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Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com
Corso, Saban spoke at Team Focus event in Mobile Tuesday night
Lee Corso said it without equivocation on Tuesday, without any ifs, ands or buts.
Speaking as part of the Team Focus fundraiser at the Mobile Convention Center, Corso -- the long-time college football coach turned ESPN broadcasting institution -- said there is no question in his mind as to who is the greatest college football coach ever. It is the man with whom he was sharing the dais, Alabama's Nick Saban.
"I believe Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach of all time," Corso said. "I know he tied 'the Bear' with his sixth national championship, but it's harder to win nowadays. It's like you're playing a different sport than it was back in the old days. ... What he has done at Alabama is amazing."
As Corso -- who had head coaching stops at Indiana, Louisville and Northern Illinois from 1969-84 -- noted, Saban tied the major-college football record set by former Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant with his sixth national championship (including one at LSU) this past season. Though he still ranks behind Bryant in overall victories (323 to 223) and conference championships (15 to 7), Saban has moved slightly ahead in winning percentage (.781 to .780) and bowl winning percentage (.590 to .552).
And despite turning 66 years old this past October, Saban has shown no signs that last year's championship run will be his final one. And on Tuesday, he didn't appear ready to rest on his laurels.
"Everybody's entitled to their opinion," Saban said of Corso's compliment. "I think there's been a lot of great coaches in college football. I think we've been very fortunate to have a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches who have helped us have success. Our focus is on, how successful can we be with the group of players that we have right now? That's what I think we owe them, and we certainly thank everybody that's been a part of helping us be successful at Alabama. But I also think every thank you has an I.O.U., so we owe every player in our program everything we can do to help them and support them."
On Tuesday, Saban made his 11th straight appearance at the fundraiser for Team Focus, a youth mentoring program founded in Mobile in 2001 by former college football coach and broadcaster Mike Gottfried and his wife, Mickey. Saban often notes that the Team Focus fundraiser is the lone charity event stop he make each year, with the exception of his own Nick's Kids golf tournament.
Team Focus' mission is to provide "leadership skills, guidance, Godly values and a continual relationship with a mentor" to young men without a father figure in their lives. It's a cause near to Saban's heart, as he was just 21 years old when lost his own father to a sudden heart attack.
"Mike and Mickey do such a fantastic job through Team Focus helping young people have a better chance to be successful," Saban said. "We've got the same philosophical, cultural (mission) that they do through Nick's Kids, to a huge degree. We just support so much what they do and think that it's a great example to people and shows great leadership, what people can do to help others be successful.
"We spend our whole lives learning how to be successful, harvesting our gifts. At some point in time, I like to recognize people who are willing to give back and do a lot for others."
Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com
Lee Corso: Nick Saban is greatest college football coach of all time
Lee Corso said it without equivocation on Tuesday, without any ifs, ands or buts.
Speaking as part of the Team Focus fundraiser at the Mobile Convention Center, Corso -- the long-time college football coach turned ESPN broadcasting institution -- said there is no question in his mind as to who is the greatest college football coach ever. It is the man with whom he was sharing the dais, Alabama's Nick Saban.
"I believe Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach of all time," Corso said. "I know he tied 'the Bear' with his sixth national championship, but it's harder to win nowadays. It's like you're playing a different sport than it was back in the old days. ... What he has done at Alabama is amazing."
As Corso -- who had head coaching stops at Indiana, Louisville and Northern Illinois from 1969-84 -- noted, Saban tied the major-college football record set by former Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant with his sixth national championship (including one at LSU) this past season. Though he still ranks behind Bryant in overall victories (323 to 223) and conference championships (15 to 7), Saban has moved slightly ahead in winning percentage (.781 to .780) and bowl winning percentage (.590 to .552).
And despite turning 66 years old this past October, Saban has shown no signs that last year's championship run will be his final one. And on Tuesday, he didn't appear ready to rest on his laurels.
"Everybody's entitled to their opinion," Saban said of Corso's compliment. "I think there's been a lot of great coaches in college football. I think we've been very fortunate to have a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches who have helped us have success. Our focus is on, how successful can we be with the group of players that we have right now? That's what I think we owe them, and we certainly thank everybody that's been a part of helping us be successful at Alabama. But I also think every thank you has an I.O.U., so we owe every player in our program everything we can do to help them and support them."
On Tuesday, Saban made his 11th straight appearance at the fundraiser for Team Focus, a youth mentoring program founded in Mobile in 2001 by former college football coach and broadcaster Mike Gottfried and his wife, Mickey. Saban often notes that the Team Focus fundraiser is the lone charity event stop he make each year, with the exception of his own Nick's Kids golf tournament.
Team Focus' mission is to provide "leadership skills, guidance, Godly values and a continual relationship with a mentor" to young men without a father figure in their lives. It's a cause near to Saban's heart, as he was just 21 years old when lost his own father to a sudden heart attack.
"Mike and Mickey do such a fantastic job through Team Focus helping young people have a better chance to be successful," Saban said. "We've got the same philosophical, cultural (mission) that they do through Nick's Kids, to a huge degree. We just support so much what they do and think that it's a great example to people and shows great leadership, what people can do to help others be successful.
"We spend our whole lives learning how to be successful, harvesting our gifts. At some point in time, I like to recognize people who are willing to give back and do a lot for others."
Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com
Lee Corso: Nick Saban is greatest college football coach of all time
