How Close was Saban to Coaching Texas

B1GTide

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Apr 13, 2012
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You guys knew that Saban was a hired gun when you brought him in. That has not changed, and the Texas thing reminded you of that. For a while you felt that he had become a part of Alabama, so the dalliance with Texas probably felt like a betrayal. It was like watching your wife dance with a handsome stranger. But, though dance he did, he still came home with the right partner. Still, it introduced doubt that you may never shake. Doubt about his true loyalties. Doubt about tomorrow. Such is life when you "fall" for someone like Saban.

But he is still the best in the business, so be happy to have him for as long as you do. Enjoy the present. Let the future take care of itself. Alabama' legacy includes Saban now, but it is not defined by him. Saban's legacy, on the other hand, is defined by his time at Alabama. He knows this. He isn't going anywhere.

The dance is over. Time for football.
 

crimsonaudio

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You guys knew that Saban was a hired gun when you brought him in. That has not changed, and the Texas thing reminded you of that. For a while you felt that he had become a part of Alabama, so the dalliance with Texas probably felt like a betrayal. It was like watching your wife dance with a handsome stranger. But, though dance he did, he still came home with the right partner. Still, it introduced doubt that you may never shake. Doubt about his true loyalties. Doubt about tomorrow. Such is life when you "fall" for someone like Saban.
That has nothing to do with it in my mind.
 

BamaPokerplayer

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Oct 10, 2004
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You guys knew that Saban was a hired gun when you brought him in. That has not changed, and the Texas thing reminded you of that. For a while you felt that he had become a part of Alabama, so the dalliance with Texas probably felt like a betrayal. It was like watching your wife dance with a handsome stranger. But, though dance he did, he still came home with the right partner. Still, it introduced doubt that you may never shake. Doubt about his true loyalties. Doubt about tomorrow. Such is life when you "fall" for someone like Saban.

But he is still the best in the business, so be happy to have him for as long as you do. Enjoy the present. Let the future take care of itself. Alabama' legacy includes Saban now, but it is not defined by him. Saban's legacy, on the other hand, is defined by his time at Alabama. He knows this. He isn't going anywhere.

The dance is over. Time for football.
I'm not arguing with you or anyone else in this thread, but what burns me up a little is, we gave CNS a lot of money, power, and benefits to win football games. He did that and we gave him even more, and then when it is advantageous to feel under appreciated, he and,or his loved ones did. I mean if being a demigod, a multi-millionaire, and having a statue built in ones honor is not enough, for doing their job, than I do not know what is.
 

Razamataz

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Aug 9, 2007
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I don't post here often, but I thought this article from the Tuscaloosa News was interesting.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/2015150729656

“I have an agent (Jimmy Sexton), which most coaches have, and when somebody is interested in you, they call your agent, which they did,” Saban said Tuesday night at the field house at the University of West Florida. “The agent calls you, and you tell the agent 'I'm interested' or 'I'm not interested.' So (Sexton) called me about 15 times about Texas, and every time he called I said I'm not interested in talking to them, and I never will be. That's the story. He did his job, I did my job.”
 

spock*

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Dec 27, 2006
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There is zero loyalty in sports so don't expect it. When Saban wants another job, then he's gone. He owes no one at Alabama an excuse or even a goodbye. Saban is the most feared coach in America. He has accomplished what everyone said couldn't be done. Saban made Alabama a dynasty again. For that I will be eternally grateful.

In the meantime, Saban is here and everyone else can kiss my lucky stars.
 
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TideEngineer08

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I don't post here often, but I thought this article from the Tuscaloosa News was interesting.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/2015150729656

“I have an agent (Jimmy Sexton), which most coaches have, and when somebody is interested in you, they call your agent, which they did,” Saban said Tuesday night at the field house at the University of West Florida. “The agent calls you, and you tell the agent 'I'm interested' or 'I'm not interested.' So (Sexton) called me about 15 times about Texas, and every time he called I said I'm not interested in talking to them, and I never will be. That's the story. He did his job, I did my job.”
It's good to see this. For the record, I've never had an issue with Coach Saban being a "hired gun" and not having the same loyalty to Alabama that a fan or alumnus would have. That wasn't my issue with him.

But I can believe that he told Sexton I'm not interested.. I can also believe that anything coming from the Texas side is going to be inflated and not entirely true.
 

B1GTide

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Apr 13, 2012
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I don't post here often, but I thought this article from the Tuscaloosa News was interesting.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/2015150729656

“I have an agent (Jimmy Sexton), which most coaches have, and when somebody is interested in you, they call your agent, which they did,” Saban said Tuesday night at the field house at the University of West Florida. “The agent calls you, and you tell the agent 'I'm interested' or 'I'm not interested.' So (Sexton) called me about 15 times about Texas, and every time he called I said I'm not interested in talking to them, and I never will be. That's the story. He did his job, I did my job.”
Thanks for this - it really does change my view on the matter. Maybe I am naïve, but I believe Saban. Of course, there are still going to be those who will fault Saban for not squashing the rumors (as if that were possible).
 

Razamataz

New Member
Aug 9, 2007
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The way I look at it, this will be Saban's 9th season in T-Town, so I think he's here until retirement, but maybe I'm naive too. I also think his age had something to do with it. If he was a few years younger...who knows.
 

GrayTide

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Everyone on here, including me, has to accept the fact that college sports have changed since the Bryant years. It is no longer truly a sport for student athletes; it is big business, nothing else. The players are employees brought in to make the business successful and are no longer just student athletes with scholarships to help them with the cost of education. It s no longer about loyalty to a school and "winning one for the Gipper", you produce as a player or coach or you are gone. I personally hate that it has evolved this way, but we can accept it and move on or spend our Saturdays watching HGTV and the Food Network.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Just one point: if Tide fans were told on January 3, 2007, "Nick Saban will come to Alabama and win a national title in three years and leave," EVERY SINGLE ALABAMA FAN on the planet would have taken that deal.

Instead, he won three in four and we had our first Heisman winner.

He went far beyond the deal anyone would taken.

If he leaves tomorrow, the program is on its most solid footing since the 1970s.
 

4Q Basket Case

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All things considered, I think Saban was closer to seriously considering the UTw job than we'd prefer.

I also think the meddling and back-room political machinations of UTw boosters and Regents bit them in the backside. Hard. First, you had the guy come out and publicly talk about getting Saban. Then you had Patterson's paranoia (probably engendered by previous dealings with those same backbiting and dysfunctional boosters and Regents) cause him to alienate Sexton. Which was a jaw-droppingly dumb move.

From Saban's perspective, the known facts fit with a thought process of, "OK, the Alabama fans are spoiled rotten. But so were the LSU fans. And so will the UTw fans be in pretty short order. Given their collective ego and sense of entitlement, probably quicker in Austin than either Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa.

So if the fan base is no better, and I'd have to putz around with all these jock sniffers, why would I make a move that would cement my coaching legacy as the football equivalent of basketball's Larry Brown?

Trouble is, about the only way I could hope to quash the talk would be to say essentially what I said before I left the Dolphins. Which means every media (&():& in the country would throw that in my face yet again. So I really can't say anything that will shut them up.

So I'm going to keep my mouth shut, sign the contract, and the talk will finally stop then."

I have absolutely no inside information. Just using Occam's razor to come up with the simplest explanation that reconciles all the publicly known facts.
 

capnfrog

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No HC in his right mind would tell the media they were leaving whatever university in one or three years to go to another university. The media would have a field day at his expense as well as other recruiting teams having fuel to tell all recruits, "that coach will not be there half way through your stint". The 'Ol Ball Coach' is being set up now by the media with all the talk of him retiring. I don't blame coaches for getting their best deal, it is a business, the days of Coach Joe Paterno and Coach Paul Bryant are gone where you stay married to a university.
 

KrAzY3

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I find it difficult to get a lesson on not appreciating success from the Saban's when CNS talks about not being able to recruit because the team is in Miami to play for a national title against Notre Dame. He himself can't appreciate the win and the moment because he's too worried about the future..
I think this is kind of an interesting situation, and a complicated one. I mean honestly, very few coaches or their spouses would have their statements analyzed this much, but I have wondered if what Terry said was really the way Nick would have said it at all. I think he's worried about fans staying and cheering, but it felt to me like Terry's statements were more empathetic than what he's likely to say. The article even notes that Nick declined to be interviewed for it, it might have been beyond his area of concern. But, I think you're right in that Nick is just results oriented and about the only thing that upsets him seems to be obstructions to success.

You can keep guessing that if you want to, but that's not how I feel. My issue in all of this comes from the Texas talk came across as a ploy to get more money. .
I always saw it as issue 1, 2, and 3. A lot of people kind of blended them together. Saban's talk about fan support, Terry's talk about appreciation, and then the Texas talk. I didn't really see it that way, the article might have pulled those together but it's not how I interpreted it honestly. I think any allure Texas might have had simply came down to the possibility that Texas might have proven easier overall at that point (much in the same way Urban Meyer was able to go to Ohio State and have an easier time of things). I do, though, I do get why how that played out hurt some Alabama fan's feelings. I get that, it was a bit of a reminder that he's not one of those bleed crimson type of guys. It's kind of like a reminder that someone might not really be your friend. However, I also think the fact that he didn't leave refuted the notion that he is in fact a hired gun, because he was offered more money, and he did not take it. So, he's taken a step away from hired gun in my mind, but he probably never turns into one of those life long Alabama type of guys.

then when it is advantageous to feel under appreciated, he and,or his loved ones did. I mean if being a demigod, a multi-millionaire, and having a statue built in ones honor is not enough, for doing their job, than I do not know what is.
I believe this is nothing at all but idle speculation. There's nothing of substance to prove any of these conclusions on your part. It's a lot of inferrence based on interpretation of a couple isolated statements from Nick's wife (which I believe have been entirely misinterpreted), and a somewhat dubious account of what happened with Texas. I don't see the need to arrive to such spurious conclusions. Also, enough of the statue talk. That's automatically triggered by winning a NC at Alabama, it didn't matter who won one, the statue would have been built. There's one to a coach that left Alabama for another school for instance. It was not built out of adoration, but merely a performance perk. Also, Saban is still at Alabama, so even by your account I guess it is enough isn't it?

Seriously though, to any poster here. Does anyone here honestly think that Nick Saban was considering leaving for Texas solely on the basis of feeling under appreciated? Anyone? If not, then I don't think Battle or anyone else would either. I don't think Terry's statements had anything at all to do with contract negotiations (why would she do that, then at the same time counter by saying they were not leaving and undercut it), I don't think they had any impact on contract negotiations, and it seems rather illogical to try and draw the correlation.
 
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dvldog

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Everyone on here, including me, has to accept the fact that college sports have changed since the Bryant years. It is no longer truly a sport for student athletes; it is big business, nothing else. The players are employees brought in to make the business successful and are no longer just student athletes with scholarships to help them with the cost of education. It s no longer about loyalty to a school and "winning one for the Gipper", you produce as a player or coach or you are gone. I personally hate that it has evolved this way, but we can accept it and move on or spend our Saturdays watching HGTV and the Food Network.
This. Sadly. :frown: on TideFans.com
 

Rama Jama

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I haven't read the thread, but the end result was that if Saban truly wanted the Texas job, it was his for the taking. He chose not to leave and stay here to build his final legacy here in T-title town. All the naysayers in this article are only telling the Texas side of the story so take anything those blowhards say with a grain of salt.

Don't forget that Sexton would get a sizable raise had Saban left as well. We all know who and what Sexton is known for in coaching circles. Saban is likely his top client which means he'll do almost anything to leverage anyone he can to get more cash out a school for himself.
 

Bruce014

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Aug 29, 2012
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Saban's first love is recruiting.
The reason for that is that he loves the college kids.
He takes boys and molds them into men.
Did he consider the Texas job? Yes, I think he did, because if you are looking to get into an incredibly rich football talent pool, Texas is one of the best places on earth to look.
Is that a sleight to UA? No, I do not think it is. I think it's a situation where a person saw a chance to do something new/different and he considered it.
It is not wrong to do so.

I do wish that he were an alumnus, but he is not. He is an intense and largely no-nonsense football coach, which is exactly what UA needs.
 

B1GTide

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Apr 13, 2012
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I wonder how the Texas boards are handling this book. If Alabama fans are still upset, and you "won", how must Texas fans feel?
 

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