Alabama Football: On Championships, Dynasties and Nick Saban

Grand words are used for Alabama Football. ‘Dynasty’ is one. ‘Greatness’ can be trite unless used for the Crimson Tide. Plan on using both tonight.

For Alabama football fans, nothing – absolutely nothing, comes close to a National Championship. Though the program has racked up many, it does not make any single one less. Each one is special. It is often fairly claimed that luck plays a part in winning championships. It does, but luck is just one ingredient. More is required. A full understanding of that more is available to only the participants, the competitors who dream, strive and work their way to a championship.

The rest of us share the dreams, in part, because we understand how fragile the aspirations are. Michael Casagrande described that fragility well when he wrote about,

"the razor wire margin between historic greatness and consolation status"

Alabama football fans don’t handle consolation status well. Going into tonight’s game we are still collectively smarting from a four-touchdown, Clemson beat-down in January 2019. A victory over the Buckeyes would wipe away some of the residual pain.

Even better are those of us who moved on before today. A National Championship loss is a bitter pill. Step away from such a disappointment and it is just another lost football game. The Alabama Crimson Tide has not had many in the Nick Saban era of Crimson Tide football. There have only been 15 losses since Nick Saban’s 2008 Alabama football team finished the season, losing to Florida and Oklahoma. Measured against those 15 losses are 150 Crimson Tide wins, five National Championships and seven SEC Championships. Those are stunning achievements, as is the 90.9 winning percentage over the last 12 seasons.

Tonight during a warm south Florida evening, post-game talk will center on dynasties. If Ohio State pulls off the upset, the talk will be that Nick Saban’s Alabama Football Dynasty is over. An Alabama Crimson Tide victory will celebrate the continuation of an Alabama Football Dynasty.

The conversation will likely miss a key point. As we discussed three years ago, the Alabama Crimson Tide already owned the Greatest Dynasty in college football history. A win over the Ohio State Buckeyes will just further cement that legacy.

Dynasties are. of course, not official titles in the sports world. Unofficial does not mean they are illegitimate. There have many dynasties, going as far back as fans choose. While subject to ongoing debate, our contention three years ago, was the only other CFB dynasty coming close to the Saban-Era Crimson Tide Dynasty was one by the Minnesota Gophers.

In the 1934-1941 seasons, the Minnesota Gophers won five National Championships. Those five do not equal the Tide’s current five for two reasons. The 1934 and 1935 Minnesota National Championships were before the Poll-era and were awarded retroactively. Also, the span on the Minnesota run was longer than that of the Crimson Tide. The Gophers were close to the Crimson Tide but not close enough.

Current Crimson Tide players will not be thinking about a dynasty tonight. And they shouldn’t be. Nick Saban will not want them distracted, even by thoughts of the team’s and their individual legacies. Speaking about the magnitude of the game, Mac Jones said,

"There’s no added pressure, but at the same time, it’s what we signed up for coming to Alabama, is just to get a chance to play in a national championship and then hopefully win one."

As Bama Hammer Contributor, Jonathan Waldrop said so well, Alabama football fans agree with Nick Saban. Like Nick, we love this team too.

Alabama football fans can embrace any outcome tonight, but the one we expect is what we always expect when the Crimson Tide takes the field – greatness.