Will Alabama Be Saban's Final Coaching Stop?

There is probably little doubt that time is seemingly standing still for most Alabama fans as there is still 26 days remaining until Nick Saban's No. 2 Crimson Tide battles the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Miami, in search of the program's 15th national championship. 

Of course there are plenty of things for those fans to focus on during this timespan, such as collecting those last Christmas fruitcakes and bad ties, watching endless holiday movies and the countless and pointless bowl games which now number, I believe, 50, and also fretting about whether the Mayan calendar is correct. 

I really don't suspect any Crimson Tide supporter has reached the panic stage about anything recently, whether it be that upcoming matchup with Notre Dame that has most Tide fans anticipating payback for several bitter defeats against the Irish in the distant past or the most recent speculation about Saban departing the Tide program to head back to the NFL. 

If you have not heard the latest from the Saban rumor mill, word is that he could possibly be a candidate to return to the Cleveland Browns, where he once served as an assistant coach under Bill Belichick. 

It is also thought that Saban would consider returning to the Browns since new Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam has hired Joe Banner as the Browns' new president, and Banner may, in turn, hire Saban buddy Mike Lombardi as Cleveland's new general manager. 

Of course it is yet to be seen whether there is anything to this speculation at all, or if it might just be a ploy by the national media to distract a Crimson Tide program gunning for yet another championship, or an attempt to simply create a story where there is none, which some media members are also known to do from time to time.

 

The speculation, if nothing else, has at least gotten some members of the Alabama Nation to wonder out loud whether Saban would indeed be tempted to take another crack at pro football following an unspectacular tenure with the Miami Dolphins.

Terry Saban was quoted in a recent Birmingham News interview with Kevin Scarbinski as saying she believes that Alabama will be her husband's last coaching stop before he retires, noting the couple is still happy and comfortable in Tuscaloosa.

 

This is more believable as the Sabans seem more and more entrenched in this city, having recently helped to dedicate a new playground, and Saban continues to be rewarded for his success at the Capstone as it was announced that he has been inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2013.

 

Many Alabama supporters find it hard to fathom that their coach, who has compiled a record of 62-13, along with two national titles and two Southeastern Conference championships, would leave the nation's most successful program and a current dynasty in themaking for the uncertainty of the NFL, especially for a franchise like the Browns that is in a major rebuilding mode.  Personally, I have a hard time picturing such a move too. 

Although I know many coaches are always looking for the next challenge, especially those with very healthy egos such as Saban,  there would just seem to be no logic behind a return to professional football and a departure from what many would consider to be the perfect situation that he has helped to build in Tuscaloosa.

 

When he left the Dolphins to take the Alabama job, Saban said he welcomed the opportunity to return to college football because it was the situation and environment which best allowed him to  develop young people in a positive manner. This of course is not the case in the NFL, where many of the players are highly-paid divas who tend to run the show. Would this ever seem like a particularly good fit for Saban?

 

It is still somewhat staggering the amount of success that Saban has already had in just six years at Alabama in terms of on-the-field  dominance, player development, recruiting, accolades for he, his players and the program overall, players he has already sent to the NFL while at Alabama and even the revenue generated by the UA athletic program since his arrival. 

 

He already has the perfect package of success, facilities, talent and power in Tuscaloosa and is also the nation's highest paid coach. Saban can win his third national title at the Capstone if Bama is able to get past the Irish in less than a month. It is not unrealistic to think that Saban, with the talent currently on hand in Tuscaloosa, and if he is able to maintain the high level of recruiting which he has achieved to this point, could have Alabama contending for at least two or three more national titles if he elects to coach the Tide program for another six to seven years. Saban could very easily equal the six national titles that the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant captured at Alabama if he does not elect to stay long enough to actually surpass that championship total. 
 

He has made the Alabama name the dominant one in college football again, both on the state and national level,  after the program had almost sunk to the depths of irrelevancy before his arrival. He has also constructed a program that many coaches are patterning their own teams after, such as Will Muschamp at Florida and Brian Kelly with Notre Dame, as they look to attain the level of success and dominance which the Crimson Tide has achieved over the past five years or so. 

Saban's process-oriented style of program and player development is now the happening prototype for many programs, and the degree of success he has already achieved at both LSU and Alabama, along with the number of coaches and players that have already made it to the next level while under his direction has already cemented his legacy, along with that statue that already sits outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium of course. 

 

While even the average fan would ask the question of why a coach like Saban would even entertain the thought of leaving a program where he continues to win big, where he has all the financial security that anyone could ever need and a place where he is basically king, I guess it is hard to always know what is going through an intensely competitive person's mind.  This is especially true of a relatively complex person such as Saban.

 

Although he may be happy and content for the most part in Tuscaloosa, there still may be something burning inside that may one day lead him back to give the NFL another shot.  It is the one place where he was not able to gain the consistently high standard of performance and success which he works tirelessly and relentlessly to achieve.

 

At a place such as Cleveland, he would be back in a familiar place where he enjoyed working under one of his main mentors in Belichick, and he would take over a Browns franchise which is struggling, but has young talent to build with such as quarterback Brandon Weeden, an exciting offensive/kick returning weapon in Josh Cribbs and a talented young running back who is currently a rookie by the name of Trent Richardson. You know, he and Saban have a little history together, and it was very successful. 

At some point Saban may just have that little itch to  return to the big leagues and prove that he can win big with a second chance.

I will believe it when I see it, however, as with the NFL, there are just too many big salaries, too many possible dramas and too many question marks in general, and in the NFL the leashes are pretty short and the patience is pretty thin if a coaching hire does not translate into enough wins and playoff appearances in a fairly short timespan.

 

As the recent firing of Gene Chizik at Auburn proves, memories and leashes can also be short on the college level as well, but Saban has already proven he can dominate on this level, and that is what he is currently doing at Alabama. As long as he can positively influence and develop young student-athletes at the same time, I cannot see him making the same possible mistake and leaving college football for a second time.