I have defended Saban, but this deserves a just shut up award.

Sounds to me like he is just sticking up for his assistant coaches.

 

Want some more iof Nick's unsolicited advice to LSU? Read on...

Saban wants to finish job at LSU

By Hal Habib

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, January 01, 2005

ORLANDO — This game is about the players, Nick Saban kept telling everyone this week who would listen to him, which, in a switch, was pretty much nobody.

Yes, Louisiana State will play Iowa in the Capital One Bowl today, but for much of the country — and especially Louisiana and South Florida — this is all about Saban's last hurrah at LSU before taking over as coach of the Miami Dolphins.
"This game is about the players, and it's about the game, and that's what we would like to keep our focus on," Saban pleaded once again Friday morning. And then he stepped out of the ballroom of the team hotel... and into the lobby, where it's impossible to miss the cozy piano bar with the curious name.

"DOLPHINS," says the sign outside. Next to that are five very visible statues of swimming dolphins.

A week has passed since Saban announced he had accepted Wayne Huizenga's offer to coach the Dolphins, yet Saban won't formally be introduced to South Florida until next week because he doesn't want to detract from the bowl game. He said that even privately, he and wife Terry haven't taken time to reflect on a five-year tenure at LSU that included last season's national championship.

"I'm really trying to absolutely focus on the game and absolutely not think about those kinds of things, because I don't want anybody to feel that this is the end," Saban said. "We love Louisiana and that's not going to change. We feel like we have a home in Louisiana and that's not going to change. We have a lot of friends in Louisiana, we've got a lot of positive relationships with a lot of people in Louisiana, and that's not going to change. So this is not an end to me. It might be a new beginning, but it's not an end."

By Friday afternoon, attempts to deflect the spotlight proved so fruitless they became monologue material. At the kickoff luncheon featuring Saban and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, Gary Thorne, who will call today's game for ABC, cracked, "Everybody from South Florida has come through to get Nick to talk about himself and, on the other side with Kirk, everybody is wanting Kirk to talk about Nick."

Unlike when Saban left Michigan State to coach LSU, he is sticking with his previous team through the bowl game. Saban said there wasn't any discussion that he wouldn't coach the bowl game.

"I wanted to do it out of respect to the players," Saban said. "I'm happy I did do it. I certainly want to do a great job for these guys."

Saban remains interested in the future of the LSU program and who his successor will be. He has ideas about which of his assistants are qualified to take over but isn't sure they'll get that chance.

"I think our administration here wants to have their own guy and that's OK," he said. "I mean, it's up to them. But I certainly think that their decision is much bigger than any one person. If the politics of this institution come into play in making the decision about who the next coach is going to be, I would not think that would be in the best interest of the future. I think everybody needs to step back and not be self-absorbed about how it affects them and who's going to control who.

"Hey, there's a lot of work that has been done in five years. I gave my heart and soul to this place, and it's a difficult decision to leave it. I'll be honest with you. I would be remiss to deny the fact that I don't want to see somebody come in here and not continue it in a positive way. I'm very hopeful a good decision will get made and it will get made for the right reasons."

 

I disagree with y'alls take that Saban feels guilty about not taking some assistants with him. The guy is a pretty damn successful coach and a decent judge of one's personal abilities. Maybe he honestly feels that the assistants he is leaving behind are just not ready for the NFL, *IF* they even wanted to go with him.

You build something special from scratch and bust your ass on it for 5 years and see how you react to possible wholesale changes after your VOLUNTARY departure. It is still his baby whether some of you ppl like it or not. We owe that man for at least 4 more years because of recruiting QUALITY players, *both physically and academically*, over the years.

Just my opinion and yours may differ. :tigerhead

 

I think Nick hit the nail on the head when he suggested that politics may come into play and that would be devastating to the program. That in itself has been the main problem with Tiger football for many years. Nick was albe to not bow down to the politics while at LSU because of his personaltiy and in turn look at what the has created.

I just believe that NIck knows that there are people at LSU how cant wait to put their hands in what he has started. I fill he is making a justifiable attempt to prevent that from happening.

Anyone on this board how have been around for a while know how Louisiana politics work and just how bad that could be for the program.

Just my two cents

 

Nick's wants to win the bowl game for the players and fans. I think that Saban has an honest, sincere interest in the football program that he built at LSU. He's always going to be pulling for LSU, and his words are a part of these motives. It's natural for fans to feel bitter, angry, sad, etc. I feel all of those things.

That said, I think that Jimbo Fisher should be interviewed and considered for the HC job.