Saban gets a statue? Is his birthday a holiday now, too?

OK, you can understand Alabama having a statue for "Bear" Bryant . . .

A "Bear" Bryant statue at Alabama is understandable ...

All hail, Nick Saban.

After only three seasons, Alabama is building a statue for its football coach. Can’t imagine what he gets if the Crimson Tide wins another championship. Does the school attempt a hostile takeover of neighboring states and give him parts of Mississippi and south Georgia? Maybe some coastline, between Pensacola and Panama City? Or was that already included in his original contract?

Alabama, coming off its BCS title in Saban’s third season, confirmed that a bronze statue of the coach already is in the works. It is expected to be completed by April 17, the day of the annual “A Day” spring game, when all banks and Walmarts will be closed.

Plans are for Saban to be carried into the stadium that day by servants, with

... But a statue for Nick Saban already?

... But isn't it a little early for a statue of Nick Saban?

trumpets blaring and angels singing. OK. Might’ve made that part up.

Three years and you get a statue? Most jobs, you don’t even get vested for 10.

“We are sculpting clay right now and we have pretty good direction on what they want for the look of it,” project manager Corey Beltz said. “Coach Saban’s love of student-athletes, his love of being a teacher, that is what we have been asked to emphasize. He won’t be in a suit and tie — that’s not his style. It will reflect more of his role as an encourager, a director, that’s the general direction. They’re sculpting the face right now.”

The eyes. There’s something about those haunting eyes . . .

The 12-foot statue will stand outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium, along with those of four other coaches who won championships: Paul “Bear” Bryant, Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas and Gene Stallings.

Alabama moves quickly to celebrate its football coaches. I don’t believe alumnus Harper Lee has a statue outside the stadium. But all she did was win a Pulitzer Prize for writing, “To Kill A Mockingbird” and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Bernard Madoff attended Alabama for a while. He never got a statue, either.

It took 31 years (28 years as a head coach) before Bobby Bowden received a statue at Florida State.

Urban Meyer is still waiting. Maybe Florida just wants to see if he coaches the spring game first.

Georgia erected a statue for Vince Dooley in 2008 — 28 years after the Bulldogs’ national championship.

I think Bobby Ross is still waiting for his at Georgia Tech.

Come to think of it, so is Bobby Dodd.

Silly other schools. They must have other priorities.

PHOTOS: Vote in AJC.com’s gallery poll on which other college coaches deserve statues

394 comments Add your comment

[...] Man, the meltdown in Tuscaloosa will be EPIC if Saban ever pulls a Lane Kiffin and takes off for another job.   How many layers of tobacco spit will cover Saban’s bronze statue if that happens?  Bama fans might chuckle at the notion of Saban ever leaving their beloved Capstone, but hey, he’s pulled up stakes four times before in the last 20 years.  The rest of Schultz’s column can be found here. [...]

dcope

January 30th, 2010
9:08 am

we will worry about that when it happens…..as for georgia, richt will leave….cause he’s going to get fired. and for that fool that said saban’s record against ga. isn’t that great and that he was 3-2 against them. well dumbass that’s a winning record aint it?

Nick

January 30th, 2010
9:15 am

Seems like it would be pretty hard for a Coach to leave a school for another job when they have a statue built in your honor……dont think that wasn’t thought of! Smart move on Bama’s part! What I love is the fact that Bama isn’t making any excuses about it. Everyone else can talk trash about Bama putting up a statue for Nick Saban. But as long as they are winning….let em talk. RTR!!

dcope

January 30th, 2010
9:25 am

i think uga should put up a statue of saban….pissing on that dog cemetary

bamaguy

January 30th, 2010
9:29 am

You children keep sitting in the back of the bus shouting insults and throwing spitballs. We will be up front sitting with Florida holding our crystal footballs. Now y’all behave.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
9:33 am

georgia don’t want anything to do with the gators either. they have been chewed up almost everytime they play u guys. now they are thinking “whew, tebow is gone maybe we gone beat em this year”. i bet they don’t

Richt has Natl Champ Year 7 Times

January 30th, 2010
9:42 am

5 times Richt got FSU get to the National Championship. Won the Natl Champ with Georgia in 2002 & 2007, finished #1 both years.

Gen Neyland

January 30th, 2010
9:43 am

JS : Guess every brick structure in Alabama can be construed as a monument to the state’s NCAA Champion Brick Throwers too.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
9:44 am

he has NOT won a national championship at georgia. you need to get out a little more. gooooood god, what an idiot

dcope

January 30th, 2010
9:45 am

i know a tennesse fan isn’t writing in.?. don’t u guys have enough problems? i hear there is a statue in the works for kiffin.?

Gen Neyland

January 30th, 2010
9:45 am

dcope : That guy above must be a speech writer for BHO.

Gen Neyland

January 30th, 2010
9:48 am

dcope : Naw. We aren’t gonna commission a stature for Kiffin but we are gonna rename our water collection facilities the Lane Kiffin Sewer System.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
9:50 am

that dude needs to stop writing immediately. he is probably one of the most ignorant people on this planet. maybe uga should put a statue up of him.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
9:51 am

i like tennesse, and i think they should. i’ve been to a bama tenn game in knoxville and was treated with nothing but respect. georgia fans are another story, but yeah u guys should rename that sewer plant asap. what a joke kiffin is, and it will catch up with him

Dawg Tired

January 30th, 2010
10:01 am

Will the statue be displayed at the local Walmart?

dcope

January 30th, 2010
10:21 am

whoever won the nat’l championship HAD to display it at walmart..texas or alabama. it was a previous deal. one thing is for sure, there will not be one displayed anytime soon at a walmart near athens.

John

January 30th, 2010
10:22 am

UGA has a statue up for every coach they have had win a National Championship. I am an Alabama fan and do think it is a little early to put one up. However, I don’t see the point in a column like this and taking shots at the University because of a football statue.

bamaguy

January 30th, 2010
10:47 am

John: It’s tough being a sports writer at a major city newspaper in a state where both the college and professional teams are second-tier. He has to take a shot at a champion to appease the readers because he will never be able to actually write an article about one. He’s just pandering to his audience.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
11:05 am

some people think cucumbers taste better pickled.?…

IrishEyes

January 30th, 2010
11:14 am

Notre Dame just recently unveiled the Rockne statue. How insane was waiting this long?

I don’t have a problem with Bama putting up a statue of Saban. What he has done with that program deserves a statue.

Katielenn

January 30th, 2010
11:36 am

Hey you other losers….did they teach you to spell WAH WAH WAH to get your degrees? Win national championships more regularly than once a century and you too can be conceited.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
11:36 am

i’m gonna put a statue of myself in front of schultz’s yard. go dawgs. woof woof woof

bronzeless athens

January 30th, 2010
11:39 am

one thing for sure…

no bronze will go to waste making RICHT a statue!!

you have to WIN something first…

moving vans already reserved for him…

oh yeah…maybe for having a top 5 recruiting year EVERY year…

then wasting it with UGA coaching skills…

just LOVE those blackouts!!!!!

you can’t even keep your uga’s alive

lolol

dcope

January 30th, 2010
11:43 am

i heard that last mascot hung himself, on purpose! don’t blame him one bit

Michael Walker

January 30th, 2010
11:48 am

Urban doesn’t have a statue…..but Tebow has a plaque. AND…..you knew this would happen before he won the National Championship. When the first four statues were erected, they left an open space for the next national championship coach. Seems like this article is about three years too late. Dont’ be jealous and don’t hate. The writing has been on the wall since the Bryant days-If you win National Championships, we will honor you!!

Duh George

January 30th, 2010
11:52 am

tebow’s gonna need to sell that plaque to try and earn a living. He’s gonna be broke in a few weeks here, when he doesn’t get drafted. he might get picked up in the 3rd or 4th round for a $100,000 contract.

Matt Stafford got $40 million.

Matt Stafford get 400x more than Tebow will get.

too funny.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
11:54 am

i think schultz should win the national championship in b.s. journalism. is it ur birthday jeff?

dcope

January 30th, 2010
12:21 pm

from the look of tebow’s parents…he aint going broke. why don’t u go try out for an nfl combine.?.

David McElroy

January 30th, 2010
12:47 pm

I’m not a big fan of statues of ANYbody, but the “rule” about who UA is going to erect statues of at the stadium is clear and has been ever since the others were put up. Coaches whose teams have won national championships have a statue. Period. It’s not a subjective judgement thing about each coach. It’s just a simple rule. Saban has now become one of those people. What’s so hard to understand about that?

dcope

January 30th, 2010
1:21 pm

dawg fans, they are just mad cause their team sucks

MAC

January 30th, 2010
1:43 pm

Ahhh, yes. Statues of FOOTBALL COACHES outside of a FOOTBALL STADIUM clearly highlights Bama’s out-of-whack priorities. Get a clue, man.

Delrod03

January 30th, 2010
1:45 pm

Dude, every Alabama coach that wins a National Title gets a statue. You guys wouldn’t know it because you don’t win National Titles. Maybe you guys can put one up of Richt if he ever makes it back to 10 wins in a season.

Bama fans = UGA employees

January 30th, 2010
1:58 pm

Hey Bama fans, this AJC is a news paper. This section is the sports section, and anything in college sports could possibly be posted. Saban getting a statue would be considered NCAA news. Georgia has no desire to be you Bama fans (our employees).
Congrats on the blackout win though, first one in 13 years over UGA!

chuck cutts

January 30th, 2010
2:10 pm

keep trying jeff, perhaps you will be relevant one day, though i doubt it……wannabe

dcope

January 30th, 2010
2:17 pm

we don’t want to be employed by u loosers….richt will not be for long. just like dooley and all the rest, they get rid of them cause they suck. i’ve been hearing about 1980 for so long..man, i was nine yrs old then, i’m 38 now. bama has won …well i don’t know how may title since then. go blow uga V11. and stop drinking for god’s sake

Roll Turd

January 30th, 2010
4:19 pm

Just think…all the Vols had to do was make one of three field goal attempts and all of this would have NEVER happened….!!

Jaye

January 30th, 2010
4:45 pm

How about a statue of UGA players wearing black unis about to attend their own funeral on the gridiron? We’ll put one up so the next time the perpetual under achieving Richtlings come to BDS they’ll remember the way it was and they way it soon will be…again.

Robert E. Lee V

January 30th, 2010
5:05 pm

Bama owns Gawja , That’s for damn sure . Also forced Jawja Tech outta the SEC . That’s for damn sure too .

Dawg Tired

January 30th, 2010
5:33 pm

Where will it be displayed in the Walmart? Will it be in the grocery section or in children’s clothing or in the garden section?

Dawg Tired

January 30th, 2010
5:36 pm

If both teams losing on their home field the last two times they played each other means being owned, then I guess Alerbamer owns us.

Dawg Tired

January 30th, 2010
5:41 pm

I wonder what happens if USC or UCLA win a NC with no Walmart nearby? Maybe they can display their NC Trophy in Bakersfield.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:03 pm

like i said earlier, there will NOT be a bcs championship trophy anytime soon in a walmart near athens georgia. suck on that one dawg tired, ….u should be tired, tired of the way you team plays year in and year out

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:13 pm

i suppose if georgia was worth a crap, shcultz would be writing about them not nick saban. better black out. oops

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:16 pm

maybe they should display it in bakersfield….but if u do ur homework u would know that whoever won the nat’l championship had to display it there….tex or bama. it was a previous deal. i’m glad they displayed it there, more people can see it. what are y’all selling @ the athens walmart??? pics of herschell still, or maybe dooley? black out. oops

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:25 pm

may just have some black jerseys on sale now though. AND a pic of herscell on a coca cola platter. u dawgs make me sick. win something, then we’ll chat. jealous biatches

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:34 pm

my brother has given more money to uga than should be allowed by law..and for what? i’m gonna slap his face next time i see him

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:44 pm

hi this is nick saban….when u dawg fans come down and see my statue …please, please unzip my zipper and get to work.

Dawg Tired

January 30th, 2010
6:47 pm

dcope seems to be very upset. Anger management seems be in order, You can probably sign up at the walmart next to the statue.

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:49 pm

yeah,,,,think i will dawg tired, i think i will. black out

dcope

January 30th, 2010
6:55 pm

i hope i get to go to walmart again next yr and see another crystal football. georgia fans will not be seeing one anytime soon.