LITTLE ROCK — Nick Saban walked briskly to the lectern and looked out at the 400 or so reporters who had arrived as much as an hour early to get a seat for the Alabama coach’s turn at SEC media days.
He immediately zinged the early dates of the meetings and drew a laugh from the members of the media.
“You know how excited I am looking forward to this event,” he said. “The fact they moved it up a week really made me have a great summer, and I hope you’ve had a great summer.”
He half smiled, half smirked.
He doesn’t look like he will turn 61 this Halloween, and he has the energy of a much younger man.
Among active coaches at the helm for at least 10 years, Saban ranks fifth in winning percentage, but would anyone really rank him behind Bob Stoops, Gary Patterson, Mark Richt or Steve Spurrier when it comes to success?
In five seasons at Alabama, he has won two national championships, and he won one at LSU before that. Bear Bryant won six for the Crimson Tide, but he coached there 25 years.
It is highly doubtful Saban will be coaching 20 years from now, but it is highly likely he’s not through winning championships.
He’s disciplined, dedicated and determined.
While no one will ever call him warm and fuzzy, he’s incredibly organized and has a plan for everything.
He can be about as subtle as a barbed wire necktie.
He can make grown men cry and then chastise them for being soft.
There doesn’t seem to be any gray areas for him. Black or white. Win or lose.
The most contention ever surrounding him was when he told LSU he would be there long enough to see the oak trees in his yard grow. Then he left for the Miami Dolphins, where he denied he was leaving for the Alabama job until the day he took over the Crimson Tide program.
OK, his daughter Kristen was accused of punching out a sorority sister, allegations she disputes, but that’s hardly Nick Saban’s fault.
He and his wife, Terry, do fundraising for several organizations, including the Children’s Miracle Network.
His celebrity status in the state of Alabama has virtually made him a prisoner outside of football, which he seems to be focused on 24-7, 365 days a year.
He is a relentless recruiter and spends enough time in the film room preparing for opponents that he probably needs a gallon of Refresh eye drops a day.
When Saban speaks, people listen. Not just in Alabama, but everywhere. He’s become the unofficial spokesman for college football coaches.
Three national championships and wisdom that seems to roll effortlessly off the tongue does that for you.
Of course, going into this season his first goal has been to convince everyone the Tide will need a healthy dose of luck to repeat as national champions. That they are going to be young after replacing 13 starters.
The last time Saban lost that many players was the year after his national championship at LSU, and the Tigers went 9-3 the next season.
At Alabama, under Saban, 10-3 is considered a rebuilding season.
In the past four seasons, he’s led the Crimson Tide to a combined record of 46-6, and his past two recruiting classes were ranked No. 1 in the country and No. 5 the year before that.
If the Crimson Tide have questions, they’re on the defensive side, where seven starters were lost, but the offense returns four offensive lineman, quarterback A.J. McCarron and reserve running back Eddie Lacy, who averaged 7.1 yards on 96 carries.
Nick Saban has several reasons to be happy, even if he didn’t let it show much.
Sports, Pages 19 on 07/25/2012