http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/94801/saban-has-worked-wonders-getting-alabama-to-no-1
Looking for a coach of the year candidate? You're reading about him.
Regardless of what preseason polls said, Alabama has no business being here today, ranked No. 1 the week of the SEC championship game, a stone’s throw away from the top seed in the College Football Playoff. All those votes cast in June and July were hinged on the arm of a transfer quarterback and a coach who had won four national championships since 2003.
One of those came through, and it wasn’t Jameis Winston's backup at Florida State.
Whether it was molding Blake Sims into a championship-caliber QB, shaping a young defense into one of the country’s best, or wading through the treacherous waters of the SEC West, this has been the best coaching job of Saban’s career.