Raise your hand Nick Saban and take the oath of the 'Bama Nation...He did.
Recently I had a chance to speak to Alabama head football coach Nick Saban at a gathering of Alabama faithful.
He was relaxed, smiling, and not the "Iceman" the press often paints him as.
When he was told I was into writing now, he looked me directly in the eye and asked, "A writer, huh? What's the worst thing you've ever written about me?"
Without hesitation, I told him it was when we first hired him and everyone was saying that you were a hired gun and wouldn't be with us long. I said that might be true, but for now, you're our hired gun, and I didn't care if you were or weren't staying long, just as long as you shot the bad guys.
He stayed emotionless for a second, then said, "That's fair, I guess. And it may have been true at one time, but now I'm an Alabama man. This is my last stop 'til I go to the lake house and hang it up and you can write that."
So, I am.
He went on to explain that he wanted back into college football badly while in Miami and yet he wasn't sure at first if Alabama was the right choice.
"I thought I had the best job in the world when I was at LSU," he said. "I've got friends still there and it was a great environment to live at work. I felt supported by all and was very happy there, but they had a coach and I wasn't sure if going to a team that was in the same division was a good idea."
Nick explained that Mal Moore was the kind of man who just wouldn't take no for an answer. He instantly liked Mal, but wasn't sure Alabama was right for him until Mal finally just wore him down.
The next thing he knew, he was in a car screaming from his house with his wife, daughter, his daughter's friend, and Mal all running for the airport. The media circle lasted for weeks.
Saban was not just king of the state's football universe, he was king of college football for a time.
It got a little nerve wracking having the press so intrusive in the smallest of details of the slightest things. But as the lights dimmed a bit and he had a chance to get to work, he began to see things he could never have imagined. Things that made him love the university more than he could have ever dreamed.
"I knew Mal and I were going to be friends, and that he would do his best to get us the best facilities, the best equipment, and work toward making sure we were second to none with everything we needed," Nick said.
"But I had never imagined the other things that would happen, like President Whitt (president of the University of Alabama) doing all that he does. He is the first president I've ever worked with that I can call my friend. He cares about everything Alabama, not just the academics, but the faculty, the sports teams, the library, the whole thing!" he continued.
"He wants us to be the best at EVERYTHING," he added excitedly. "He personally meets with recruits and families who visit the university and is the only university president I've ever worked with who works so hard to help us recruit. It makes a HUGE difference."
He went on to explain how other faculty members here have gone beyond expectations to be supportive, to offer help and to just be friends.
Then he talked about the fans—you could see the emotion in his face.
Since he's been here, he experienced the best fans of any school he has ever been to, coached at, or visited.
"I hate to call them fans; I'll call them family," he remarked. "When we had over 93,000 people show up for that first A-Day game, I was completely and utterly humbled. No team in the nation has better support from its fans than Alabama."
No, Nick had not fallen in love with the bricks and mortar of Alabama. The shaded confines of the quad did not enter his heart. It was the people, all the people.
"I am truly blessed to be at a place where every fan, every faculty member, and every student expects to be part of a championship. And I'm not just talking about football here. Everyone here has the same expectations as I do, and for the first time in my life, I am as proud of them for all they do as anything I could do myself," he said.
To sum it up, he remarked how he thought LSU was such a great place, and still believes it to be, but as he said, "There is no where where else I could go and get the support I've gotten here. Nowhere else would even come close. I'm proud to be part of this family, and I'll be here until you run me off or I just can't do it anymore. I'm home."
And since we all know that home is where the heart is, maybe Nick Saban will be prowling the sidelines for many more years to come.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...why-he-is-a-part-of-the-bama-nation/show_full
Recently I had a chance to speak to Alabama head football coach Nick Saban at a gathering of Alabama faithful.
He was relaxed, smiling, and not the "Iceman" the press often paints him as.
When he was told I was into writing now, he looked me directly in the eye and asked, "A writer, huh? What's the worst thing you've ever written about me?"
Without hesitation, I told him it was when we first hired him and everyone was saying that you were a hired gun and wouldn't be with us long. I said that might be true, but for now, you're our hired gun, and I didn't care if you were or weren't staying long, just as long as you shot the bad guys.
He stayed emotionless for a second, then said, "That's fair, I guess. And it may have been true at one time, but now I'm an Alabama man. This is my last stop 'til I go to the lake house and hang it up and you can write that."
So, I am.
He went on to explain that he wanted back into college football badly while in Miami and yet he wasn't sure at first if Alabama was the right choice.
"I thought I had the best job in the world when I was at LSU," he said. "I've got friends still there and it was a great environment to live at work. I felt supported by all and was very happy there, but they had a coach and I wasn't sure if going to a team that was in the same division was a good idea."
Nick explained that Mal Moore was the kind of man who just wouldn't take no for an answer. He instantly liked Mal, but wasn't sure Alabama was right for him until Mal finally just wore him down.
The next thing he knew, he was in a car screaming from his house with his wife, daughter, his daughter's friend, and Mal all running for the airport. The media circle lasted for weeks.
Saban was not just king of the state's football universe, he was king of college football for a time.
It got a little nerve wracking having the press so intrusive in the smallest of details of the slightest things. But as the lights dimmed a bit and he had a chance to get to work, he began to see things he could never have imagined. Things that made him love the university more than he could have ever dreamed.
"I knew Mal and I were going to be friends, and that he would do his best to get us the best facilities, the best equipment, and work toward making sure we were second to none with everything we needed," Nick said.
"But I had never imagined the other things that would happen, like President Whitt (president of the University of Alabama) doing all that he does. He is the first president I've ever worked with that I can call my friend. He cares about everything Alabama, not just the academics, but the faculty, the sports teams, the library, the whole thing!" he continued.
"He wants us to be the best at EVERYTHING," he added excitedly. "He personally meets with recruits and families who visit the university and is the only university president I've ever worked with who works so hard to help us recruit. It makes a HUGE difference."
He went on to explain how other faculty members here have gone beyond expectations to be supportive, to offer help and to just be friends.
Then he talked about the fans—you could see the emotion in his face.
Since he's been here, he experienced the best fans of any school he has ever been to, coached at, or visited.
"I hate to call them fans; I'll call them family," he remarked. "When we had over 93,000 people show up for that first A-Day game, I was completely and utterly humbled. No team in the nation has better support from its fans than Alabama."
No, Nick had not fallen in love with the bricks and mortar of Alabama. The shaded confines of the quad did not enter his heart. It was the people, all the people.
"I am truly blessed to be at a place where every fan, every faculty member, and every student expects to be part of a championship. And I'm not just talking about football here. Everyone here has the same expectations as I do, and for the first time in my life, I am as proud of them for all they do as anything I could do myself," he said.
To sum it up, he remarked how he thought LSU was such a great place, and still believes it to be, but as he said, "There is no where where else I could go and get the support I've gotten here. Nowhere else would even come close. I'm proud to be part of this family, and I'll be here until you run me off or I just can't do it anymore. I'm home."
And since we all know that home is where the heart is, maybe Nick Saban will be prowling the sidelines for many more years to come.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...why-he-is-a-part-of-the-bama-nation/show_full
