Saban shows the number wins he had with the Dolphins this season.
Posted on 01/05/2007 1:04:45 PM PST by stainlessbanner
MIAMI -- One day after it was announced that Nick Saban was stepping down as head coach of the Miami Dolphins to take that same job at the University of Alabama, another former Dolphins coach spoke out against the perceived injustice many Miami fans thought Saban committed by continually saying he was not interested in the job.
Don Shula, who led the Dolphins to two world championships and the only perfect season in NFL history during his 26-year tenure with the team from 1970 to 1995, watched from his home on Indian Creek Island on Thursday as Saban was formally introduced as the 27th head coach of the Crimson Tide during a news conference carried live on ESPN.
It might have seemed strange considering that Alabama’s 26th head coach was Shula’s son, Mike Shula, who was fired afted a mediocre 2006 season, which was preceded by a 10-2 record in 2005. However, the elder Shula just grimaced and restrained himself from saying anything harsh about Saban.
“I've always been a coach that says, ‘when a game's over, you can't change the score and you move on. You try to learn from a negative experience and from something positive, you try to build on it,’” Shula said. “So Saban has moved on, and the important thing is what the Dolphins do from here on in.”
Saban, lured to Tuscaloosa by a reported eight-year deal worth at least $30 million, said “my heart was to go back to college” but felt he left the Dolphins in better shape than he found them two years ago, despite a 15-17 overall record.
“I gave my best effort for two years to do that, and I think the organization and team is better for that,” Saban said.
Saban said he didn’t think it would be fair to stay with the team if his heart wasn’t fully in it. He said his decision to leave Louisiana State, where he coached for five seasons and won a national championship in 2003, was “premature” and that he didn’t initially want the Miami job, but was persuaded into it after talking to Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga shortly before Christmas in 2004.
When asked about his commitment to the Crimson Tide given his previous insistence that he wasn’t going to become the next Alabama coach, Saban said his next stop would not be another school but retirement to Lake Burton -- near where “Deliverance” was filmed, he said -- in north Georgia, where he has a home.
Alabama first approached Saban shortly after firing Shula on Nov. 27. After Saban turned down the job in early December, the university offered it to Rich Rodriguez, who decided to remain as head coach at West Virginia.
Saban punctuated weeks of denials with this declaration two weeks ago: “I'm not going to be the Alabama coach.” He apparently had a change of heart, leaving Miami with three years remaining on his contract at $4.5 million a year.
Still, Saban said it was not until after the Dolphins concluded their season at Indianapolis with a 6-10 record -- his only losing season as a head coach -- that his agent spoke to him about Alabama’s continued interest.
Saban has a record of 91-42-1 as a college coach at LSU, Michigan State and Toledo.
The elder Shula ruled out fan chatter about the possibility of him returning to the Dolphins, saying that he enjoys retirement too much for a 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week-type of job that is the NFL.
Huizenga didn't rule out hiring another college coach, even despite the failed Saban experiment.
“There's only one thing I want to do, and it’s win,” Huizenga said. “I don't care what it takes, what it costs, what’s involved. We’re going to make this a winning franchise. It’s no fun owning a team if you're not winning, I can tell you that.”
Another take on the new vacancy in Miami.
“I gave my best effort for two years to do that, and I think the organization and team is better for that,” Saban said.
If Saban's best effort over two years resulted in a 15 - 17 record, the Dolphins are better off without him. As for Saban... how could he turn down 'Bama when they offered ten years? In the NFL he could be gone after a bad game. Now the Tide is stuck with him!
Of course he couldn't say he was leaving before the season ended. Sheesh!
Jax was a real Jekyll-and-Hyde team this year: beat Indy, lose to Tennessee. Beat Philly, New York and the Cowboys, but lose to the Redskins. And incredibly, lose to Houston - twice! Go figure!
Shula is going for an assistant job, Del Rio is going nowhere.
So when Auburn wins the next three Iron Bowls, will Bama buy out Saban's contract?
Saban shows the number wins he had with the Dolphins this season.
Funny because SI had them playing a home game in February this year.
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