Nick Saban

Nicholas Lou "Nick" Saban (born October 31, 1951) is an American college football coach and the current head coach of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team. Saban had previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and three other NCAA universities: LSU, Michigan State and Toledo. His eight-year contract for a total of US$32 million made him one of the highest paid football coaches, professional or college, in the United States at the time. He appeared on the September 1, 2008 cover of Forbes magazine as "The Most Powerful Coach in Sports". Saban's career record as a collegiate head coach is 146–54–1. [a]

Saban led LSU to the 2003 BCS National Championship and Alabama to the 2009 and 2011 BCS and AP National Championships, making him the first coach in college football history to win a national championship with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools. Saban and Paul "Bear" Bryant are the only coaches to win an SEC championship at two different schools. Saban is the first coach to win three BCS Championships and is the only active coach with three national titles.

Assistant football coach
Saban was an assistant coach at Kent State, Syracuse, West Virginia, Ohio State, Navy and Michigan State in NCAA Division I-A, and with the Houston Oilers and Cleveland Browns in the National Football League. Saban is considered part of the Bill Belichick coaching tree, having worked under him in Cleveland.

Toledo
Saban was hired as head coach at the University of Toledo on December 22, 1989. Coming off of 6–5 seasons in both 1988 and 1989, the Rockets found quick success under Nick Saban by going 9–2. The two games that the Rockets lost that season came by narrow margins: one point to Central Michigan, and four points to Navy. With the 9–2 season, Toledo was co-champion of the Mid-American Conference. Saban resigned as Toledo's head coach the following February after one season to become defensive coordinator of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick.

Michigan State
When Saban arrived in East Lansing, Michigan prior to the 1995 season, MSU had not had a winning season since 1990, and the team was sanctioned by the NCAA for recruiting violations committed under his predecessor and former mentor, George Perles.


 * 1995–1997 – Beginning in 1995, Saban moderately improved MSU's fortunes, taking the Spartans to minor bowl games (all of which they lost by double-digit margins) in each of his first three seasons. From 1995 to 1997, Michigan State finished 6–5–1, 6–6, and 7–5. In comparison, MSU had finished 5–6, 6–6 and 5–6 (prior to NCAA forfeits) in 1992–1994.


 * 1998 – On November 7, 1998, the Spartans upset the No. 1 ranked Ohio State 28–24 at Ohio Stadium. However, even after the upset and an early-season rout of then-highly-ranked Notre Dame the Spartans finished 6–6, including three last-minute losses featuring turnovers, defensive lapses, and special-teams misplays, and failed to earn a bowl invitation.


 * 1999 – Saban led the Spartans to a 9–2 season that included wins over Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. However, the two losses were routs at the hands of Purdue and Wisconsin. Following the final regular-season game against Penn State, Saban abruptly resigned to accept the head coaching position with LSU. Saban's assistant head coach and successor, Bobby Williams, then coached MSU to a Citrus Bowl victory over Florida, giving the Spartans an overall record of 10–2 for the 1999 season. It would be the best season in terms of wins for the Spartans since 1965, and it would see the Spartans reach their highest ranking since the 1966 team. Future former NFL Head Coach Josh McDaniels served as a Graduate Assistant on Saban's 1999 coaching staff.

LSU
In November 1999, LSU named Nick Saban their 31st head football coach.


 * 2000 – In 2000, the Tigers went 8–4 and won the Peach Bowl. The season was somewhat marred by several lopsided losses, including a 34–17 loss to the Auburn Tigers, a 13–10 loss to the UAB Blazers, and a 41–9 loss to the Florida Gators.


 * 2001 – Saban led LSU to a 10–3 record, including an SEC Championship and a Sugar Bowl victory. After a loss to the Ole Miss Rebels, the Tigers finished the year with six straight wins, including a win over No. 2 Tennessee in the 2001 SEC Championship Game, and a 47–34 win over Illinois in the 2002 Sugar Bowl. It was the first outright SEC championship for LSU since 1986, and the first time the Tigers had won the Sugar Bowl since 1968.


 * 2002 – The season opened with high expectations, but a 26–8 loss at the hands of Virginia Tech raised serious questions about their outlook. However, the Tigers would rebound to win their next six straight, but after a mid-season injury to quarterback Matt Mauck, LSU lost four of their last six games to close the season, including a 35–20 loss to Texas in the Cotton Bowl Classic, and finished 8–5.


 * 2003 – The Tigers started this season with five wins, including a 17–10 victory in Tiger Stadium over the defending SEC champion, and then undefeated, Georgia Bulldogs. They lost the following week to Florida, 19–7. After the loss to Florida, LSU did not lose again in the regular season and ended their regular season with a win over the Arkansas Razorbacks to win the SEC West. After winning the SEC West, the Tigers defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. They were ranked No. 2 in the BCS standings and advanced to play the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl, which was the host of the BCS Championship Game in 2003. The Tigers won the game 21–14. By virtue of winning this game, LSU finished first in the USA Today Coaches Poll and became national champions for only the second time in school history, and for the first time since Paul Dietzel and Billy Cannon led the Tigers to the 1958 National Championship.


 * 2004 – LSU finished the season 9–3, after losing to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Capital One Bowl 30–25 on a final play touchdown pass. Other losses that season were on the road at Auburn 10–9, and a loss on the road to Georgia 45–16. At the end of the 2004 season, Saban left LSU to coach the Miami Dolphins.

Miami Dolphins
Nick Saban accepted the job of head coach for the Miami Dolphins on December 25, 2004.


 * 2005 – The season and the Nick Saban era officially kicked off with a 34–10 win against the Denver Broncos. From there, however, the Dolphins struggled, losing seven of their next nine games to fall to 3–7. The two wins came over the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints, a game that took place in Tiger Stadium due to Hurricane Katrina. After a frustrating two months, however, the Dolphins would rally late in the season, as they won their final six games, including a win to end the season in Foxboro, Massachusetts over the New England Patriots. The team finished the year 9–7, and narrowly missed the playoffs in Saban's first season.
 * 2006 – Going into the 2006 season, the Dolphins were expected to contend for a playoff spot. The season, however, turned out to be a major disappointment. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper never recovered from his devastating knee injury from the previous season, and was ultimately benched after the fourth game of the season, when the Dolphins lost to the Houston Texans. Culpepper was eventually put on Injured Reserve. After starting the season 1–6, however, the Dolphins got hot. They won four straight games, including wins over the Chicago Bears, who were then unbeaten, and the Kansas City Chiefs. Suddenly, the Dolphins were back in the playoff hunt at 5–6, but a 24–10 loss the following week to the Jacksonville Jaguars all but ended their playoff hopes. The Dolphins would rebound the following week with a 21–0 win over the New England Patriots. The win would be the last bright spot for the Dolphins in the 2006 season. Quarterback Joey Harrington was eventually benched in favor of third-string quarterback Cleo Lemon. While the defense was very good, the offense was anemic, with the only bright spot being Ronnie Brown, who gained over 1,000 rushing yards on the season. The Dolphins would lose their next two games to the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets to fall to 6–10 on the season. This was Saban's first losing season as a head coach.

On November 27, 2006, The University of Alabama announced that head coach Mike Shula had been dismissed. Nick Saban was rumored to be at the top of Alabama's wish list, but Saban refused to discuss the job while his NFL season was still underway. During the month of December 2006, Saban was repeatedly questioned by the media about the Alabama job, and he repeatedly denied the rumors in his weekly press conferences, stating on December 21 "I'm not going to be the Alabama coach." Saban did eventually meet with Alabama officials on January 1, 2007, following the Dolphins' season ending loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

The circumstances involved in his departure from the Dolphins earned him widespread criticism, particularly from former Dolphins tight end/radio broadcaster Jim Mandich, who publicly expressed desire to fight Saban on the NFL Top 10 series.

2007
Saban, announced on January 3, 2007, that he accepted an offer to become Alabama's 27th head coach following a meeting with Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga. On January 4, 2007, Nick Saban was officially introduced as the head football coach of The University of Alabama at a press conference on the Alabama campus. On September 1, 2007, his Crimson Tide opened the season with a 52–6 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts, scoring more points than during any game in the 2006 season. He became the fifth Alabama coach since 1900 to start his first season 3–0, earning a win over then-ranked No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks. Alabama ended the regular season with a 6–6 record, including a four-game losing streak, a particularly humiliating loss at home to Louisiana-Monroe, and a loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, the Tide's sixth straight. The Tide defeated Colorado in the 2007 Independence Bowl, 30–24, to end the year 7–6. Alabama was later forced to vacate five wins from the 2007 season.

2008
During his second year as head coach of the Tide, Saban led his team from a sub-par season in 2007 to a perfect 12–0 regular season record. Saban finished the regular season undefeated for the first time in his career as a head coach as he led the Crimson Tide to its first undefeated regular season since 1994. His second season at the Capstone began with a 34–10 victory over the No. 9 ranked Clemson Tigers in the 2008 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff in the Georgia Dome. Three weeks later, Alabama had a convincing 49–14 road-win over Arkansas. The Tide followed that victory with an impressive 41–30 win over the No. 3 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. After the Georgia game, the Tide won consecutive home games against the Kentucky Wildcats and the Ole Miss Rebels and finished the month of October with a 29–9 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville. Following a 35–0 homecoming victory over Arkansas State, the Crimson Tide became No. 1 in all major polls in Week 10—following a loss by No. 1 Texas to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. It was the first time since the 1980 season that Alabama held the top spot during the regular season. The Tide took their No. 1 ranking into Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and came out with a 27–21 overtime victory. With the win, Alabama clinched their first SEC Western Division Championship since 1999 and guaranteed the team a trip to the 2008 SEC championship game. The Tide then improved to 11–0 with a win at home over Mississippi State. To finish the regular season, Bama defeated in-state rival Auburn, 36–0, the largest margin of victory in the series since 1962. It was Alabama's first victory over Auburn since the 2001 season. In the SEC Championship Game, Alabama suffered its first defeat in a 31–20 loss to the SEC Eastern Division Champion Florida Gators (who later won the 2008 BCS Championship), and closed out the season with a 31–17 loss to Utah in the Sugar Bowl to finish the season at 12–2. For his efforts during the season, Saban received several Coach of the Year awards.

2009
Beginning Saban's third year, No. 5 Alabama defeated the No. 7 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2009 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff, 34–24. He followed up with wins over Florida International and North Texas. The following week, Alabama won its conference opener over Arkansas, 35–7. In its fifth game of the year, Alabama beat Kentucky, 38–20. The sixth game of the season featured a hard-fought defensive battle with Bama defeating Ole Miss, 22–3. The seventh game was the same with Alabama defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks, 20–6. The next day, Alabama moved up to No. 1 in the AP poll for the second straight year. The next week Alabama beat Tennessee 12–10 when Terrence Cody blocked Tennessee's game winning field goal attempt with four seconds left, sealing the victory and improve the team to 8–0. After a bye week, Alabama clinched its second straight SEC West Division Championship by knocking off LSU, 24–15. The next week, Alabama trounced Mississippi State, 31–3, sealing the second straight season with 10 wins for Alabama. Following a 45–0 blowout of Chattanooga, on Black Friday, Alabama came from behind to defeat Gene Chizik's Auburn Tigers, 26–21, marking the first time since 1973–1974 Alabama has finished the regular season undefeated in consecutive years and the first consecutive 12-win seasons. The Crimson Tide defeated the Florida Gators for the SEC Championship, 32–13, in a rematch of the previous year's championship game. It marked Alabama's 22nd SEC title and their first since 1999. Saban ended the season with a 37–21 victory over the Texas Longhorns in the National Championship to finish a perfect 14–0. The win secured Saban's second national championship and Alabama's 13th title and their first in BCS era. Following the victory over the Longhorns, The University of Alabama announced that it would unveil a statue of Saban in the week prior to the kickoff of the 2010 season. On April 16, 2011, a life-sized bronzed statue of Saban was unveiled at the 2011 A-Day spring game making him the fifth coach to be immortalized outside the north end-zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

2010
At the start of his fourth season, Alabama was overwhelmingly chosen as the preseason No. 1 team in both the AP and Coaches Poll. This is the first time since 1978 that the Crimson Tide have started the season ranked #1. In the season opener in front a record crowd of 101,821, Alabama defeated San Jose State, 48–3. The following week, the Tide defeated Joe Paterno and the #23 Penn State 24–3 in their first meeting since 1990. The next week vs Duke, Mark Ingram made his first start of the 2010 season leading Alabama to a 62–13 victory. The next week, Alabama overcame a 20–7 deficit to win their conference opener against #10 Arkansas, 24–20. On October 2, Alabama defeated #7 Florida 31–6. The following week, Alabama lost to #19 South Carolina 35–21, snapping a 19-game win streak (29 in regular season). Alabama bounced back with a 23–10 win over Ole Miss. They followed up with a 41–10 victory over Tennessee. After their bye week, Alabama lost their second game of the season to #10 LSU, 24–21. The following week, Alabama bounced back at home against #17 Mississippi State, with a 30–10 victory. This also marked the school's 800th victory for the football program. The following week, Alabama defeated Georgia State 63–7, the most points for Alabama since 1979. In the Iron Bowl, Alabama lost to in-state rival #2 Auburn 28–27 snapping a 20-game home winning streak. Alabama led 24–0 early in the second quarter. This defeat was the largest lead ever blown by an Alabama football team. Alabama was selected to play in the 2011 Capital One Bowl and in their first ever meeting, Alabama defeated #7 Michigan State 49–7 in the largest margin of victory in that bowl game. The win secured Alabama's third consecutive 10-win season.

2011
At the start of his fifth season, Alabama came into the season ranked No. 2 in the country. In the first game of the season, Alabama defeated Saban's alma mater Kent State 48–7. The next week, Alabama traveled to Penn State for the first time since 1989 and defeated Joe Paterno and #23 Nittany Lions 27–11. Alabama recorded its first shutout of the season by defeating North Texas 41–0. In the conference opener, Alabama defeated #12 Arkansas 38–14. The next week Alabama traveled to The Swamp and defeated the 12th ranked Florida Gators 38–10. The following week on homecoming, Alabama shutout Vanderbilt defeating them 34–0. Alabama then traveled to Oxford and defeated Ole Miss 52–7. In week 8, Alabama defeated their rival Tennessee 37–6 by scoring 31 unanswered points in the second half. After a bye week, Alabama played host to #1 LSU losing in overtime 9–6. This was the first time in SEC history that two conference teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the polls played each other during the regular season. Alabama rebounded the next week after struggling in the first half, with a win over Mississippi State 24–7. The next week, Alabama defeated FCS 3rd ranked Georgia Southern 45–21 on Senior Day. This win gave Saban his fourth consecutive 10-win season tying Bear Bryant from 1977–80. In the Iron Bowl, Alabama defeated Auburn 42–14. This was Saban's third win over the Tigers in the last four years. On December 4, Alabama was selected to face LSU in the BCS National Championship Game by finishing No. 2 in the final BCS rankings, the first time in college football history that two teams from the same conference (much less the same division of the same conference) played each other for the BCS Championship. In the rematch, Alabama defeated the Tigers 21–0 with a dominating defensive performance, improving Saban's record to 3–3 against Les Miles and his former employer LSU. The win secured Saban his third BCS Championship and his second with Alabama. He is the only coach in college football to win three BCS Championships.

WSJ Medical Scholarship Article
On September 24, 2010, the Wall Street Journal published an article suggesting the University of Alabama and its head coach, Nick Saban, had encouraged some players to accept medical scholarships in order to make room for incoming scholarship freshmen. A medical scholarship allows a student athlete to stay on scholarship and finish his/her degree but not participate in the sport nor count against scholarship limits.

Three former Alabama players were interviewed and claimed Coach Saban encouraged them to accept the scholarship because of nagging injuries in 2008 and 2009. Two of the players said they thought they could continue while one said the choice was left entirely up to him and was based on the many conversations he had with the team's doctors and trainers over the course of his junior year.

Doug Walker, the school's associate athletic director for media relations, released a statement that said "Decisions about medical disqualifications for student-athletes are made by medical professionals and adhere to the parameters outlined by the NCAA…and the Southeastern Conference."

It should be noted that nobody on Saban's staff, the University's medical advisers, nor any outside neutral sources were interviewed for the article.

On September 29, 2010 Coach Saban responded to questions about the Wall Street Journal Article, "We don't make the decision about medicals. I have nothing to do with that. Those are medical decisions made by our medical staff. I think we have one of the finest medical staffs in the country. I don't have any question about the fact every player we have given a medical to, it's been because of the medical opinion of the medical staff," Saban said. "Those guys should not continue to play football because it would put their future in tremendous risk. Those decisions are always made in the best interest of the player. Whether the player agrees with that or not, I can't control. I don't make the decision. They don't make the decision as players. That's why we have a medical staff."

WSJ transfer concerns
On November 25, 2010, the Journal reported that several former Alabama players claim Saban and Alabama lied about their reasons for leaving the school. On August 5, 2009, in a press conference Saban made a reference to four players Price Hall, Brandon Fanney, Alonzo Lawrence and Jermaine Preyear. "These guys all did something. It doesn't make them bad people.…These guys didn't do what they were supposed to do here, whether it was for academic reasons or whatever. They're not going to be part of the program." The players told The Wall Street Journal they committed no such violations and that Alabama and Saban had only claimed as much so as to protect the image of their program in the eyes of future recruits.

Prince Hall, a starter and All-American as freshman, had been suspended for the 3rd time during the Spring according to published reports, the last being categorized as indefinite. Brandon Fanney, a 14 game starter from the previous season, had been suspended for rules violations during the Spring.

Preyear, who decided to transfer six months after enrolling during the Spring, said he chose to leave over concerns about playing time. "I don't know any rules I could have broken."

Alonzo Lawrence reasons for transfer were unclear, but according to his high school coach, his trouble at Alabama "wasn't anything major," and tied it to things like being late to team meetings. Lawrence transferred to Southern Miss before moving on to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

2011
In early 2011, after National Signing Day, Saban and the University of Alabama again became the subjects of heavy media criticism after they again appeared to have oversigned. When asked about the appearance of being oversigned during his Signing Day press conference, Saban gave a 431-word response in which he denied being oversigned but refused to clarify the situation by explaining how many scholarship players departed the program after the 2010 season. Further raising questions about Saban and Alabama, Birmingham News journalist, Kevin Scarbinsky, revealed a few days after Saban's press conference that in numerous requests by the newspaper for the scholarship numbers of public universities in Alabama, the University of Alabama has been the only one to completely redact scholarship numbers for every sport in which it participates.

Personal life
Nick Saban was born in Carolina, West Virginia. He is married to Terry Saban (née Constable) from West Virginia. They have two children, Nicholas and Kristen. He is a devout Roman Catholic, and has a mass said before every game.

Saban graduated from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where he played defensive back for the football team. Along with a roommate, he avoided being amidst the infamous Kent State shootings when they decided to eat lunch before walking to the rally area. Saban owns a vacation home on Lake Burton in northeast Georgia.

Nick Saban is of Croatian origin. Bill Belichick, with whom Nick Saban has excellent relations, said, when speaking about him and Saban: "Two successful Croats in the same division of NFL. You must admit, you don't see that every day." Saban made a cameo appearance as himself in the movie The Blind Side. In August 2010, the movie "Nick Saban: Gamechanger" was released. Included in the film are interviews from Belichick and Alabama athletic director Mal Moore, among others.

Saban is also the co-founder, along with his wife Terry, of the foundation Nick's Kids. This foundation has been used by the Sabans to help mentally-challenged children ever since Saban started head coaching. In the first three years at Alabama, Nick's Kids raised more than $1 million.

Coaching tree
Over the years, former assistant coaches under Saban have gone on to take head coaching position at FBS schools. Most notably from Saban's LSU tenure are Jimbo Fisher, Will Muschamp, Mike Haywood and Derek Dooley. Bobby Williams, current assistant coach at Alabama took over at Michigan State after Saban left for LSU. Another assistant from his time at Michigan State University, Mark Dantonio, is currently MSU's Head Coach. Jim McElwain, Saban's offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2008 through 2011, was named head coach at Colorado State University on December 13, 2011.

Saban himself is from the Bill Belichick coaching tree, having worked as his defensive coordinator during Belichick's Cleveland tenure.

College

 * Saban resigned before bowl game.