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NICK SABAN
Age:
57
School:
Alabama
Alma Mater:
Kent State, 1973
Conference:
SEC
Salary:
$3,750,000
Official Bio:
www.rolltide.com
Years Coaching:
12
Career Record:
99 - 48 - 1 .669
Years at School:
1
Record at Alabama:
7 - 6 .538
2007 Record: 7 - 6 .538
2007 Cost per Win:
$500,429
Attorney/Agent: Jimmy Sexton
Contract:
December 2008 Buyout:
$24,000,000
COACHING
RECORD -
WINNING
- LOSING
RECORDS
|
Year |
School |
Record |
Bowl |
|
1990 |
Toledo |
9-2 |
|
|
1995 |
Michigan State |
6-5-1 |
Independence |
|
1996 |
Michigan State |
6-6 |
Sun |
|
1997 |
Michigan State |
7-5 |
Aloha |
|
1998 |
Michigan State |
6-6 |
|
|
1999 |
Michigan State |
9-2 |
Orange |
|
2000 |
LSU |
8-4 |
Peach |
|
2001 |
LSU |
10-3 |
Sugar |
|
2002 |
LSU |
8-5 |
Cotton |
|
2003 |
LSU |
13-1 |
Sugar |
|
2004 |
LSU |
9-3 |
Capital One |
|
2007 |
Alabama |
7-6 |
Independence |
|
Career |
|
99-48-1 |
.669 |
|
|
Alabama |
7-6 |
.538 |
2008
SCHEDULE
|
Date |
Opponent |
Location |
2008 CHS Prediction |
Result |
|
8/30/08 |
Clemson |
Atlanta, GA |
L |
|
|
9/06/08 |
Tulane |
Tuscaloosa, AL |
W |
|
|
9/13/08 |
Western Kentucky |
Tuscaloosa, GA |
W |
|
|
9/20/08 |
Arkansas |
Fayetteville, AR |
L |
|
|
9/27/08 |
at Georgia |
Athens, GA |
L |
|
|
10/04/08 |
Kentucky |
Tuscaloosa, AL |
W |
|
|
10/18/08 |
Ole Miss |
Tuscaloosa, AL |
W |
|
|
10/25/08 |
Tennessee |
Knoxville, TN |
L |
|
|
11/01/08 |
Arkansas State |
Tuscaloosa, AL |
W |
|
|
11/08/08 |
LSU |
Baton Rouge, LA |
L |
|
|
11/15/08 |
Mississippi State |
Tuscaloosa, AL |
W |
|
|
11/29/08 |
Auburn |
Tuscaloosa, AL |
W |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coaches Hot
Seat Prediction |
|
7-5 |
|
Coaches Hot Seat Analysis
In his last 46 games as a head
coach Nick Saban has a record of 22-24 (.478), and those
games were coached at three of the most revered names in
the game of football: LSU, the Miami Dolphins, and
Alabama. No doubt, Nick Saban is a great
recruiter, and he has proven that he can win
championships when he has quality assistants calling the
plays, but now Saban must prove that he can win football
games and championships at place where any random person
picked off the street could win football games.
Alabama has one of the most storied traditions in
college football history, and Paul "Bear" Bryant's 25
tenure in Tuscaloosa was just one period of a long
history of winning football games and National Titles.
Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa after a series of
coaching moves and personal hires by the administration
and Trustees at Alabama that would rival any amount of
buffoonery in the history of man. If you had to
write a casebook study on how to destroy a football
program, your first and last stop would be in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the blame for that destruction
can be laid right at the feet of the people that were
making the head coaching hires. After Gene
Stallings retired (more like forced out by the Alabama
president and AD) Alabama hired Mike Dubose, Dennis
Franchione, Mike Price, and Mike Shula, and the most
amazing thing about those coaching hires is that many of
the people that made those hires are still working on
the payroll at Alabama. Just amazing, but
accountability is evidently not something that is
important at Alabama, which brings us to one Nick Saban.
In 2007 Alabama could have gone down to any barber shop
or beauty salon in Tuscaloosa and hired any random
customer or hair stylist to be the head coach and that
person could have won 7 games last year. What is
so remarkable, that when you talk to Alabama fans they
talk like Saban actually did something in 2007, but when
you take a hard look at the facts Saban actually did
less than what any competent high school coach would
have done. First, any competent high school
coached hired at Alabama after the country club that
Mike Shula was running in Tuscaloosa would have tossed
the troublemakers and players (our guess between 12 and
20 players should have been sent packing) that didn't
care about winning and started fresh. If Saban had
done that he would have won 7 games. He didn't and
he still won 7 games, which is a great lesson for
coaches that decide to sacrifice their principles for
the sake of winning. With more Alabama players
getting arrested and into trouble in the offseason, it
is clear that Saban has not gotten through to his team
that they are not at Alabama to hang out in bars and to
fight cops. In fact, Saban is now in the same
position that Phil Fulmer finds himself in that there
have been so many off-field incidents, that you really
have to wonder if the players respect their head coach
and university at all. With that background, Saban
is now faced with the very difficult 2008 season.
Coaches Hot Seat
Bottom Line
We predict that
Nick Saban and Alabama will have a 7-5 record in 2008.
Our 7-5 prediction for the Tide in '08 would mean that
Alabama would win all of their homes games and lose all
the games away from Tuscaloosa. Of those home
games, we do see Alabama beating Auburn in Tuscaloosa in
the last game of the regular season, which will end the
6-game winning streak that the Tigers have over the
Tide. If for some reason Saban should lose to
Tuberville to extend the losing streak to 7 games, all
that we write below will be irrelevant, because Saban
must beat Auburn in 2008 to really gain creditability
with Alabama fans. A 7-5 record in 2008 would be a
one game improvement over the '07 season and the only
question for Alabama fans would be, is 7-5 acceptable in
Saban's 2nd year at The Capstone? Nick Saban
brought in the top recruiting class in February and no
doubt Alabama fans will point to that class as a signal
that things are a changing in Tuscaloosa. The real
question is how long are Alabama fans going to tolerate
mediocre win/loss records, because even 2009 in the
incredibly tough SEC West promises to be a struggle as
well. From where we sit, Nick Saban has 5 years to
prove that he can win an SEC Championship at Alabama,
because as we stated above any average person picked off
any street in America can win 7 games at Alabama.
If by the 5 year mark, the 2011 season, Saban has not
brought at least an SEC title to Tuscaloosa, a lot of
Alabama fans are going to be asking questions that go
someone like, "Why are we paying Saban $4 million a year
to do what any average person could do?" Great
question, and one that will not only be asked by Alabama
fans, but will be shouted from the every corner of the
state if Saban cannot bring home some championships to
Tuscaloosa. Saban must improve on the 2007 season
in '08 and he must beat Auburn, and there is just no
getting around those facts. Anything less will be
a severe disappointment.
2008
Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:
7-5
Will Saban be back for the 2009
season?
YES
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