Alabama Football: Nick Saban stood in the ‘Schoolhouse Door’ Monday

On Monday many Alabama football players wanted to march for racial justice. Nick Saban led them.

It would not be surprising if a certain song is on Alabama football coach, Nick Saban’s playlist. Whether it is or not, the lyrics below spoke to a movement in the early 1960s. They may be speaking again.

Come gather ’round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Bob Dylan is an American songwriting treasure. He wrote and sang ‘The Times They Are A  Changin’ in 1964.

The song was embraced by the American Civil Rights Movement and later in protests against the Vietnam War.

Nick Saban is of the same era. He was an undergraduate student and football player at Kent State in 1970. He was on campus the day when four students died from National Guard bullets.

As a college student, Nick Saban was no radical and he is not one today. What he is today, more than anything, is a leader. On Monday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, he both led and followed. Alabama football players wanted to march against racial injustice. Nick Saban embraced their desire to make a statement. The marchers decided to walk from the Mal Moore Athletic Administration building to Foster Auditorium.

Nick Saban led the walk down Paul Bryant Drive and onto Hackberry Lane, leading to the entrance of Foster Auditorium.

When the marchers reached the entrance to Foster, Nick Saban stood in the ‘Schoolhouse Door’ – yes the same door where Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in June 1963. Wallace attempted to block entrance to class registration from Vivian Malone and James Hood. Wallace failed, of course, the U.S. States Assistant Attorney General, Nicholas Katzenbach ordered Wallace to step aside. The Alabama National Guard stood ready, having been trained in just how to pick up Wallace and remove him from the doorway.

Wallace ended his symbolic gesture by stepping away unaided. It was a tipping point, but change came slowly. One reason it came slowly was too few, white-male Alabamians embraced the change. Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant was not far away on that June day, reportedly watching from a nearby upper-floor window. Bear was the one white man in Alabama who could have effectively challenged Wallace.

He chose not to. Bryant was like many southerners, knowing in their hearts what was right, but reluctant to take a stand. A legion of African-American young men would later play for Bryant. Almost to a man, they respected him for his fairness. To many, he was a father figure.

On Monday, Nick Saban made the walk, that the times kept Paul Bryant from making. Saban will not be universally praised for doing it. He also will not care. He did it for his players. Because he cares for the young men he coaches.

Below are some comments from Saban, Najee Harris and others.

It is a mistake to make Monday more about Saban than his players. It is their message that resonates. It is their call for a more racially just America that should be heeded. Their voices are only a few among millions nationally.

Listen to them. As Bob Dylan sang, ‘the times are changing’ and no amount of resistance will stymie the changes.

Not every Alabama football fan will respect what Saban did on Monday. Fans of other schools will claim it was only a recruiting ploy. Both responses will be flawed.

Not everyone is built to lead. Nick Saban is. He recently said, about being a leader, “If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader; sell ice cream.”