http://www.al.com/sports/press-register/thicks.ssf?/base/sports/122267973411850.xml&coll=3
That didn’t take long.
Just 18 games into his tenure as Alabama’s head coach, Nick Saban has delivered on the promise that led athletics director Mal Moore to pay him $32 million over eight years to take over the reins of the Crimson Tide’s football program.
OK, so some in the Bama Nation believe that happened the moment Saban said yes to the job offer. But it gained legitimacy Saturday night in Athens with Alabama’s dominating 41-30 win over the Georgia Bulldogs. It wasn’t just a win, it was a smackdown. It wasn’t just a victory, it was a statement.
Think about it. Alabama was a 7-6 team last year, a team that lost to Louisiana-Monroe at home, a team that lost for a sixth straight time to arch rival Auburn. This year it destroyed a preseason top-10 team (Clemson) in its season-opener and humbled the country’s No. 3-ranked team (Georgia) on the road.
What the win and 5-0 start says isn’t just that Bama is back — a phrase used prematurely at times in recent seasons — but that it appears it will no longer be renting Top 25 space, but seeking a more permanent housing arrangement. The credit belongs to Saban, who is making that $32 million contract seem like a bargain.
As he said after Saturday’s game, he may not look happy, but he’s happy. That’s because after pushing the Tide to the No. 2 spot in this week’s Associated Press poll, there’s still a lot of work remaining to hold on to the lofty spot. There is, of course, one other spot remaining in the poll.
Saban’s intensity won’t allow him to smile just yet. Alabama still has seven more regular-season games and, if he has his way, the SEC title game and a bowl appearance, too. You can bet, though, that Moore is smiling enough for the both of them.
And now, if it wasn’t true before, Alabama players are buying in to whatever Saban says. He has their undivided attention. Alabama’s play has gained the undivided attention of the nation.
Al.com
9/29/08
Magnolia Tribune
