that only made him look like a liar afterward.