From the Miami Herald this morning: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/football/10428722.htm I'm sold on Nick Saban for the Dolphins. How could I not be? Wednesday morning, I heard the NFL's reigning genius, New England coach Bill Belichick, give Saban a most ringing endorsement. Silence. Before I set the scene for you and give you a mini-Berlitz course in NFL coach-speak, let me translate that silence: I don't want to have to deal with that guy doing his thing in my division. Saban combines an excellent strategic mind with a no-comfort-zone, Type A, deal-with-it approach. Those Dolphins recruited by Saban when he was at Michigan State recalled him as ''strict'' and all about business. Sound similar to Belichick? Paydirt. That's why there was silence to the conference call question, ``What are your thoughts on Nick Saban as a coach?'' Dead air. More dead air. Not even the wind to imagine tumbleweed blowing across Belichick's desk. AFTER THE SILENCE Finally, after nine seconds, Belichick said, ``Uhhh . . . well, I coached with Nick in Cleveland, and that was a long time ago. I haven't really given it much thought.'' Uh-huh. This is the same Belichick who, just after last season's Super Bowl, spent two days at Saban's home going over Xs and Os to come up with a new pass coverage scheme. This is the same Belichick who moments earlier Wednesday had no problem doing an effusive (for him) two minutes on what kind of coach Dolphins interim coach Jim Bates was. Oh, he last coached with Bates one year after he last coached with Saban. Later, when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was asked about the Saban-coached Michigan State teams he saw in college, he volunteered, ``I think Coach Belichick knows him pretty well. He's always had some great things to say about [Saban].'' Except on that conference call. That's why in those nine seconds of nothing, Belichick said more than he often does in 15 minutes with the media. Sometimes, you have to hold a mirror to a coach's words about another coach to get his actual meaning. Be suspicious when a coach sings about what a fine coach a troubled team's headmaster is. When coaches see disarray in a rival or think they've found themselves a pigeon, they want to keep the status quo. COACH TALK Almost every week this season until Dave Wannstedt resigned, opposing coaches used ''great coach'' to describe Wannstedt and said he was respected. Don Shula should remain the Dolphins coach said Buffalo's Marv Levy while on a 17-4 roll against Shula. The converse is also true. Coaches don't advertise peers they worry about to media in a rival's market when the rival is looking for a coach. The last thing Belichick wants is to worry about Saban twice a year on the field and all season in the standings. That's especially true if Saban could yank respected Baltimore director of player personnel Phil Savage, a Browns scout when Belichick and Saban were coaches there, away from the seasoned crabs and down here near the stone crabs. If that's the last thing Belichick wants, it's the first thing the Dolphins should want. Obviously, it is, at least as far as Saban. If the field of potential new coaches were placed in bowls based on Dolphin desirability, No. 1 Saban would be facing No. 2 Saban in the Orange Bowl. Baltimore defensive coordinator Mike Nolan or quarterback consultant Jim Fassel would be facing Philadelphia offensive coordinator Brad Childress in the Peach Bowl. The Soul Bowl would be whatever minority coaches the Dolphins would interview in complying with the NFL's guidelines for head coaching searches. Saban is no Steve Spurrier. He grew up the son of a pro football coach and has done his own time as an NFL assistant. He's clearly interested in getting his shot being an NFL head man. I'm sure his pal Belichick wouldn't begrudge him that. Especially, if it was on another team . . . in another division . . . maybe in the NFC . . .
For those that have never heard Belichick during an interview, he always pauses. If you ask him things outside of "the Patriots", he'll give the same answers (and I'm not just saying that--I watch the Patriots post-game show every week). Someone asked him a question about Bledsoe the other week and he wasn't interested because, "is he on our team?" Every week, Belichick makes the upcoming opponent for the Patriots sound like world-beaters! Whether it's a game vs the Saints or vs Pittsburgh, EVERYONE is considered a Super Bowl Champ in Belichick's eyes. Conversely, if your question isn't about the opponent for this week, or specifically about one of the Patriots' players, he won't talk about it.
