crawfish
12-07-2007, 12:33 PM
Nick Saban is too busy trying to turn around Alabama's program to really follow LSU's triumphs or the Miami Dolphins' miseries.
The Crimson Tide coach can't help but know how his former teams are faring, though. Their drastically different fortunes have been all over the newspapers and TV. The Tigers are preparing for a national title shot against Ohio State. And the Dolphins? They're 0-12 and trying to avoid becoming the first NFL team to endure an 0-16 season. Saban left the Dolphins in January after two seasons. "You guys would be amazed at probably how little - and this may be a fault of mine - that when I'm traveling and recruiting and getting ready for our games and all that, how little I actually know about what's going on with other people and other teams and all that kind of stuff," Saban said Thursday.
"I know what their record is. I feel badly for the players. Their effort and all that they did to try to help the franchise to be successful is not working very well, for whatever reasons. I hope that they do better." If those teams are at the opposite end of the spectrum, Saban's current one is squarely in the middle. The Tide is 6-6 and preparing to face Colorado in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 30 to end an up-and-down first season. He is spending much of his time these days recruiting for his current program, not tracking his two former teams. Still, Saban coached many of the players on both the Tigers and Dolphins teams and signed more than half of LSU's starters before leaving to coach the Dolphins in 2005. He doesn't have a TV or a computer in his office, so he doesn't spend Sunday afternoons tuning in to Miami's games.
He has been busy on Saturdays, too, when the Tigers were playing their way to a Southeastern Conference crown and the BCS national title game. Just like they did when he was their coach in 2003. It would be impossible to quantify how much Saban is responsible for either LSU's success or Miami's struggles.
He went 15-17 in two seasons with the Dolphins, who have lost a franchise-record 15 consecutive games. With a loss Sunday, they would become the first NFL team to start 0-13 since Indianapolis in 1986. When he took the Alabama job, Saban expressed a desire to return to the college ranks and said he felt like the Dolphins' franchise was in better shape than when he got there. They are feeling the sting of decisions that didn't pan out. Daunte Culpepper, acquired by Saban to become the team's franchise quarterback, was released during the offseason and is now with Oakland. With the Dolphins riddled by injuries, only two players Saban drafted in 2005 and 2006 are likely to start Sunday at Buffalo - safety Jason Allen and linebacker Channing Crowder.
For all the talk - mostly media- and fan-generated - about Saban vs. Les Miles leading up to the Tide's game with LSU earlier this season, he is hardly rooting against his former team. "They represent the SEC. We want to see them do well," Saban said. "We know a lot of the players. Their coaching staff's doing a great job right now. It's good to see them get an opportunity in this game. I'm all for them being successful. I think it's good for our league. It's good for them. "I don't really have the mentality that a lot of people want to see somebody do bad. We control what we control here in what we do, and that's what we're focused on. What somebody else does, really doesn't affect us." Credit: AP Story
The Crimson Tide coach can't help but know how his former teams are faring, though. Their drastically different fortunes have been all over the newspapers and TV. The Tigers are preparing for a national title shot against Ohio State. And the Dolphins? They're 0-12 and trying to avoid becoming the first NFL team to endure an 0-16 season. Saban left the Dolphins in January after two seasons. "You guys would be amazed at probably how little - and this may be a fault of mine - that when I'm traveling and recruiting and getting ready for our games and all that, how little I actually know about what's going on with other people and other teams and all that kind of stuff," Saban said Thursday.
"I know what their record is. I feel badly for the players. Their effort and all that they did to try to help the franchise to be successful is not working very well, for whatever reasons. I hope that they do better." If those teams are at the opposite end of the spectrum, Saban's current one is squarely in the middle. The Tide is 6-6 and preparing to face Colorado in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 30 to end an up-and-down first season. He is spending much of his time these days recruiting for his current program, not tracking his two former teams. Still, Saban coached many of the players on both the Tigers and Dolphins teams and signed more than half of LSU's starters before leaving to coach the Dolphins in 2005. He doesn't have a TV or a computer in his office, so he doesn't spend Sunday afternoons tuning in to Miami's games.
He has been busy on Saturdays, too, when the Tigers were playing their way to a Southeastern Conference crown and the BCS national title game. Just like they did when he was their coach in 2003. It would be impossible to quantify how much Saban is responsible for either LSU's success or Miami's struggles.
He went 15-17 in two seasons with the Dolphins, who have lost a franchise-record 15 consecutive games. With a loss Sunday, they would become the first NFL team to start 0-13 since Indianapolis in 1986. When he took the Alabama job, Saban expressed a desire to return to the college ranks and said he felt like the Dolphins' franchise was in better shape than when he got there. They are feeling the sting of decisions that didn't pan out. Daunte Culpepper, acquired by Saban to become the team's franchise quarterback, was released during the offseason and is now with Oakland. With the Dolphins riddled by injuries, only two players Saban drafted in 2005 and 2006 are likely to start Sunday at Buffalo - safety Jason Allen and linebacker Channing Crowder.
For all the talk - mostly media- and fan-generated - about Saban vs. Les Miles leading up to the Tide's game with LSU earlier this season, he is hardly rooting against his former team. "They represent the SEC. We want to see them do well," Saban said. "We know a lot of the players. Their coaching staff's doing a great job right now. It's good to see them get an opportunity in this game. I'm all for them being successful. I think it's good for our league. It's good for them. "I don't really have the mentality that a lot of people want to see somebody do bad. We control what we control here in what we do, and that's what we're focused on. What somebody else does, really doesn't affect us." Credit: AP Story