When it comes to Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, the resume speaks for itself. The 67-year-old football legend has more than a handful of national championship rings, millions of dollars in the bank account, an incredible wife, and a coaching tree that seems to be bigger than the City of Tuscaloosa.
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At the University of Alabama, If you are a star football player, the NFL is almost a guarantee. If you are on the football team, a national title game shot is almost a certainty. And if you a strong assistant coach, especially an offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator, the chances of landing a high-major head coaching job is pretty solid as well. Basically, any success under Saban has proven to elevate careers.
However, with that success comes a high turnover rate, which, for whatever reason, is a bad alarm bell to some. So one brave reporter at SEC Media Days decided to ask Coach Saban if he is difficult to work for.
Nick Saban was asked if he is difficult to work with. “Well, I don't know. You have to ask some of the people that work for me. Always interesting that, you know, they may say that, but then when they get a job and they go do it, they do it exactly like we did it.” #SECMediaDays
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 17, 2019
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Fresh off a College Football Playoff National Championship Game loss to the Clemson Tigers, Nick Saban didn't have to really answer the question the way he did at the press conference in Birmingham. Yet, the legendary football coach gave a classic response.
"Well, I don't know. You have to ask some of the people that work for me. Always interesting that, you know, they may say that, but then when they get a job and they go do it, they do it exactly like we did it. So, I don't know.
"But we have a difficult job. We have 125 players on our team. They are all adolescents. They need a lot of support. They need a lot of direction. They need a lot of leadership.
"Recruiting has become, you know, 24/7 because we've created a scenario where we have to recruit constantly because we're recruiting guys in advance as we move up the recruiting calendar.
"So none of this is easy. And I think, when you're in a position of leadership and you're trying to make people be accountable and responsible to a standard that's going to help you continue to have success, that sometimes you have to make people do things that they really don't want to do that may be in the best interest of the overall organization.
"So am I willing to do that? Absolutely. So you have to make a choice and decision: You want to do it right, or you want to make everybody happy?
"No different than raising your children. I go through this with Terry when we're raising our kids. She wanted to make them happy, and I wanted to make them do right.
"So I don't know. I like for them to do right and be happy doing right. That's what I'd like for them to do. And that's the same thing I like for our coaches."
— Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
What a perfect response by the Alabama coach at the end of the offseason. So what if his former assistants get jobs across the country? That's not stopping Nick Saban from keeping the Alabama football dynasty alive.
Plus, NCAA college football, much like anything else, is a business, and who wouldn't want to run theirs like the best CEO in the game?
SEC Media Days Schedule
Monday, July 15
- Barry Odom, Missouri
- Dan Mullen, Florida
- Ed Orgeron, LSU
Tuesday, July 16
- Kirby Smart, Georgia
- Matt Luke, Ole Miss
- Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
- Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
Wednesday, July 17
- Nick Saban, Alabama
- Chad Morris, Arkansas
- Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State
- Will Muschamp, South Carolina
Thursday, July 18
- Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
- Mark Stoops, Kentucky
- Gus Malzahn, Auburn
