By taking Dolphins’ job, Saban proves he’s foolish
Nick Saban had us all fooled. We thought he was a brilliant football coach and therefore a brilliant person. As it turns out he was a brilliant coach – at least for a short period of time – but as a person he is dumber than a fence post; a rich fence post for sure, but a fence post all the same.
Saban’s decision to jump from coaching LSU to trying to revive the Miami Dolphins has to rank right up with John Kerry’s decision to try and become president by playing both sides of the fence on every issue as one of history’s all-time worst decisions.
Saban had it all. He was respected as one of – if not the – best coaches in America. He had a national championship trophy on his shelf. He had blue-chip recruits trying to break down his door to get a scholarship to LSU. He was bigger in Louisiana than Huey Long in his heyday.
Every coach in the SEC got nervous stomachs at the thought of having to face him. And, don’t forget, he was making over $2 million a year, among the highest salaries in college football. And that goes a long way in Baton Rouge.
So he walks away from it all to take over the Miami Dolphins, a team that has become a beached whale – all bloated, decaying and emitting an odor that could reverse the tides.
Did he learn nothing from Butch Davis or Steve Spurrier? Each of them was just as hot a property as Saban. Each ran to the NFL and both wound up tucking their tails between their legs and throwing up their hands in humiliating defeat and disgrace. Look at Pete Carroll, for Pete’s sake. The Southern Cal coach was horrible in the pros, and then he came to college and now has his team playing for a second consecutive national championship.
Being a Grand Poobah in college doesn’t mean you can do the same thing in the NFL. It’s been proven over and over again.
Why is that? Isn’t football, football? That’s the thought that each coach considering a move from the colleges to the NFL has in his mind. He believes because he can draw X’s and O’s and motivate college players, he can do the same for businessmen who happen to be in the business of football.
It ain’t necessarily so.
Saban will find out quickly that motivating pro players is a tougher task than motivating college players. Let’s face it; none of the LSU players are making $2 million a year. They are impressed by Saban’s money and power. They can’t afford to get on the bad side of the coach if they want to punch their own ticket to the NFL. So when Saban preaches, they listen. If he gives a purple-and-gold pep talk, they jump and growl like Tigers and try to run through doors.
If Saban, who won’t be the highest paid person in the Dolphins’ locker room, gives an orange-and-teal pep talk to the Dolphins, they will probably laugh in his face and casually stroll out to the field. They won’t be impressed by Saban’s huge contract or his national championship trophy or the fact that he could beat the Mississippi States and Alabamas of the SEC. About the only way he will be able to get their attention is to give them a good stock tip. Or he could threaten to trade them. But there are few teams in the NFL that would be worse to play for than the Dolphins right now.
Nick Saban will find out life in the NFL is not going to be the walk in the park it was in college. Being the head coach at LSU is considered a dream job. Being the head coach and general manager with the Dolphins is not.
Sunday afternoon in south Florida doesn’t hold the same magic as Saturday night in Tiger Stadium and no matter how big your paycheck, losing still stinks and getting booed still gets under your skin.
But Saban is full of the same arrogance that every coach must have to be super successful. He believes he is the one who can make it happen anywhere at anytime.
After being wildly successful at Miami, Davis thought he was the one who could make it happen in Cleveland. He was wrong. After becoming an icon at Florida, Spurrier thought he could make it happen in Washington. He was wrong.
Now Saban believes he can make it happen in Miami. He will be wrong.
Like Davis and Spurrier though, Saban will have his money in the bank when he tucks his tail between his legs, throws up his hands in humiliating defeat and disgrace.
And come to think of it, having a few million in the bank can make humiliating defeat and disgrace a little easier to take.