Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin and Miami’s Mario Cristobal all have teams ranked in the top 10 this week. All have a legitimate shot at winning a national title.
And all three wouldn’t be in this position if not for Nick Saban.
The retired Alabama coach was not only the greatest college coach of all time but also a home for wayward coaches. Coaches battling personal demons and/or were recently fired. Coaches who desperately needed someone to take a chance on them.
That someone was Saban.
“I will forever be grateful to him for what he was able to do for myself and my family,” Sarkisian said. “I wouldn’t be the head coach at Texas if it weren’t for Nick Saban. He gave me a chance when I had a hard time getting an interview. He saved my career.”
Added Kiffin, who was fired from USC on the tarmac at LAX: “I’m very appreciative to have those three years [with Saban]. Taking a chance on me and the opportunity he gave me to come there because it was controversial.”
In the cases of Sarkisian and Kiffin, Saban said, “Those guys had great track records as coaches.”
“I’ve always — whether it’s players or coaches — sort of evaluated, ‘OK, what are the issues here?’ And then talk to the guys about those issues before you ever hire them to make sure they’re aware of them and they’re willing to do something to correct them,” Saban said. “Then try to put them in a situation where you’re offering the kind of help so they have the best chance to overcome any issues they have so you get the best of them.”
Cristobal, who was fired at lowly FIU in 2012, was appreciative of the opportunity to work for Saban.
“I know some coaches complain about his style, but I loved it,” Cristobal said. “He held us to a super high standard. Anyone that got an opportunity to be part of that expressed that gratitude by working their butts off for him.”
Saban’s hiring was the equivalent of receiving the Pope’s blessing. The perception of some coaches, who were not hirable and toxic just a year earlier, had been cleansed and suddenly were hot properties.
There are at least 11 current head coaches who coached under Saban: Sarkisian, Kiffin, Cristobal, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Maryland’s Mike Locksley, Florida’s Billy Napier, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Marshall’s Charles Huff and Arkansas State’s Butch Jones.
There’s also a laundry list of former NFL and college coaches who worked under Saban.
Locksley, like the others, is grateful that Saban took a chance on him.
“I was the guy that you said my name, some people would say, ‘Oh, Locks is a great guy.’ Others would say, ‘He’s an a**hole,’” Locksley said.
Locksley, who was a head coach at New Mexico and an interim coach at Maryland, was an analyst at Alabama in 2016.
“I got to know Ground Zero as an analyst,” Locksley said. “You’re at a cubicle — you’re not at the front table. It was almost like an episode of ‘Undercover Boss' where you sit in these cubicles and hear some of these young analysts, who think they’re ready to be coordinators. Half of them didn’t know who I was sitting there, and they’re saying, ‘Oh, I would have done it this way.’
“It gave me a fresh perspective. Sark and I paired up and we were analysts [in 2016], and it gave me an opportunity to be behind the curtains on how you do it. I never sniffed a National Championship before [joining Alabama] and we go to three straight National Championships. It wasn’t happenstance or chance.
“So, when you ask ‘what does Coach [Saban] mean to me?’ He put the finishing touches on Locks, the coach.”
Just look at this week’s AP rankings: five of the top eight teams — Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss, Miami and Oregon — feature head coaches who worked under Saban.
With Saban retired from coaching, what coaches will take chances on other coaches like Saban did in his career?
“I think it’s a good thing Nick started,” Smart said. “Who will carry that torch or carry that banner? I don’t know.”
Can Anyone Three-Peat? 3️⃣
In the past two seasons, only five coaches have gone to consecutive conference championship games. Two of those coaches have moved to different schools. Can any of the five make it to a third straight conference title game?
- Louisville’s Jeff Brohm: Purdue (2022) · Louisville (2023)
- Toledo’s Jason Candle: Toledo (2022-23)
- Houston’s Willie Fritz: Tulane (2022-23)
- Georgia’s Kirby Smart: Georgia (2022-23)
- Tulane’s Jon Sumrall: Troy (2022-23)
Maybe Significant (Or Not) 🏈
So far this season, seven Group of Five teams have upset teams from power conferences.
Three of those schools — Georgia State, UNLV and James Madison — try to avoid a letdown Saturday that has impacted the other Group of Five schools, which have gone 1-3 the week after the upset win.
The only victory so far was by UNLV over FCS Utah Tech. The Rebels try to avoid another Power 5 upset letdown Saturday against Fresno State.
| Upset | Next Game |
|---|---|
| Memphis beat FSU | Lost to Navy (56-44) |
| NIU beat Notre Dame | Lost to Buffalo (23-20) |
| UNLV beat Houston | Beat Utah Tech (72-14) |
| Toledo beat Mississippi State | Lost to WKU (26-21) |
| Georgia State beat Vanderbilt | vs. Georgia Southern (Saturday) |
| James Madison beat UNC | vs. Ball State (Saturday) |
| UNLV beat Kansas | vs. Fresno State (Saturday) |
Double Trouble for Tar Heels 🦶
North Carolina’s 70-50 loss to James Madison as an 11-point favorite marked the eighth outright loss as a double-digit favorite for UNC since 2020.
The Tar Heels have been favored by double digits in 20 games in the past five years and are only 12-8 straight up in those contests.
UNC’s outright losses as a double-digit favorite since 2020:
| Opponent | Score (Spread) |
|---|---|
| 2024: James Madison | 70-50 (-11) |
| 2023: Georgia Tech | 46-42 (-12) |
| 2023:Virginia | 31-27 (-24) |
| 2022:Georgia Tech | 21-17 (-21.5) |
| 2021: South Carolina | 38-21 (-11) |
| 2021: Florida State | 35-25 (-21) |
| 2021: Georgia Tech | 45-42 (-14) |
| 2020: Florida State | 31-28 (-13.5) |
Believe the Hype 🍊
Since Josh Heupel was fired from his alma mater Oklahoma in 2014, he has been an offensive coordinator at Utah State (2015) and Missouri (2016-17), while serving as the head coach at UCF (2018-20) and Tennessee (2021-present).
Heupel’s offenses have been cooking since leaving Norman, Okla. Under Heupel, those four programs' starting quarterbacks have combined for 237 touchdowns and 55 interceptions.
When including only Heupel’s numbers as a head coach at UCF and Tennessee, where he called his own plays, his starting QBs are even better. They have combined for 166 TDs and only 29 interceptions —a remarkable 6:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Sandwich Spot 🥪
There are three games this week that fit my non-scientific model of teams that might be in a challenging schedule or motivational situation. All lines are from Sunday.
Stanford +21.5 at Clemson
Louisiana +3 at Wake Forest
Minnesota +10 Michigan
Each Sunday, I’ll put my Sandwich Spot plays in early in the Action Network App — download here for free
Season Record: 4-5
