TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Preseason camp is heating up at Alabama, and Nick Saban has a million things on his mind as he points his Mercedes down his long, narrow driveway and heads toward campus.Football is never far from his thoughts. But on this steamy August morning, one of his first orders of business is touching base with a former priest of his in Louisiana by phone to check on the flood victims. Saban and his wife, Terry, still have several close friends in the Baton Rouge area from his time as LSU coach, and Saban wants to know how they can help.
"It's amazing everything those people have been through in that state over the last several years, and they just keep bouncing back," says Saban, music from Michael Jackson's "This is It" softly filling the car.
It's just past 7 o'clock, and his mind is racing as he organizes his thoughts for his 7:30 staff meeting at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility.