Nick Saban’s Legacy Cemented

A statue of Nick Saban already stands in Tuscaloosa outside Bryant-Denny Stadium. So what’s next after he orchestrated a masterful game plan to secure Alabama’s second BCS Championship under his guidance? Does the venue become Bryant-Denny-Saban Stadium? Or perhaps Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium?

Regardless the homage, Saban’s production has earned his place in Crimson Tide lore. Honor after honor flooded in today, one night after the Tide claimed the crystal ball: Grantland Rice Trophy. MacArthur Bowl. Associated Press National Championship. He has the trophy case overflowing in just a half-decade as Alabama’s head coach. Even in facets that can’t be signified with a trophy or plaque, like on the recruiting trail and in establishing a strong coaching tree, Saban is winning.

Saban isn’t going to win every award out there; Mr. Congenialty, for example. He’s rare to crack a smile, even following Monday night’s dismantling of LSU in the BCS Championship only smirking in his press conference alongside AJ McCarron. His controversial (though perhaps not controversial enough) practice of signing more recruits than there are scholarships available clouds the annual haul he inks to wear that oh-so-famous, number-on-side helmet.

In terms oh pure Xs and Os though, Monday’s showing wiped away any doubt that he is one of the greatest ever. LSU was scoring a shade below 40 points per game, yet crossed midfield once. A head coach can never take all the credit for a genius game plan, but his supervision of Kirby Smart’s defensive strategy produced a showing for the ages. His hands-off approach with Jim McElwain’s offensive scheme also proved the correct move. McCarron looked comfortable against one of the nation’s best defenses. The use of the tight ends and rushes to test a very good LSU line, thus setting up the pass was so old school that it came full circle to being completely innovative in this era of air-it-out offenses.

If a head coach is a CEO overseeing a staff, Saban’s been the Bill Gates to Alabama’s Microsoft.

Yet for all Saban’s success and the praise that is certainly due him, it’s vital to avoid becoming entangled in the cult of personality that is so prevalent (and, as Penn State teaches us, potentially dangerous) in big-time athletics.

The aforementioned Saban statue is so perfectly metaphoric of how quickly fans and media sing one’s praises. Bear (pun intended) in mind that Saban has coached UA all of five years, yet after four had a bronze shrine erected in his honor. Four years!

Those praises turn to jeers just as quickly, if not more so. Counter to Saban Monday night is Les Miles, earlier that day awarded Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year honors for leading the Tigers to an impressive 13-0 season that included an SEC Championship (for all intents and purposes, won in Bryant-Denny Stadium against Saban). His past trangressions of clock management and missed expectations, whether fairly earned or not, were scrubbed away.

As DeathValleyVoice.com editor Buzz Breeden pointed out on the SaturdayBlitz.com podcast last week, the LSU championship march was actually ahead of schedule. There is much to anticipate in 2012 for the Tigers, yet Miles’ adulation is back to second-guessing. Should he have played Jarrett Lee, a quarterback who in his career against Alabama was more punching bag than play caller?

A reasonable observer doubts Lee would have kick-started an offense that could muster literally nothing against an NFL-talent laden ‘Bama side that simply dominated. How ironic that Miles, often criticized for being too out-there, is now targeted for his conservatism and sticking to script?

Fan bases and media types are fickle. Saban now stands on top of the world, and shows little sign of descending.