There’s an old man I know of. He’s passed on now. I never got to meet him, although I saw him from a distance several times and his presence was everywhere during my childhood. And although I didn’t know that old man personally, I know enough about him to say he would’ve loved the spectacle at Bryant-Denny Stadium last Saturday night.
Were Paul Bryant with us today, he’d be 92 years old. And if it were in his power, I’ve no doubt the old man would’ve been sitting front row in a sky box last Saturday night, with that same old twinkle in his eyes and that same mischievous grin on his face as his boys – because they’ll always be his boys, from now until eternity – tired, whipped, and on the verge of collapse, looked at a game clock with two minutes and no time-outs left. They squared their shoulders, reached deep down inside themselves and got ready to do what they had to do.
They needed a touchdown to win. Standing between them and that touchdown was a tough, capable opponent spurred on by those most potent of motivating factors – fear and desperation. Their teammates on the defense had already done their part – answering Coach Saban with an emphatic “Yes!” in both words and deeds when he asked if they could hold the line one more time. Their beleaguered kicker, who had a closet full of ghosts to exorcise against that Arkansas team, had done his part, booming a long, 43-yard field goal right down the middle of the uprights like it was the most natural thing in the world. Now the offense had to do their part.
Their final two minute drive was a thing of absolute beauty. Alabama managed the clock, called outstanding plays and marched down field as if they owned it, and put the ball in the end zone with all of eight seconds left in the game.
Do you think that old man would’ve loved it? Hell, he’d have eaten it up with a spoon. He’d have been tickled beyond words. Because that’s the kind of confidence, sacrifice, extra effort and poise he demanded from the players he coached. Because he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, those attributes make all the difference in games like the one last Saturday night.
Nick Saban knows it, too. It’s a philosophy that’s been missing from Alabama football for far too long. But it’s back now, and the whole country sat up and took notice last weekend. Alabama is on its way to becoming the fire-breathing juggernaut of old. It’s on its way to becoming the kind of team that fans, former players, and alumni always expect it to be.
That’s bad news for another school in Alabama. For five years now, Auburn fans have delighted in telling Alabama fans that they own the state. “Alabama’s done,” they said. “You’re washed up. The Bear’s gone. Your glory days are behind you. You’re nothing more than a second-tier SEC team now.”
Former Auburn athletic director David Housel even drove this point home in a bizarre pre-Iron Bowl radio broadcast in which he compared the vaunted rivalry to World War II, Alabama fans to Nazis, himself to Winston Churchill and intoned that “Auburn was winning the war in the homes across the state…” Housel solemnly informed us that the state of Alabama was well on its way to being Orange and Blue from top to bottom.
Times were admittedly tough for the Tide program. Scandal, NCAA probation, a succession of lackluster coaches, and five painful Iron Bowl losses in a row, which culminated in an utterly stupid and ridiculous ‘Fear the Thumb’ campaign by Auburn faithful this time last year.
Of course, any Alabama fan worth his Crimson car flags would quietly point out to Auburn fans that this wasn’t the way it was going to be forever. Alabama would be back, we assured them. Time and tradition were on our side. And when we returned to our rightful place in the upper echelons of the College football elite, they’d live to regret it.
This reasonable argument was met with howls of laughter. But the laughter stopped late last year when Nick Saban was hired.
There were no chortles of glee to be heard from the Auburn camp then. The giggles were replaced with shrill insistences that Auburn wasn’t scared of Nick Saban, or Alabama, either for that matter. Spring faded into summer, and now the shrill protests from down on the plains became muttered obscenities as Saban’s Alabama coaches began to recruit in earnest, quickly establishing Alabama with a top ten recruiting class heading into the fall, while the Tigers languished with a ranking in the mid-40s. The Tide, it seemed, was indeed turning.
For five years Auburn had the run of the state. How long did it take to undo that half-decade of dominance?
Three weeks. Six football games.
Here it is, not even October yet, and Auburn’s 2007 football season is already lying on the ground a smoking, rotting corpse, turning putrid in the late summer heat. They’re done, ladies and gentlemen. In one fell swoop, the Auburn Tigers have fallen from the heights of their self-imagined greatness back to the status quo so familiar to them over the past 100-plus years… back to being a second-tier SEC team, with their only hope for redemption (as always) pinned on upsetting Alabama in the Iron Bowl later this year.
This is a fun time to be an Alabama fan and alumni of that great school. As far as I’m concerned, Coach Nick Saban earned every cent of his $4 million a year last Saturday night. No matter what happens the rest of this season, it’s obvious this man knows how to coach and fits perfectly with this program. I don’t care about his salary. I checked my bank account this morning, and Nick Saban ain’t costing me a dime personally. And I don’t care if he refuses to play golf and stroke the ego of some millionaire coal mine-owning booster. I’d rather he concentrate on football, thank you very much. Because I liked what I saw last Saturday: I liked seeing Sly Croom whip Auburn. I relished seeing Tennessee getting spanked by the Gators. And I loved seeing Bama hang tough and pull out a win when the odds seem so stacked against them.
The road ahead will be tough. No one should be expecting this Crimson Tide team to win every game on the schedule this year. (And the same time, it’s not unreasonable to hope that is exactly what will happen!) But no matter what happens the remainder of this year, it is clear that Alabama is headed in the right direction. And Alabama fans know well the destination to which this road eventually leads.