It’s one of the most memorable sentences Nick Saban uttered. It consisted of eight words and left no ambiguity.
“I’m not going to be the Alabama coach,” he said on Dec. 21, 2006.
More than 10 years later, Saban stood behind a lectern inside the Mal Moore athletic facility, addressing the media Wednesday as his team continued preparations for its national championship rematch with Clemson next Monday.
In bold, white letters, “ALABAMA” was emblazoned on his crimson shirt. As the face of a program in full-fledged dynasty mode, Saban has become synonymous with the South’s preeminent football powerhouse.
Think of the Tide and these days the first person who comes to mind is Saban, which is pretty remarkable at a university where Bear Bryant created a legacy that is still celebrated.
If Alabama beats the Tigers on Monday, Saban will win his sixth national title and tie Bryant for the most championships ever won by a coach.
“It’s unbelievable what he’s done down there,” said Hudson Houck. “Unbelievable. In the history of college football, he’s at the top.”
Over the phone, Houck’s incredulity is evident.
As an offensive line assistant on Saban’s staff in Miami, Houck was there during the Alabama coach’s final days with the Dolphins.
At the time, rumors swirled about Saban’s future at Miami. The Dolphins were in the midst of a challenging season.
They had started 1-6 and a quarterback controversy had mushroomed when Joey Harrington replaced Daunte Culpepper in October.
It was just the latest hurdle Saban encountered during an ongoing struggle to turn around a franchise that had fallen on hard times.
Before he arrived, the Dolphins finished 4-12. In his first season in South Florida, Saban led them to a 9-7 record. But the momentum gained from that year had subsided.
Saban, the workaholic that he was, tried to find a way out of the rut.
Known as the Nicktator then, he was unforgiving.
He made a 345-pound defensive tackle cry and was hard on his underlings. Demanding excellence from others, he also tried to extract as much as he could from himself.
He spent hours looking for answers to the problems he attempted to solve.
“From watching so much film he actually strained his neck,” said Tony Egues, who served as an equipment manager for the Dolphins since the Don Shula days.
“We had to have a masseuse come in. I remember seeing Nick on the training table.”
Saban didn’t look like someone contemplating leaving Miami after two seasons, and he made that clear on the same November day Mike Shula was fired at Alabama.
Asked if he had been contacted by the Tide, Saban told The Miami Herald, “I don’t care to be. I don’t want to be. . . .
This is the challenge that I wanted. I had a good college job, so why would I have left that if I would be interested in another college job?”
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