Tag: Nick Saban (Page 4 of 10)

Nick Saban is being hypocritical when it comes to “pimp” comments

July 22, 2010 /
TUSCALOOSA, AL - APRIL 17: Coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts during the Alabama spring game at Bryant Denny Stadium on April 17, 2010 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Dave Martin/Getty Images)

That didn’t take long. Yesterday I was front and center on the Nick Saban-is-right-bandwagon, but this morning I already find myself trying not to break my leg while jumping off it.

That’s because I remembered who was doing all the talking in this growing discussion about player agents, how they interact with college athletes and what the NFL should do to help remedy the situation.

It’s Nick Saban. The same Nick Saban who left LSU high and dry to take the NFL’s money in Miami, only to stick it up the Dolphins’ you-know-what when he got home sick for the NCAA. Now he’s blasting the NFL for not taking a more active role in getting agents to stop pestering students? Oh, brother.

As I wrote yesterday, the NFL should help. College football is where the NFL gets its talent and if its little brother needs assistance dealing with a problem, then big brother should step in. As Saban noted in one of his rants, if an agent breaks a rule that leads to a player losing his eligibility, the NFL could suspend that agent’s license. (Assuming of course that the NFL can even do that, which at this point remains a little unclear.)

But let’s keep in mind that little brother makes billions of dollars a year and therefore, can deal with its problem on its own if it comes down to it. And the root of the issue isn’t the NFL or even the agents themselves – it’s the players who continue to hold their hands out.

There’s a simple solution when it comes to this growing problem and that’s for the athletes to stop accepting gifts. Don’t go to parties hosted by these agents, don’t accept gifts of suits, cars or money, and don’t do anything that’s going to threaten your playing career or the future of your program. It shouldn’t be that hard to say no, given the recent developments with Reggie Bush, who single-handedly just made the USC football program irrelevant for the next two years.

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College Football, External Sports, NFL

Saban right to criticize NFL about lack of involvement when it comes to agents

July 21, 2010 /
Jan 5, 2010; Newport Beach, CA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban at the 2010 BCS National Championship media day at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa. Photo via Newscom

Nick Saban just served the National Football League a warning: Either help us clean up or you totally can’t come over anymore.

According to a report by ESPN.com, University of Alabama officials are investigating whether junior defensive lineman Marcel Dareus broke NCAA rules by attending an agent’s party in South Beach earlier this summer. Apparently the investigation goes beyond Dareus’ involvement, as players from North Carolina (including defensive end Marvin Austin) and South Carolina (including tight end Weslye Saunders) are also being investigated about the same party.

Saban, who realizes that the athletes aren’t responsible enough to turn down offers from agents and that the universities can’t play babysitter to every player, wants to know what Roger Goodell and the NFL will do to help the growing problem.

“What the NFL Players Association and the NFL need to do is if any agent breaks a rule and causes ineligibility for a player, they should suspend his [agent’s] license for a year or two,” Saban said. “I’m about ready for college football to say, ‘Let’s just throw the NFL out. Don’t let them evaluate players. Don’t let them talk to players. Let them do it at the combine.’ If they are not going to help us, why should we help them?”

Great point. The NFL only cares about one thing: the NFL. But the league needs to remember where all of its talent is coming from. Saban and his staff at Alabama are known for being one of the more accommodating programs in the nation when it comes to giving pro scouts access to their players. Maybe if they too are affected by the situation, the NFL will actually spring into action.

“Right now, agents are screwing it up,” Saban said. “They are taking the eligibility of players. It’s not right that those players do the wrong thing. We have a great education process here. We have a full-time worker who meets with players and their families and does everything else.”

Again, Saban is right. The football programs and the athletes are the only ones being hurt in these situations, which is why the NFL has yet to do anything about it. Some might point out that it’s not the NFL’s responsibility to monitor what agents do. To that I call shenanigans. You’re telling me that the king dicks of the sports world can’t do something about agents who clearly have a disregard for rules when it comes to recruiting players as clients? I’m not buying that – I don’t care how much you’re selling it for.

Maybe Saban should be the first one to step up and ban NFL scouts from his campus. It won’t hurt the players much because talent always wins out in the end. (If a player is good, the NFL knows about it.) The only thing it might do is get the NFL to look down from its ivory tower and help the NCAA for once.

College Football, External Sports, NFL

Colt McCoy is the epitome of class

January 8, 2010 /

The college football gods owe Colt McCoy a massive apology, because what they did to him on Thursday night was extremely cruel.

On the fifth play of the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, an Alabama defender hit McCoy on his right side and the quarterback’s arm immediately went dead. He motioned to come out of the game and was replaced by freshman Garrett Gilbert for the remainder of the series.

That was the last time McCoy took a snap for the Texas Longhorns, who eventually fell to Alabama, 37-21.

It’s not fair what happened to McCoy. You could see how distraught he was while having to watch from the sidelines as his team fought an uphill battle. He came back for his senior year for the opportunity to win a national championship and instead he was forced to be a spectator for his team’s biggest moment. For what he did at Texas and for college football, he deserved more than this ending.

But even though he was handed the most unfortunate of breaks, McCoy proved to everyone how much character he has. Following the game, he held back tears while talking to ESPN reporter Lisa Salters about having to watch the game from the sidelines. Nobody would have blamed him if he vented his frustrations or talked about how the outcome of the game would have been different had he played.

But instead, he made it a point of emphasis to congratulate Alabama not once, but twice while wrapping up the interview. And it wasn’t a clichéd, tongue-in-check type of congratulations: It was as sincere as they come.

McCoy managed to muster the strength to congratulate an opponent that had just benefited from one of his darkest moments. Now that’s class.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

College Football

Alabama overcomes Saban’s first quarter mistakes to win national title

January 8, 2010 /

Those that tuned into the 2010 BCS National Championship Game don’t need a breakdown of what transpired on Thursday night: Alabama took advantage of a Colt McCoy shoulder injury and managed to survive a late rally by Texas to cash in a 37-21 victory.

Had McCoy played the entire game, would Texas have won? We’ll never know, although the Longhorns certainly had everything working in their favor early on, taking advantage of one Nick Saban mistake after another.

Saban’s decision to receive instead of putting his defense on the field first was unwise. His decision to fake a punt after the Tide went three and out on their first possession was unnecessary. And his decision not to instruct his return team to call for a fair catch or re-position themselves after Texas had already kicked the ball short at the start of the game was neglectful.

Due to those three decisions, Saban essentially spotted the Longhorns a 6-0 lead. Had McCoy not been hurt, who knows whether or not that 6-0 lead could have been 14-0 to start the game.

Saban obviously deserves enormous credit for turning Alabama’s program around and building a national championship team. What he’s been able to do in such a short period of time has been remarkable and speaks to how good he is at what he does. He’s a motivator, a master game planner and manages to keep young men focused, which cannot be easy to do.

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College Football

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