Like it is

Saban uses media to deliver his message

Alabama football coach Nick Saban talks with reporters during a news conference, Thursday, April 20, 2017, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/AL.com via AP)
Alabama football coach Nick Saban talks with reporters during a news conference, Thursday, April 20, 2017, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/AL.com via AP)

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban wrapped up spring football by telling the media the Crimson Tide are adequate, but not an elite team.

He also said the loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff Championship game was something he would never get over.

That's understandable, despite Saban's tendency to fade the truth when it best serves him, because Alabama allowed Clemson to drive 88 yards in less than two minutes to score the winning touchdown with one second remaining.

Alabama is known for its defense.

Saban also said Jimbo Fisher was the best offensive coordinator he's ever had, but considering Saban has lost two offensive coordinators since December, Lane Kiffin after three years and Steve Sarkisian after a few weeks, he needed to have something positive to say and deflect attention from the desertions.

It was also learned that quarterback Jalen Hurts has a picture of Clemson players celebrating on the home screen of his smartphone as a reminder.

Mostly, it was a typical Saban news conference.

Where most coaches come out of spring practice a little bubbly, no one has every accused Saban of being sunshine and champagne.

When he came back into the SEC at Alabama, despite saying many times he was not leaving the Miami Dolphins after just two seasons, he was already not very well liked by LSU fans.

At LSU, Saban swore he was not leaving the Tigers for the Dolphins, which he did in 2004. His wife once said they had planted an oak tree in their Baton Rouge back yard and intended to see it grow to maturity.

In the 10 years since becoming the eighth coach to take the Crimson Tide reins since Bear Bryant retired, although Mike Price never actually coached a game after he got caught in the wrong place and the wrong time with a dancer, Tide Nation is no longer bemoans Bryant's retirement in 1982.

Saban has won 114 games and lost only 19 at Alabama.

He's won four national championships and played for it again earlier this year (see Clemson reference above).

His dominance has made him one of the most disliked coaches among the 13 other fan bases in the SEC.

Alabama is everyone's arch rival, but the other schools probably should be relieved ESPN hasn't decided to change the SEC Network to the Alabama Network.

Saban and Alabama are not the only reason, but since he moved to Tuscaloosa in late 2006, the other 13 schools have had 36 different head coaches.

Again, some of the changes were because of other circumstances, but no doubt some of the firings have been because the fans couldn't stand for their head coach to lose to Alabama any more.

The prime example of that is LSU, which let Les Miles go four games into last season and eventually promoted offensive coordinator Ed Orgeron to the head coaching job.

The Tigers are tied with South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi and Mississippi state for the fewest head coaching changes in the past decade. Each of those are on their second head coach, at least for now.

Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida and Kentucky are on their third coach and Arkansas, Tennessee and Vanderbilt their fourth.

The SEC East leads the way with 20 different head coaches, although that could change as Florida and Georgia have both hired former Saban assistants. No school from the West has tried that, yet.

So, when Saban says coming out of spring that the Crimson Tide are not an elite team, just adequate, you know for sure that once again he has used a news conference to tell his team to get bigger, stronger and better.

Sports on 04/26/2017

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