Alabama Football: Nick Saban’s impact on other SEC programs

Alabama Football: Nick Saban has elevated SEC football, benefitting the entire league, while also scorching other coaches and programs.

Alabama Football and every other SEC program has benefitted from having Nick Saban in the SEC. The benefits have come in reputation building, recruiting reach and financial windfalls. Other programs also grow the pie for the conference, but Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide have been the cash cows.

Throughout the SEC and much of college football, the escalation of coaching salaries, including assistants, goes back to Nick Saban. Four SEC Coordinators made $2.1M or more last season, with Steve Sarkisian and Kevin Steele making $2.5M. Dave Aranda also made $2.5M in 2019 before leaving LSU for Baylor.

One of college football’s historic programs, Nebraska paid Bo Pelini $3M to be its head coach in 2014. Last season as the LSU Defensive Coordinator, Pelini made $2.3M for engineering the No. 11 defense in the SEC. More than a few SEC coaches have reaped such, unjustified ‘crazy money.’

Financial windfalls aside, Nick Saban’s impact on SEC coaching tenures is like Sherman’s march to the sea. Expectations for football success run high at every SEC school, except Vanderbilt. Athletic Directors and school Presidents unfairly grade their coaches against Nick Saban levels of performance. The result is coaches must win big and do it quickly or move on. Having some success against Saban’s teams can buy coaches more time. As Gus Malzahn learned, that protection is fragile.

The damage Nick Saban has done to other programs and coaches is easy to track. Saban’s Alabama football teams have lost just 16 SEC games, going back to 2007, when the Tide lost four. Crimson Tide winning streaks against other SEC schools show no signs of ending. Arkansas and Tennessee have not beaten an Alabama football team since 2006. The last Mississippi State win over the Crimson Tide was in 2007 when Sylvester Croom was the Bulldogs’ head coach.  Georgia has not beaten the Alabama Crimson Tide since 2007 and the last Gators win over Nick Saban’s Tide was in 2008.

Not solely, but largely, Nick Saban’s success has made being an SEC head coach a risky proposition. Since Nick Saban came to Tuscaloosa in 2007, Arkansas has had six head coaches, The Tennessee Vols are now on their seventh. Ole Miss has had five head coaches during the period; Florida, Mississippi State and Auburn have had four. Note: Interim head coaches are not included in these numbers.

The real ‘crazy money’ is not what coaches are paid to coach, but what they are paid not to coach. Consider these bizarre financial decisions reported by Saturday Down South.

• When Kevin Steele was named the Interim Head Coach at Auburn, his agent gained Steele a $5M contract buyout.
• When Auburn decided Steele would not be a member of Bryan Harsin’s staff, Steele was owed a buyout of $5M. The Auburn payout to Steele was reduced when Tennessee quickly hired him.
• His Vols’ gig had a buyout, and Steele, suddenly no longer a Vol, has $900K coming to him for two weeks of work.
• Auburn is on the hook for the buyout balance owed Steele of $4.1M.

It is hard to calculate which school made the worst deal. But Kevin Steele, who has never been a successful head coach, is earning a total of $5M, not to coach.

The Vols are reportedly paying UCF $6M to take the Knights’ coach. Jeremy Pruitt’s attorneys might squeeze a few million more out of Tennessee in a wrongful termination claim. Otherwise, that case will likely get uglier for the Vols while Danny White is trying to rebrand. The Vols are not believed to be crazy-flush with cash, but they are spending like they are.

Kevin Steele was the Head Coach of Baylor in 1999-2002. His record was 9-36. Some Auburn powerbrokers wanted him to replace Gus Malzahn and not as an interim.