Why is Bama so feared? Because its coach scares us to death
The cult of Nick congregates in the lobby of the Wynfrey Hotel. (Photo by M. Bradley)
Hoover, Ala. – Alabama was the choice of the assembled media here to win the 2011 SEC championship, which was no shock. Everybody exalts Alabama nowadays. It was in January 2010, after the Crimson Tide won the first of what would be one consecutive BCS title, that Sports Illustrated proclaimed it “a dynasty,” and it was only last fall we were wondering if Bama was unbeatable.
Then it lost to South Carolina, to LSU and to Auburn (after leading 24-0 in Tuscaloosa), and suddenly we media folks were grasping: How did the program newly seen as the nation’s flagship finish in the bottom half of the SEC West? Didn’t another school from Alabama take the BCS title? Was it possible the dynastic Tide had been overblown?
Guess not. Because we media types are doing it again. The Tide figures to start the season ranked no worse than No. 2 (behind Oklahoma and nobody else) in the polls, and in the conference-sanctioned balloting for SEC champ it drew 62.4 percent of the 157 votes cast. This despite losing four first-round NFL draftees (Marcell Dareus, Julio Jones, James Carpenter and Mark Ingram) and starting quarterback Greg McElroy.
Asked Friday about this apparent incongruity, Alabama’s coach said: “From a logical standpoint, I know there’s a couple other teams in our division — forget about the league — that have just as many returning starters and their quarterback. So even though [sarcasm alert] I have a tremendous amount of respect for the intelligence level and your ability to prognosticate … I don’t understand how you come to the decisions you do.”
The answer, this correspondent of limited intellect would submit, has to do with Alabama’s coach. Nick Saban is considered the best collegiate coach now working by as great a distance as Dwight Howard is regarded as the NBA’s top center. Saban has won BCS titles at different SEC outposts, which proved his black magic was transferable. And it isn’t so much that folks believe Saban is smarter than everyone else but that we know he’ll work his 30-hour days until he figures things out.
Alabama fans are difficult to please — a guy bearing an ursine nickname won pretty big in Tuscaloosa — but they’ve venerated Saban from the moment he arrived. Indeed, a cult of personality has arisen around this coach, and that’s something you don’t often see in SEC football. There was one surrounding Paul W. Bryant and also about Steve Spurrier (though he qualified as an Evil Genius only at Florida), but Vince Dooley (six SEC titles, one national championship) and Urban Meyer (two BCS titles) never had one.
With Saban, it’s really a cult of impersonality. Sometimes it seems the sole difference between Saban and his near-namesake Satan is that the devil has a sense of humor. It was Saban who famously spent the press briefing after Alabama’s breakthrough victory over No. 3-ranked Georgia in 2008 — the Tide led 31-0 after two quarters on the road — raging about how his team had been outscored by 20 points in the second half.
“I know I don’t look happy,” Saban said that night, “but I am.”
Saban never looks happy. The man is so driven you wonder how he hasn’t yet driven himself, and those who work under him, insane. He cracked one smile during his half-hour appearance before the print media Friday, and then only to make fun of Baton Rouge writer Glenn Guilbeau, whom Saban described as “a friend.” (Coach Satan has friends? Who knew?)
As odd as it sounds, the glowers have become Saban’s stock in trade. He appears to take football more seriously than anyone else in his industry, and this plays well in the South, where college football is taken most seriously, and in his state, which is mad for the game.
Another incongruity: The manically intense Saban spent a couple of minutes Friday suggesting that Auburn-Alabama rivalry has grown too intense. “We can be all be a little more respectful to each other and still have just as a fierce a competition on the field as we’ve ever had,” he said.
But that was it for moderation. Saban devoted most of his time to the boilerplate stuff — focus, commitment, all that jazz — and then he stalked away, the smell of sulfur in his wake. Gazing on him, we thought to ourselves, “What mortal can possibly stand against such fury?”
Les Miles, maybe?
By Mark Bradley
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391 comments Add your comment
RGB
July 23rd, 2011
11:38 am
From Wikipedia:
LSU enters the 2011 season with 721 victories, the 12th most in NCAA history, and the 4th most of any SEC team, behind only Alabama (792), Tennessee (783), and Georgia (731). LSU entered the 2010 season with a 0.641 all-time winning percentage, the 14th best in the NCAA, and the 4th best in the SEC, behind only Alabama (0.707), Tennessee (0.692), and Georgia (0.646).
LSU officially claims three national championships (1958, 2003 & 2007). In their 121-year history, the Buckeyes claim seven national championships, but were consensus national champions six times. (7-3 = 4)
Since beginning play in 1892, the Crimson Tide program has claimed 13 national championships.
LSU vs. Alabama
Overall Record Against Alabama: 24-45-5
Source: tigerdroppings.com
Lesson for “LSU4LIFE”: Keep your mouth shut if you can’t even come close to backing it up.
Bryant
July 23rd, 2011
11:45 am
LAST!!!
dawg150
July 23rd, 2011
12:15 pm
Saban is a great football coach……..a given. But to say (jay) he built two programs, LSU, and Alabama, into national champs from “the ground up”, is a bit condesending to the players and coaches before him, at both universities mentioned. Also, any coach, or individual for that matter, who requires a button to open or close an office door is……well……let it speak for itself. As a UGA fan and avid follower for 40 years, respect for Mr. Saban is warranted. But football certainly exsisted at both UA and LSU before he arrived and damn sure will continue after his departure…….
ClinchPanther
July 23rd, 2011
1:56 pm
the runt may scare you mark but no US
RED DOG 77
July 23rd, 2011
2:49 pm
@JB At the end off the day I’m still a DAWG fan too……..cheers………..GATA………Regards, RED
Wladmir Klitschko
July 23rd, 2011
3:08 pm
gotta beat boise state in the GEORGIA dome
DMAN
July 23rd, 2011
3:48 pm
What was to fear about Bama last year,coach acts like a friggin JERK!
Concern
July 23rd, 2011
4:08 pm
Is the NCAA continuing to investigate Alabama over text book selling. Has been couple of years and have not heard the outcome?
If anyone knows please share.
LSU Rules
July 23rd, 2011
4:37 pm
Who’s shorter: Nick Saban or Terry Bowden?
Red Elephants Run Wild
July 23rd, 2011
5:02 pm
We are going to crush the competition in the SEC like Sherman burned South GA. The next three years are ours, and you low born teams will all be howling at the moon in envy before our run is completel
Alabama is better than LSU, owns Tennessee, stronger willed than Florida, aand fears no chicken team as we are back now at full strength.
We don’t care what you do, wear or pray too.
We only care about Alabama and what we do and we do it well…
We are the SEC and the SEC is Alabama the rest of you are just fluff.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
July 23rd, 2011
5:07 pm
Run through the South like Sherman A? Well I know one team that will be like the ole Lewis Grizzard story about the lome rebel on Stone Mountain. I damn sure can tell ya that one of the teams will be the U.. G..A Bulldamndawgs. So go suck on a roll of toilet paper you trailer loving ingrate.
wild one 13
July 23rd, 2011
6:34 pm
At Alabama, Coach Saban is given complete control of the program, the best facilities to train his men, and he is paid the highest salary of any college coach. The reason for this is simple. The fans of the Crimson Tide demand championships and will not settle for anything less.
As a life long Bama fan living in south Ga. I can tell you there is a huge difference in the fans of the Dawgs and Crimson Tide. That one huge difference is EXPECTATIONS!
wild one 13
July 23rd, 2011
6:35 pm
Enter your comments here
wild one 13
July 23rd, 2011
6:42 pm
As a life long Bama fan living in Ga. I can tell you one thing. There is one huge difference in the fans of the Dawgs and the Crimson Tide. It’s called EXPECTATIONS!
At Alabama they expect to win titles and win them often. The fans,alumni and boosters provide the tools and we expect the staff and players to deliver.
Corndogs rule
July 23rd, 2011
6:45 pm
Who’s dumber Less Miles or Gene Chizik?
ME
July 23rd, 2011
8:22 pm
Enter your comments here
Lowcountry Bulldawg
July 23rd, 2011
8:35 pm
Wildone13 but they still do not have the internet as it took you 3 posts to barely get you point across. Typical Bammer!
Another Moron dawg fan
July 23rd, 2011
9:09 pm
This is a bunch of bull. A few years ago Saban had fear in his eyes during our black-out game.
Another Moron dawg fan
July 23rd, 2011
9:09 pm
Oh, never mind….bad example.
Old soldier
July 23rd, 2011
9:16 pm
Very nice article. I am an old Bama fan and have been all my life. I bleed crimson. BUT as an old soldier serving overseas I remember getting all excited about SEC football and most especially Bama football AND most especially Auburn week. I noticed in all those years overseas no one seemed to get excited as I did. BUT when the Super Bowl was played everyone tuned in. Even the folks that lived in the countries I was serving in. You Georgia fans at least have the Falcons and the Braves. Over in Bama this is all we have.
jarvis
July 23rd, 2011
9:53 pm
Dick Saban’s a nick. Karma has a way of sorting out such things in the universe.
Gen Neyland
July 23rd, 2011
10:32 pm
Saban has put The Brick Brigade is out of work…
Bill
July 23rd, 2011
10:33 pm
Lowcountry Dwag, we are from that low country you described the other nite, right there in Charleston across the bridge, and knew a long, long, time ago to, step other the citadel, say no to the gamecocks, say hell no the dwags, and join the best program in the country, Alabama Crimson Tide football.
Paul
July 23rd, 2011
11:59 pm
@Bama Dude…
———————————————————————————-
I will give you that Auburn’s second TD to open the second half was a big play and your safety did not cut over properly which could be considered a blown coverage. But the rest of the game was either one of two things…either bad plays by Auburn or good plays/domination by Auburn. It didn’t matter what Bama did on that day, it was what Auburn did, as evidenced by our 14-0 record. Surely, you saw that Auburn had problems with wide receivers all year and saw the stats they kept posting about how all the teams in the SEC big receivers had big games against us, Green, Jeffries, Jones etc. It didn’t matter all year. We continued to find a way to win. The Mark Ingram fumble was indeed a fortunate bounce for Auburn but a great defensive play nonetheless and a forced turnover, so was Fairly’s near the goal line. The rest of the game was controlled by Auburn on both sides of the ball and the rest of our drives were calculated drives with good decisions and play calling. After Lutzenkirchen scored the last TD they put the camera on Saban and Smart and they are arguing and they clearly were upset about the defensive play calling or schemes. They simply got outcoached in the game.
I respect Alabama but you have to understand it gets a little old always having to hear you guys make excuses every time you lose to us. It’s a little insane since the past 30 years we have held the advantage. Thats a long time and many fans can’t wrap their head around the concept that just because Alabama won a lot of game and “voted” national championships 40-50 years ago, that it somehow should erase what is going on in the present I understand that tradition is important and should never be taken away, but you must realize that the present is just as important and should also never be taken away.
If any Bama fans tries to suggest that they laid down, or gave up, and some have gone as far as to say that Slive called Saban at half time and told him to blow the game so Auburn could stay in the national title hunt for conference money is just downright comical and disrespectful. The bottom line is Alabama was trying and playing hard to win that game, they just didn’t this year.
Bamababe1980
July 24th, 2011
1:08 am
Don’t you just LOVE SEC football? We’re all so dedicated, supportive and intense about our teams! I was sooooo fortunate to attend U of A when Bryant was our coach, but am always respectful and supportive of the Spurriers, Meyers, Miles and Richts of our generation. I hope these traditions continue to please us for years to come. I have been very fortunate to have personally witnessed 3 National Championship games and look forward to many more! RTR and go SEC!
Street and Smith
July 24th, 2011
3:44 am
Why is the national press so excited
about an Alabama team which finished in 4th place last year ?
*(out of six teams in the SEC West)
zulucanibal
July 24th, 2011
4:42 am
PRISON WARDEN = NICK SABAN
The Voice of Reason
July 24th, 2011
7:28 am
It’s amusing – and very ignorant – to perpetuate the notion that somehow SEC teams or any FBS school are “scared” of Alabama and its midget coach, Osaban Bin Lyin. Last year, SC, LSU, and Auburn didn’t get the memo, just like Utah a few years back in the Sugar Bowl, blowing out a double-digit favorite while playing two time zones and 2300 miles away from home.
Da Coach
July 24th, 2011
7:54 am
Yeah, yeah, Nick Saban both invented and mastered the art of coaching. Wait a minute: Is this the same Nick Saban that went 15-17 as a head coach in the NFL; where all the talent is equal? The same guy that also was an assistant coach in Cleveland and Houston as well, where no Lombardi trophies appeared in those teams’ glass case during his time in those cities? The same guy who wasn’t even considered the best college coach in the state of Michigan when he was at MSU? Must be somebody else…..
Outside looking in
July 24th, 2011
8:00 am
Alabama had four first-round NFL draft picks last year…and lost three games. Must have been the coaching!
Newnandawg
July 24th, 2011
8:38 am
Oh, there are tons of other coaches besides Saban out there who have taken two struggling programs and won national championships with them. Wait, no there aren’t….
michael
July 24th, 2011
8:53 am
alabama cheats and we ALL know it. hell, i live on alabama street, go figure…..
Paul N Destin
July 24th, 2011
9:06 am
Yes Saban cheats …by working 24/7/365 with football. He ran Tubbs and FatFulmer out of town becasue both were to damn lazy to recruit (even the Nick Saban rule didn’t help those two). Many of you don’t understand that Alabama replaced almost the entire defense last year with some freshmen and many many soph’s thus we weren’t ready for primetime. Well the youth isn’t a problem now sport and we don’t have 6 teams with open dates to contend with either and I bet your team doesn’t as well!!!! Bama might not win the NC but it will be in the hunt each and every year that Nick Saban is at Bama. The one thing you must know is that your HC is working hard because they must in order to stick with Nick and Bama so you can thank Nick for that. Red…you don’t know sheet about Coach Bryant. Stick with UGA and your one trophy.
Barf
July 24th, 2011
9:34 am
I didn’t know Bamana fans could read or write, all I know is we went almost an entire decade and never heard from one on these blogs. Oh I know, computers finally made it into the Alabama 3 years ago, or was it electricity?
RAB1482
July 24th, 2011
9:45 am
Um, Mark, I think you and the other sportswriters are the only ones that “fear” Alabama. The rest of us know that they put their pants on one leg at a time…..
Roll Turd
July 24th, 2011
10:01 am
Louisiana-Monroe fans are neither impressed nor intimidated…!!!! We are still laughing…!!! Tide will be the butt of our jokes for many years to come…!!! Thanks bama…
UTee
July 24th, 2011
10:12 am
Gen Neyland
Dooley years = Shula years
Enjoy!
Ryan D.
July 24th, 2011
10:19 am
Hey did Ya’ll hear what happened at the last Bama – UGA game? The UGA fans threw fireworks at the Bama Fans. What did the Bama fans do? They picked them up and lit the fuses and threw them back.
Snoop Dawg
July 24th, 2011
10:29 am
Saban is orders of magnitude better than Richt. So no matter how much recruiting we do, we will be perennial losers. We are literally wasting three million dollars a man with Mark Richt who impesonates the Dali Lama while in transcendental meditation on the sidelines during games. Why doesn’t the Bulldog Nation demand better?
Snoop Dawg
July 24th, 2011
10:34 am
UGA’s football program has much more money than Alabama’s, and the school’s academic reputation is much, much better. So why don’t we demand that UGA’s senior leadership find and pay for a world class coach like Alabama has done? See, Alabama is smarter than Georgia in this regard. UGA is jealous of Saban. If Saban or Spurrier or Petrino or Mullins or almost any other SEC coach were head coach of the Bulldogs, they would immediately attain immortal status among the fan base. How long must this bs with da Preacha Man go on?
Confused
July 24th, 2011
10:39 am
Because Bama has the highest salary cap in the SEC. We just can’t afford to pay our players like they do, so they attract the top tier talent
BAMA STAN
July 24th, 2011
10:43 am
Hey GEORGIA, Congrats on landing 3 players (out of 37) on the offensive and 3 players (out of 37) on the defensive preseason All SEC teams. Likewise congrats on having the number 2 rated recruiting class in the entire NCAA over the last 10 years. Something doesn’t add up.
BAMA STAN
July 24th, 2011
10:45 am
Saban doesn’t cheat. He simply outworks everyone and demands that his coaches and players do too. That’s why he wins EVERYWHERE he goes. Its really, really simple.
BAMA STAN
July 24th, 2011
10:49 am
I still like that 31-0 “black eye” we gave you at half time when you pulled that “black out” stunt on us a few years ago. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. BWAHAHAHAHAHA…HAHAHAHAHAH…hahahah.em
BAMA STAN
July 24th, 2011
10:51 am
gimme some of that Georgia koolaid! hahahahahhahaha…
Ryan D.
July 24th, 2011
10:51 am
Enter your comments here
Ryan D.
July 24th, 2011
10:54 am
Did ya’ll here what happened at the last Bama-UGA game? The UGA fans threw fireworks at the Bama fans. What did the Bama fans do? They picked them up, lit the fuses and threw them back. And they call us trailer park dwellers!!!!
Really?
July 24th, 2011
10:58 am
“He (Saban) wins EVERYWHERE he goes.” Let’s ask the Dolphins for confirmation of that absolute statement, preferably with the two SB trophies “He” delivered with that sparkling 15-17 record. To quote CFB HOF’er Jim Mandich, an All American at Michigan who played for Schembechler in college and some guy named Don Shula in pros at Miami. “Nick Saban? The biggest phony, fake, two-bit lyer I’ve ever come across.”
Snoop Dawg
July 24th, 2011
11:06 am
If Nick Saban were coach at UGA bringing in championships and number one recruiting classes, he would be put on a pedestal and worshipped by these same Richt zombies in the fan base. Pure and simple, they are just jealous of Alabama’s success and too stupid to make the changes necessary to compete.
BAMA STAN
July 24th, 2011
11:06 am
I stand corrected Really? I was referring to college football. Everything else look pretty accurate to you?