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Saban Settles Coaching Rumors
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Chill out, Bama Nation. The Grinch isn't going to steal Christmas OR Alabama head football coach Nick Saban. The coach addressed that very issue yesterday when speaking to ESPN's Chris Low. He was asked if he ever saw himself leaving UA.
"No, I really don't," Coach Saban replied. I don't see it ever happening. And I know every year somebody has me going somewhere else. I think a
lot of it isn't just about the coaching part. What people don't
understand is they forget you're a person. They forget you have a wife
and two kids and a grandbaby, and they all live in Birmingham.
Kind of hard to argue with all that. Saban has been know to depart before or around the five-year mark. However, he has shown that he can stay put when happy. Despite rumors that he's unhappy at Alabama, or that Alabama fans are spoiled, or that this college team or pro team will give him carte blanche and more money, he has stayed put and has thrived.
Under the leadership of Coach Saban, the Crimson Tide has won a minimum of 10 games every season in the eight years he's been at UA. He now holds three national championships with the Tide (and one at LSU). He is only two wins away from a fourth at the Capstone.
Of course Saban admits expectations are high at Alabama, but the suggestion it's taxing or overwhelming? He said, "I guess I don't really think about it that way. If anything, it's trying to always be able to overcome the obstacles to continue to be that successful. That's what is always on my mind, knowing what it's going to take, whether it's in recruiting, staff or internal attitude and chemistry, to be able to accomplish what we all want to accomplish.
But I know a day is coming where that standard can't be met. You cannot keep that up. There's going to be some period of time ... where you're not at that level. If you look at every coach's record, it's just not possible to sustain that level of success all the time."
Saban leads his Alabama Crimson Tide into battle once again in the 2015 Cotton Bowl on December 31st, also known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal. Win that one and it's on to the National Championship.
16 has a nice ring to it.
Michigan State Coach Double-Talk
According to Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio, the Spartans are going to look pretty much like they always have against the Crimson Tide as compared to the other foes encountered in the 2015 season. There will, of course, be some tweaking that will be evident when the third-ranked Spartans take on second-ranked ALABAMA in the College Football Playoff semifinal on December 31st.
Dantonio said, "When you get ready for these games you don't want to go away from exactly who you are, because you've gotten to that point by being who you are. But you have to have new things, too, so we'll try to do a little bit of that as well."
One can only imagine the tweaking that will need to take place when the Michigan State offense faces the Crimson Tide (12-1) with arguably the best defensive front seven in college football. Alabama is number one in the nation in stoppping the run and ranked third in the country in sacks.
Dantonio continued, "Like I told our offense, every single thing that we've done is going to be flipped over, critiqued, and they're going to know what we've done, so we've got to be new. With that being said, we have to be who we are, so there's a lot of double-talk going on."
Really? Coaches do that?
Dantonio does believe in his team. He believes he has a special group in this team and has confidence in the way they win.
"I think they're pretty special," Dantonio said. "We've won a lot of games down the stretch and when you've got the ability to make a play at the end of the game, you just start to expect it, and that's what's happened to our football team. It's no one person, it's different people. We've won without our quarterback, we've won without running backs in certain situations, our offensive linemen, and we've just found a way."
As to whether that's a back-handed slap at the national attention placed on Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry and the huge role "The Beast" plays in the offensive capabilities of the Crimson Tide is anyone's guess.
Dantonio concluded, "I think that great football teams know how to win games. We've got some outstanding players, and I think collectively we've got great chemistry and energy and it feeds off itself."
Alabama and Michigan State will do battle on December 31st at the Cotton Bowl inside AT&T Stadium. The broadcast on ESPN will begin at 7 p.m. CT, with a 7:10 kickoff scheduled.
This will be only the second meeting between the two teams. Alabama took the first victory in fine fashion 49-7 in the 2011 Capital One Bowl.
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Enjoy Your Christmas Eve, Bama Nation!
Merry Christmas, Bama Nation! It's Christmas eve, so what better time than today to post one of, if not THE most popular Christmas poems. First, a little information courtesy of Wikipedia...
"A Visit from St. Nicholas", perhaps more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" and " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823, and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who acknowledged authorship in 1837.
The poem, which has been called "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American", is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, and has had a massive impact on the history of Christmas gift giving. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably. It became a popular poem which was set to music and was recorded by many artists.
Enjoy!
" 'Twas the Night Before Christmas "
By Clement Clarke Moore'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!
