by
Chris Shashaty, Phins.com Columnist
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Nick
Saban is a fraud.
He
is a liar.
He
is a quitter.
He
is a betrayer of trust.
I
never, ever thought I would associate
those words with Nick Saban.
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Not
Nick Saban.
Or,
as we should now say, Benedict Saban.
That’s
what you call Saban today and forever for quitting like he did on the Miami
Dolphins, only two years into a five year deal, his work incomplete and his grand
promises broken.
Yesterday,
the Sun Sentinel gathered a list of Saban’s recent and most notorious quotes. As
follows, and try not to get too nauseous:
On
November 27, in response to a question as to whether he’d be contacted by
Nick,
it’s called money…a reported $32 million, guaranteed, with other incentives.
Asked
again on December 3: "I'm not going to continue to respond to rumors and
innuendo, which this obviously is. I'm committed to a group of guys here and a
football team and a football staff, and we're working hard to get this season
right. It really challenges your professionalism and integrity to even talk
about it. People throw it to the wall, see what sticks."
The
crap seems to be sticking to Saban pretty good right now.
On
December 7: “(Alabama) called (agent) Jimmy (Sexton]) and said, 'Is Nick
interested?' and Jimmy said, 'No.' And Jimmy asked me on several occasions and
I said, 'No, I'm interested in staying here. I'm flattered that they may have
been interested in me, but it really never progressed because we never let it
progress. It's ridiculous. I haven't even talked to anybody and all of a sudden
somebody's coming here to interview me."
Nick,
that’s what
December
11: "I in no way wanted to indicate to him (Sports Illustrated's Peter
King) or anybody else that there was any possibility of that (having interest
in
Right
on that last point, coach.
December
21: “I'm not going to be the
Again,
all coaches lie. But what they lie about matters and their reputations, as
such, consequently proceed them wherever they go. This means that, for the
record, Nick Saban can no longer be considered the trustworthy person he was
when he arrived in
He
lied to the media.
He
lied to you, the fans.
He
lied to Wayne Huizenga.
And,
worst of all, he lied to his players when he told them he was staying.
To
his players, Saban loved to espouse big words like “competitive character” and
“overcoming adversity”. He papered the walls at Dolphin Camp with motivational
messages like “Out of Yourself and Into the Team” and “Dolphin Pride: Discipline, Commitment, Toughness,
Effort, Pride”. He had a supersized picture of the Dolphins’ Super Bowl rings
up in the corridor where he entered to go to work everyday, reminding everyone of
the goal he left LSU to achieve.
All
of it was a sham, hollow and empty. Because Saban was so good at delivering
inspirational messages, the deceit reeks even more.
As
such, Benedict Saban has become the most contemptible sports fraud in
Potential
You
can’t help but feel badly for Wayne Huizenga. Here’s a guy who runs a first
class franchise in every way possible. He trusted Saban with his beloved
Dolphins, trusted him with delivering a championship, gave him everything he
asked for and more.
Benedict
Saban let him down. He betrayed him.
In
his book, “How Good Do You Want to Be?”, Saban often recalls life lessons from
his father as he makes points about working hard and doing things the right way
in being successful.
Wonder
what Saban’s father would say if he were here right now, watching his son leave
a job undone like this?
Wonder
what Saban’s father would say if he knew about the promises his son made and
have now gone back on.
In
a way, Huizenga should be glad to be rid of Saban. The last thing the Dolphins
needed was a repeat of Jimmy Johnson’s last season in
It’s time for the Miami
Dolphins to move forward now but it won’t be easy. Because Saban
left his work in
Key
players like Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas are older now and will have a tougher
time making the switch to yet another coach, another system.
Few
would blame him if he did.
The
cupboard of quarterbacks is barer than ever. Yes, Daunte Culpepper could still
work out but, as Saban himself noted just this past Monday, his availability
remains uncertain.
Big
contracts to offensive playmaking failures like Chris Chambers and Randy
McMichael burden the salary cap more than ever. In the end, Saban’s teams
failed to create any of the explosive offensive playmaking, or the winning, he
promised.
His
final record as Dolphin coach was 15-17. That’s the sum of what all the fanfare
and hype brought the Dolphins. That’s what the rest of the NFL is laughing at
right now.
As
head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Nick Saban was a failure. He leaves in disgrace,
the worst coach in team history.
Let’s
hope the next head coach of the Miami Dolphins is a man with genuine integrity
and commitment, a man of strong football acumen, a coach all Dolfans can truly
be proud of.