Dolphins’ Saban leaves for Alabama
Le Batard | Saban leaves as a weasel
PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. - With Nick Saban en route to a coronation in Tuscaloosa, it’s officially time to change the vocabulary used to describe college coaches….”Integrity” is out. “Character” is out. “Teacher” is out. “Leader of men” is out. “Liar” is in. They’re not going to tell the truth to us, but we can tell the truth about them. It’s this: They’ll say anything to get recruits on campus, and they’ll say anything to get media members off their backs when angling for a different job. And the panting attempts by school administrators, fans, other coaches and many media members to portray them as men of superior moral fiber needs to stop. They’re coaches, that’s all. That makes them part of a pack of lying liars who only lie when their lips are moving - and Saban’s lips have moved most recently.
I’m probably going to be among a pronounced minority on the issue of Nick Saban’s ethics, but let’s get real, shall we? Saban works in a profession in which he can be fired simply because his teams don’t win enough games. Fans demand absolute unflinching fealty from the coaches of their team, yet they see nothing wrong with demanding the head of that same coach when their team has a losing season. In light of that, why shouldn’t Nick Saban, or any other coach, get what they can while they can? Why they shouldn’t be able to go for the big bucks while they’re still there for the getting? Can any of us honestly say that we wouldn’t do exactly the same thing given exactly the same set of circumstances? Right; you’d turn down $4 million a year just so you could feel like an decent and ethical person. Gimmee a @!#$%^& break….
I’ll be honest with y’all; if someone offered me $32 million dollars on the condition that I had to live and work in Birmingham, AL for the next eight years, with the possibility of making another $4 million if things go well in my new endeavor…I’d knock over you AND your grandmother on my way to signing that contract before anyone changed their mind. If y’all had even a shred of honesty, you’d admit that you’d do EXACTLY the same thing. So, let’s lose the self-righteous “Nick Saban is a lying rat” act, OK?
This country is predicated on the idea of making as much as you can as quickly as you can while you still can. Saban is a successful football coach whom the University of Alabama happens to want as their coach. That the amount of money they’re willing to pay Saban to win football games places the priorities of an institution of higher learning in some question is another issue. Saban made the same decision that any of us would have made…and no one has any right to vilify him for that. This is especially true when you consider that y’all would be screaming for Saban’s head (assuming you’re ‘Bama fans) if his team doesn’t win.
OK, so Saban clearly didn’t handle the PR end of things very well. A simple and stern “no comment” would have saved him a lot of heartache when people were asking him about the Alabama job. Instead, he vehemently denied that he was going to be the coach at Alabama, almost right up until the time he accepted the job. Dumb move, Nick. “No comment” or the moral equivalent thereof covers a multitude of sins.
Hate Nick Saban for having a lousy sense of PR if you must, but you have no right to hate him for doing what he felt was best for himself and his family. Loyalty in coaching is a one way street. If you have no intention of backing a coach, win or lose, then you need to lose the self-righteous indignation when a coach takes the money and runs. Nick Saban knows that he would be out on his butt if he doesn’t win. No one is going to be loyal to him except his family, so why should he be loyal to those who will only be loyal to him as long as he meets their unrealistic expectations?
If the worst thing you have to whine about is that the coach of your football team just took the money and left for Alabama…well, I’d say you’re leading a charmed existence, don’tcha think??
