re: What Could Have Been

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I thought Saban didn't turn us down, rather Sexton made it clear to MM that he would not talk to Alabama until Miami's season was over. Some the the boosters were uncomfortable waiting that long and pressed him to go after RRod, and after he turned it down MM told those boosters to let him do his job and he waited until the NFL season was over?

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The Monday meeting with Sexton was not a full-blown discussion of contractual details, but rather a wade-in-the-water affair to see whether Saban might hup two for an interview. Moore produced photographs of the athletic facilities that showed significant upgrades to the near-Draconian facilities that dotted campus previous to his administration. Sexton gave his compliments, but kindly reiterated that Saban wasn’t going to talk to Mal until the final curtain of the Miami season was drawn.

Surely the fact that Sexton agreed to a meeting was evidence that Saban had some interest, but when Sexton later suggested that if Saban returned to college, Alabama was one of the schools on his short list, Moore’s hope was piqued. “Jimmy did inform that it was true that Nick had expressed he wasn’t overly enamored with the NFL,” Moore wrote in his book, Crimson Heart.

The one takeaway from the meeting was a promise that Sexton would call by Wednesday, Day 9, at a set time to inform Mal if it was possible to speak to Saban after the Dolphins’ season. That briquette of hope was the best Moore could get.Before the banquet on Tuesday, Moore met with Rodriguez and Schiano in the private suite. Rodriguez, 43 at the time, and Schiano 40, were rising stars, both with 10-win campaigns for 2006. “I really thought we had productive meetings,” Moore wrote in Crimson Heart. “Both were interested in the job.”

Eight days into the search, Moore faced two options: Offer the job to a proven coach or wait four more grueling weeks to see if a more proven coach might speak to him, though there was no guarantee a deal could be struck. If Saban eventually said no, could he get a coach as good as Rodriguez or Schiano? Probably not, he surmised. If he waited another week, he might lose Rodriguez and Schiano. These were the roving hypotheticals that tossed in his mind.

Perhaps that pressure reached a boiling point on Wednesday, Day 9. Decisions were made that would have led to future “What if?” scenarios. Sexton had promised to call by an allotted time, and Mal, waiting nervously for his call, was crestfallen as the time came and went. Receiving this as a “no,” Mal immediately phoned Rodriguez and offered him the job. Rodriguez accepted, and a meeting with his agent was scheduled the next day at Mal’s home in Tuscaloosa.

Mere minutes after the offer, Mal’s phone rang. It was Sexton, who informed him that his flight had been delayed and he had been stuck somewhere in the hard skies with no cell phone coverage. “My heart sank,” Moore admitted in Crimson Heart.

Mal Moore left New York on Day 9 believing Rich Rodriguez was set to be the next coach at the University of Alabama.

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