The Saban Effect
by Stephen Beard (The Muse)
October 11, 2007
When Mal Moore, the Athletic Director of the University of Alabama, secured Nick Saban as Alabama's head football coach, he changed the landscape of football in Alabama, the Southeastern Conference, and possibly the nation.
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In the state of Alabama, Auburn has ruled for most of the last decade. While the University of Alabama has been in turmoil with 4 head coaches, Auburn has remained steady with Tommy Tuberville. Auburn has won five straight games and 7 out of the last 10. Auburn has out-recruited, out-coached, and out-played Alabama. In doing this, Auburn was the premier program in the state.
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"Alabama has regained its premier status." |
With the hiring of Saban, Alabama has regained its premier status. The hiring of Saban was the biggest off-season story in college football, both locally and nationally. Saban's status as a national championship coach that has coached in the NFL immediately makes Alabama relevant again in college football. In the state, where Auburn was getting the majority of the prized recruits, now Alabama is at the top of most recruits' lists. Alabama fans and local experts no longer ask if Alabama can regain its dominance over Auburn, but how quickly.
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Saban's hiring solidified the SEC's claim that they are the best football conference in the country. They definitely have the best coaches. Saban, Phil Fulmer, Steve Spurrier, and Urban Meyer have all won national championships. Tuberville has an undefeated season. Les Miles has started with a 22-4 record. Mark Richt has the best record in the SEC in the 2000s. Rich Brooks, Bobby Johnson, and Sylvester Croom are underrated. With all of the coaching talent in the SEC, hiring Saban gave Alabama one of the big boys instead of a second tier coach like they have had since Gene Stallings retired. Alabama will be expected to compete for an SEC championship every year now.
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"If Alabama does not win a national championship, [Saban] will be considered failure." |
Nationally, there was an unbelievable amount of press coverage of Alabama's coaching search and eventual hiring of Saban. While all of this coverage wasn't postive, it was giving Alabama national exposure. You would be hard pressed to find a high school football player who didn't know that Saban is Alabama's head coach. Thanks in part to that coverage, those players also know that Saban won a national championship while at LSU and coached in the NFL. That ties in heavily with what most players want from their college experience: to play for a championship and to, hopefully, make it to the NFL. Now, every top high school player in the country will at least give Alabama a chance to recruit them.
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With the local and national effect of Nick Saban's hiring, Alabama is once again a major player in college football. The expectations of fans are at an almost all-time high. Analysts around the country believe that Alabama is on the way up. Some are expecting results like Pete Carrol has achieved at USC.
The media firestorm from the hiring and the high expectations do have a downside, at least for Nick Saban. While Alabama has definitely made a move up, it would be wise to remember that no coach has ever won two national championships at two different schools. Unfortunately for Nick Saban, if Alabama does not win a national championship during his tenure in Tuscaloosa, he will be considered failure.
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