Did Coach Nick Saban Deserve a Statue?
By Brother Rogers
A statue of Alabama football coach Nick Saban was unveiled on April 16 outside Bryant-Denny Stadium as part of the festivities for the Crimson Tide’s spring football game.
Sportswriter Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News has likened it to idolatry. Bryant Gumbel, host of his own sports show on HBO, closed a recent show saying, “In case you’ve missed it, it seems southerners, in particular, have gone bronze bonkers of late. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, they’ve unveiled a statue of Nick Saban, after just 43 wins there.” Many other fans across the talk radio circuit and the Internet have joined in the criticism.
Does Nick Saban really deserve to have a statue? Isn’t that a bit much? In the abstract, it would certainly seem so.
But we don’t live in an abstract world. We live in the real world. Like it or not, for better or worse, in the real world, sports is important. And the most important sport in the South is football.
Success in college football leads to positive benefits in other areas for universities. Football finances a huge percentage of the athletic department at major universities, bankrolling nonrevenue sports like tennis and softball. It also leads to regional and national exposure for a university, which in turn helps attract more students to enroll.
Football success makes alumni and friends feel good about their school and leads to major donations to a university’s academic programs. As one university president told Forbes magazine, “Why do Ivy League schools even bother to field teams that are never going to win a bowl game? It keeps the alumni money flowing. That’s how you pay for the English department.”
In the country’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Coach Saban helped Alabama’s athletic department turn a handsome profit, increased donations to the school, and attracted more tuition-paying students.
But does he merit a statue? A more relevant question is, “What are the criteria for a statue at Alabama?”
Alabama erects statues of all its national championship-winning coaches outside Bryant-Denny Stadium on its Walk of Champions. Statues there already include Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and Gene Stallings.
Since Nick Saban won the 2009 national championship, it was inevitable that he would someday have a statue to join the others. The only question then became when.
Should Alabama have waited until Saban dies or at least until he retires? No. Coach Stallings is alive and has a statue. And why wait for retirement or death? Why should we wait until someone is no longer around before we show them appreciation?
To Coach Saban’s credit, he used the occasion to give attention to others. At his insistence, a plaque with the names of players and coaches from the 2009 team will be etched in the sidewalk near the statue.
Hopefully, one day Mississippi State will win the national championship in college football. If they do, count me among those who would gladly donate to a statue of the coach who pulls off that feat.
A statue of Alabama football coach Nick Saban was unveiled on April 16 outside Bryant-Denny Stadium as part of the festivities for the Crimson Tide’s spring football game.
Sportswriter Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News has likened it to idolatry. Bryant Gumbel, host of his own sports show on HBO, closed a recent show saying, “In case you’ve missed it, it seems southerners, in particular, have gone bronze bonkers of late. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, they’ve unveiled a statue of Nick Saban, after just 43 wins there.” Many other fans across the talk radio circuit and the Internet have joined in the criticism.
Does Nick Saban really deserve to have a statue? Isn’t that a bit much? In the abstract, it would certainly seem so.
But we don’t live in an abstract world. We live in the real world. Like it or not, for better or worse, in the real world, sports is important. And the most important sport in the South is football.
Success in college football leads to positive benefits in other areas for universities. Football finances a huge percentage of the athletic department at major universities, bankrolling nonrevenue sports like tennis and softball. It also leads to regional and national exposure for a university, which in turn helps attract more students to enroll.
Football success makes alumni and friends feel good about their school and leads to major donations to a university’s academic programs. As one university president told Forbes magazine, “Why do Ivy League schools even bother to field teams that are never going to win a bowl game? It keeps the alumni money flowing. That’s how you pay for the English department.”
In the country’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Coach Saban helped Alabama’s athletic department turn a handsome profit, increased donations to the school, and attracted more tuition-paying students.
But does he merit a statue? A more relevant question is, “What are the criteria for a statue at Alabama?”
Alabama erects statues of all its national championship-winning coaches outside Bryant-Denny Stadium on its Walk of Champions. Statues there already include Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and Gene Stallings.
Since Nick Saban won the 2009 national championship, it was inevitable that he would someday have a statue to join the others. The only question then became when.
Should Alabama have waited until Saban dies or at least until he retires? No. Coach Stallings is alive and has a statue. And why wait for retirement or death? Why should we wait until someone is no longer around before we show them appreciation?
To Coach Saban’s credit, he used the occasion to give attention to others. At his insistence, a plaque with the names of players and coaches from the 2009 team will be etched in the sidewalk near the statue.
Hopefully, one day Mississippi State will win the national championship in college football. If they do, count me among those who would gladly donate to a statue of the coach who pulls off that feat.