'Bama Fans, Meet Your New Coach!

Coach Nick Saban, Reporting For Duty

On Wednesday morning, Dolphins' coach Nick Saban opted out of his contract with the team and signed a lucrative, lengthy contract to be the next football coach at the University of Alabama. In all fairness, whether Saban is coaching at Big Time U or Podunk High is unremarkable. What is noteworthy is the idea that broken promises can be so handsomely rewarded. Saban, as you may recall, came to Miami just two short years ago after leading LSU to the national title. The owners of the Dolphins heavily recruited Saban and lavished him with perhaps the richest contract for any coach in the NFL. He was expected to be the next Don Shula, a leader of men who’d mold the Miami team into champions. Over the past two seasons, he proved to be simply a mediocre NFL coach. So when Alabama fired their coach last month (ironically Don Shula’s son), speculation ran hot and heavy that Saban would be interested in the job.

This is nothing new, as Patriots fans can well attest. In 1978, their coach, a snotty chap by the name of Fairbanks was caught negotiating a deal with the University of Colorado during the season. His bright and shining star nosedived after that. (cue Ted Knight laugh track) From late November until the end of the year, Saban responded to media rumors by vehemently denying that he would leave Miami for the Alabama job. He said, “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach.” How much clearer can you get than that? Didn’t Jesus say, “let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37)

It’s not that complicated, as some of the talking-head equivocators and his apologists suggest. If Saban had an interest in the job, all he needed to say was after the season he would give it consideration. No big deal. Cloak-and-dagger duplicity really pisses people off. Being upfront regarding your intentions causes far less aggravation in the long run. If he wasn't satisfied with the rigors of his profession, that's his business. But when such an employee is partially responsible for generating revenues, isn't it in everyone's interest to be forthcoming with respect to opportunities elsewhere? What contingencies did the business have in place for its primary operations manager to simply abandon his post? Clearly such actions are detrimental to highly visible businesses that require "brand loyalty" and public support.

In the world in which I was raised, a contract is a contract. In the most basic terms, the parties agree that for consideration they promise to perform a certain task for a specified term. In the event one party fails to perform as agreed, the agreement is breached and the party whose interests were harmed as a result may seek recourse in a court of law. In fact, it can be said that “the body of contract law is about being made whole.” Your signature represented your good name and your reputation in the world. It was supposed to be ironclad and rock solid. Not any more, I guess. Perhaps his lawyers anticipated the inevitability of an early departure, so they cleverly drafted loopholes to allow for an early escape, a pre-nup of sorts. Can you imagine what would happen to a society, if everyone decided to abandon his or her contractual obligations on a whim or whispers of greener pastures? It would create a chaotic breakdown of a magnitude as has never been seen in America. Every facet of American life whether commerce or labor, depends on the existence of contractual agreements to function in an orderly manner. How is it that Saban is allowed to freely (and without recourse) leave the Dolphins for the land of milk & honey back in the college football world? Is he somehow exempt from the rules with which the rest of us are required to comply? And why is it that the owner of the team did not put up much of a fuss after he left? Hmmmm...Is it simply a matter of “business as usual”? Because if it is, what's the benefit or value for anyone to enter into nothing but non-binding deals of short-term duration? Saban’s actions may be patently offensive, but the salient point of contention is that such conduct does not transpire in a vacuum. The business world notes how executives can abandon employment contracts and profit mightily by their disreputable behavior.

How will the University of Alabama be enriched by the services of just another carpetbagger? How long will it take before Saban gets wanderlust again? I’m getting tired of people like this; ambitious mercenaries with no loyalty to anyone other than themselves and the Almighty Buck. Yet if the Crimson Tide has a winning season in 2007, he will be hailed as the next Bear Bryant. If I were a college football player, there's no way I could remotely have a shred of respect for a phony like Saban. There's no way I would risk life and limb for the likes of pantload like him. In team endeavors, unless all parts of the body (players/coaches/staff) intuitively feel as they are collectively functioning as one, the concept will fail. How is it possible for a student-athlete to look at this man’s track record and reasonably conclude that this coach has the best interests of each student-athlete first? At the University level, I thought it was a matter of hiring coaches who built character in young men and women through the disciplines associated with athletics. But it’s not about that at all. What it’s all about is money. As time goes on, the thin line between professional athletics and big-time college athletics has blurred. The universities enrich themselves at the expense of the sweat and toil of the student athletes. It doesn’t matter, the bigger the program, the higher the dropout rate. According to a recent report, only 39% of the kids in the Alabama football program actually earned college degrees. 39%! That is an absolute disgrace! The costs associated with athletic scholarships at many of the schools are just a mere drop in the bucket to the many millions they rake in from television contracts. The schools provide no special consideration for student-athletes trying to succeed in a competitive environment beyond the football field of the basketball court. They’re disposable, just like everything else in this culture.

Nick Saban, you ask? He’s not worth a moment of our time, but virtues such as personal integrity and the importance of keeping promises are. A person’s good name is of infinite value, let him grab his marbles and take the next bus to Tuscaloosa, who cares. Hopefully a year from now Alabama will be playing in the Turpentine Bowl in Peoria and Saban will be consigned to the back pages of history.