🏈 10 years ago today, January 3, 2007

[Bamabww]

Ten years ago today, on Jan. 3, 2007, Nick Saban was announced as the new football coach at the University of Alabama. He was introduced in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 4.

And what happened after that is better than any of us ever expected. Roll Tide.

 

[Alabama17Tide]

HURT: Saban Era has surpassed all expectations
Cecil Hurt | TideSports.com

Nick Saban watches his Crimson Tide players warm up before Alabama's game with the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016.
Gary Cosby | The Tuscaloosa News
No one knew.

No one knew for certain 10 years ago that Alabama was on the verge of another Golden Age, that a plane landing on a Tarmac in Tuscaloosa was bringing not just a talented football coach – everyone knew that – but that the coach would ring another era of dominance, the third or fourth or fifth for UA, depending on how you calculate some things. There is no universal method since it isn't an issue for most schools. No one can be sure such things are destiny.

What some people did know, even a decade ago, was there was no other candidate available like Nick Saban. Even while the decision to make a coaching change was still being debated, there was a faction of strong Saban support in Mal Moore's ear. Their categorization was that Saban was such an "absolute coaching machine" that Alabama needed to pursue him as long as there was a glimmer of hope that he would leave the NFL. That support remained steadfast through the tumult of a coaching search. Not everyone was in favor of pushing the panic button to pursue Rich Rodriguez. When Rodriguez wavered about remaining at West Virginia, they urged Moore not to make any countering offers, certainly not for a coach who couldn't decide that Tuscaloosa was a better career choice than Morgantown. When luck had it that Rodriguez declined the hasty offer, patience became the watchword.

Hiring a proven head coach in his prime is never easy. People tend not to grasp that when they see prime-seeming jobs at the top tier of the Power Five filled by less-than-guaranteed hires. But who can offer guarantees? What coaches are at that level today? Saban and Urban Meyer, and maybe, at the next tier, Bob Stoops, Jim Harbaugh, Chris Petersen, Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher.

Think of it this way: the University of Texas, awash in money and tradition, is elated over the hiring of Tom Herman. And there is nothing wrong with that. But, for all his promise, how does Herman's resume compare with Saban's, even his 2007 bona fides? As much as Alabama fans revere the UA program, the fact is that Alabama has made two such transcendent coaching hires in its history. One of those was an alum. But those two, Paul W. "Bear" Bryant and Nick Saban, put Alabama far ahead of the curve. Both came wearing large boots at a time when the Alabama program needed a kick in the pants.

Beyond that, it's pointless to compare the greatness of geniuses. Human nature seems to require us to make a definitive statement about who was better, Mozart or Beethoven. In sports, with a scoreboard in its DNA, that seems even more necessary. But judging a competition without context is impossible. The fair statement is that both coaches, Saban and Bryant, were (or are) better than anyone at what they do at the time they are (or were) doing it.

No one knew, 10 years ago, no matter what they claim 10 years after. Not even Nick Saban knew. Certainly, he came on the scene with confidence. But no one can be sure of circumstances. The Dolphins experiment taught him that, or reinforced what he already knew. There was, however, a chance. Alabama was a place where it had been done before, and it's fair to assume that Saban believed that if someone else could do it, then so could he.

Will it last forever? Of course not. But this isn't the time to ponder the future, but to recognize the greatness of a decade – and, if you're an Alabama fan, to be grateful that it worked out so incredibly well.
TideSports.com - HURT: Saban Era has surpassed all expectations

 

[TUSKtimes]

Ten years ago today, on Jan. 3, 2007, Nick Saban was announced as the new football coach at the University of Alabama. He was introduced in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 4.

And what happened after that is better than any of us ever expected. Roll Tide.

Shortly after the announcement, I started seeing t-shirts all over the place that read, "Got Saban"? Man, after 4 years of being lost in the wilderness, it was a super great feeling to be found.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Shortly after the announcement, I started seeing t-shirts all over the place that read, "Got Saban"? Man, after 4 years of being lost in the wilderness, it was a super great feeling to be found.

4 years? How old are you? 14?

 

[TUSKtimes]

4 years? How old are you? 14?

Now you don't believe that. I didn't feel compelled to go through the whole list. 4 years of Shula should make anyone thankful enough.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

Is it me, or does this reek of jabs at our fan base and Southerners in general throughout?

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Is it me, or does this reek of jabs at our fan base and Southerners in general throughout?

I made it just over a minute into it before killing it.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

I made it just over a minute into it before killing it.

I wanted to kill it around that time, but reluctantly continued for masochistic curiosity.

And this a freaking Tide Sports production.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I wanted to kill it around that time, but reluctantly continued for masochistic curiosity.

And this a freaking Tide Sports production.

I didn't notice that. Poor attempt to match AL.com's SEC shorts.

 

[XXL TideFan]

I watched it all. Dear G-D! It sounds like it was put together by a couple of finebaum callers.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

I watched it all. Dear G-D! It sounds like it was put together by a couple of finebaum callers.

Yeah, not the best outing by a TideSprots crew.

 

[UAgrad93]

Horrible!!! TideSports should be ashamed of that hot garbage!! This even gives Finebaum callers a bad name!!!

 

[bamascw]

You know, I talk about this with my son (who is 22) all of the time. I am 44, and missed out on the Bear era but this must have been what it was like. I tell him that he is spoiled because he can barley recall the Dubose years and the aftermath of that debacle that followed. I tell him constantly, enjoy this because when Saban is gone, I may never see something like this again. I remember the morning of the press conference, I watched it standing up and pacing the floor like some kind of expecting father. What has transpired has so surpassed my expectations that I almost feel bad for others. ALMOST......... I could ramble on but I can't imagine too many people have read this far into the paragraph anyway so....
Roll Tide!

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

My youngest son was born 45 days later & he don't have a clue.

 

[mando]

I experienced both. I was a teen during the bear years in the 70's so I did not appreciate it as much as what I am seeing now. After the dark ages you realize how hard it was. When I was a teen I just took it for granted because that is how it had always been (with one dip in late 60's which I really do not remember). Enjoy what Saban is doing as long as it last. Even when he leaves it will carry-over because he has built such a rock solid foundation but inevitably it will dip at some point.

 

[BamaFan334]

Is it me, or does this reek of jabs at our fan base and Southerners in general throughout?

Fuck 'em. I'll take the Natty's and let them have their limp comical impressions.

 

[UAgrad93]

You know, I talk about this with my son (who is 22) all of the time. I am 44, and missed out on the Bear era but this must have been what it was like. I tell him that he is spoiled because he can barley recall the Dubose years and the aftermath of that debacle that followed. I tell him constantly, enjoy this because when Saban is gone, I may never see something like this again. I remember the morning of the press conference, I watched it standing up and pacing the floor like some kind of expecting father. What has transpired has so surpassed my expectations that I almost feel bad for others. ALMOST......... I could ramble on but I can't imagine too many people have read this far into the paragraph anyway so....
Roll Tide!

I have you by 2 years, but I remember the late 70's of Coach Bryant. I always wanted to play for the Bear when I was that age. My dad and his brothers are all big BAMA fans, so I guess that is why I have such a vivid memory. I was a freshman walk on Curry's last year and then hung around another year for Coach Stallings. So I experienced some highs and lows. If I had spent as much time studying as I did in my playbook, I would've received the '92 Natty ring.
I tell my 15 year old son to enjoy this time as well. He is hoping that he can at least experience some time like I did during my my years at UA, at best as a scholarship player, at worst a walk on. I started carrying him to games as a toddler so he did witness some of the Shula years. He knows that this may never be seen again.