Saban UA's Longest-tenured coach since Coach Bryant

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In five years he'll be gone.

Remember back in January 2007 when that was a popular refrain across the college football landscape?

At the time it was an understandable, even if misguided, thought. Up until then, Nick Saban had never stayed at one job, as an assistant or a head coach, more than five years.

So it stood to reason that the nomadic Saban would be gone from Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama in a similar timeframe.

Only it never happened.

Year five came and Saban led UA to a national championship. Year six produced SEC and national titles and year seven saw an 11-game win streak.

In fact, Saban is still strong going into his eighth season at Alabama. And as soon as he leads Alabama onto the Georgia Dome field Aug. 30 for the 2014 season opener against West Virginia, he will become the longest-tenured Crimson Tide head football coach since the late Paul W. "Bear" Bryant.

That's right, no coach since Bryant has lasted as long as Saban. In order that's Ray Perkins (four seasons, 1983-86), Bill Curry (three seasons, 1987-89), Gene Stallings (seven seasons, 1990-1996), Mike DuBose (four seasons, 1997-2000), Dennis Franchione (two seasons, 2001-02), Mike Price (never coached a game, 2003), and Mike Shula (four seasons, 2003-06).

What made the ever-wandering Saban stick with Alabama? That's a complex question, but broken down to its simplest form Saban found a long-term home in Tuscaloosa because he won big, avoided scandals and there were no "dream" jobs for him to chase. The UA administration stayed out of his way and gave him full control of the program, and he found a working relationship with the powerful boosters.

That may sound simple enough, but as the seven coaches before him proved, it isn't.

Curry won an SEC title, but his inability to beat Auburn sank him. DuBose also won a conference championship, but a 24-23 record did him in. Shula also never beat Auburn, and although he put together a magical season in 2005 it wasn't enough to overcome three other sub-par campaigns.

Saban has more than won big at Alabama: two SEC championships, three national titles, six straight 10-win seasons and a college football-best 72 wins in the last six seasons.

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Perhaps the biggest single contributor to Saban's tenure at Alabama is the relationships he has forged with the administration. He often thanks them when explaining his success.

When he wanted a new weight room, he got it. When he asked to expand the football facility between the Mal Moore Football Building and the indoor facility, he got it.

Ron Higgins has covered the SEC for 35 years. He said Alabama and Saban have been a perfect marriage.

"You have to have cooperation from the administration to really do anything you want to do, whether it's the budget or how many people to hire," Higgins said. "They've said, 'Do what you need to do to win. Build the system you need to win.' He's got that support. Because Nick's built the infrastructure of that program like an NFL team. It is the state of Alabama's NFL team."

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