Nick Saban is gonna be calling in soon to talk to Dan Lebatard and Jason Taylor. They're planning on asking questions about his time in Miami, I hope Saban plays along.
Saban effusive about Huizenga, but dancing around LeBatard question regarding Huizenga giving him an out but Saban did say that Huizenga told him that "if this isn;t for you, it's ok and no hard feelings"
Also made it clear that Culpepper was a rather large second choice and that he gave Brees a contract offer that was basically accepted, but the doctors just wouldn't pass him
Saban can go #### himself. History says what he did. I'm not even going to listen to that interview. It's history. He scrammed out. Took easy option. Got no respect for him as a Phin fan. Couldn't care less about him being great as a college coach.
It has been reported that the Dolphins offered Drew Brees a much smaller contract than the Saints on the basis of what their doctors were telling them. Him saying that they had a contract agreed but had to nix the whole idea because of the physical is at best an incomplete truth. They offered Drew anyway, just a lot less money. And when Drew had a phone conversation with Saban he asked him, do you believe in me. Nick answered by talking about the doctors and Drew asked again he said I know what the doctors are telling you, I want to know what you think. Nick hemmed and hawed, and that was the end of the conversation.
I mean this is essentially an admission that he left the pros because he wasn't winning. He left the pros because he made the wrong choice at quarterback.
So essentially he just recognized early that he had completely ****ed over the franchise and decided he didn't want to be here to try and deal with the aftermath. "So long and good luck with all the stuff I screwed up".
This whole thread makes me sad, to think what could have been. It should have been Drew Brees holding his son after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the Miami Dolphins, in Miami! what a perfect story!
He didn't speak highly of the experience in his book.
Said something to the effect of the Dolphins making him feel like they were doing him a favor by pursuing him.
Taylor also basically confirming that he was amongst a handful of players in Nick's inner circle who were told about various free agents and other stuff going on with the team off the field.
And that he was aware, essentially, that Brees was signed pending the physical.
I didn't like Saban when he was here, so it really didn't bother me when he left.
I still don't like him, but it has nothing to do with how he left the Dolphins.
Saban the coach was actually really good. It was Saban the personnel guy who was the problem.
Look at his first coaching staff. It was stacked with future head coaches both in the NFL and college and a huge mistake he made in year 2 after Linehan left was not simply promoting Jason Garrett to OC.
I don't think he did a very good job as a coach here.
I think he inherited a team that had been a perennial 9-11 win team that was coming off a flukishly bad year after Ricky bailed right before the season.
His 9-7 first season was IMO essentially par for the course.
And the team didn't get better his second year, it got worse.
He had a pretty good amount of talent to work with but IMO didn't do that much with it.
I think I'm in the minority. I'm of the "don't really care that he left" camp. It's an interesting read though. Truth be told, Miami should have kept Gus.
Actually, why is Saban now making an attempt to rehabilitate is image?
A guy like him doesn't do something like this because he cares. It has to be for some agenda. Perhaps the agent said he could be in play for NFL coaching it's again if he can help get rid of the memory of him as a snake who ****ed The Miami Dolphins franchise over.
So he's sent to do a south Florida radio interview to being undoing the myth of nick the dick Saban.
Guessing, but I have no other clue why he'd do the interview. Is there a bowl game happening in SoFla that Bama is in?
Because for all his warts Saban is an incredibly compelling figure and looking back at why and how things went wrong, when by all rights Saban should have been wildly successful as an NFL coach is interesting.
At least to me.
And apparently to people who listened to the interview since it's all ayone has talked about on the station since the interview ended.