Nick Saban has kept his promises to Alabama football
The Nick Saban dynasty has been nothing short of historic and unprecedented. He has carried Alabama football to dizzying heights never before seen in this era of the sport. While fans are grateful, they shouldn’t necessarily be surprised. After all, Nick Saban is a man of his word.
In his introductory press conference, Nick Saban said, “I think everybody should take the attitude that we’re working to be a champion, that we want to be a champion in everything that we do.”
It’s safe to say that Nick Saban has done that well. Alabama has won six titles since Saban took over, and no one is close to reaching his level of greatness. He is developing great players in the program, and those players are going on to have successful NFL careers.
After beating Texas in the BCS National Championship, Nick Saban iconically said, “This is not the end. This is the beginning.”
That promise has been kept better than any promise he has made. Every single recruiting class of the Nick Saban era has won at least one championship.
Nick Saban also surely makes promises behind closed doors. We’ll never know what he tells recruits, but there is no doubt that he is keeping promises there. Players are getting their degrees, winning championships and moving on to play in the NFL.
Even when he convinces players to return, he keeps promises. DeVonta Smith chose to return to compete for a championship, but part of his decision revolved around NFL Draft status. There is no doubt that he made money in the long run by coming back and playing out his senior season with Alabama football.
All of this is great, but there is one promise that truly sparked this article. After winning the title in 2017, the motto was, “We’re not done yet.”
That phrasing was a symbol of many things. Not only was it saying that this team would still compete for titles, but it was a sign to recruits that Nick Saban was far from done. Everyone outside of the program wants Saban to retire to bring fair competition back to college football, but that is unrealistic. He is going to be in Tuscaloosa for a long time, and he kept every aspect of that 2018 promise. The freshman class that helped win the last title finished their collegiate careers with another national championship.
In college sports, trust is everything. When Nick Saban talks, you can trust that he is keeping any promise he makes.