Say what you will, Nick Saban was gracious in defeat.
“But I love Kirby. I think Kirby has a lot of respect for us. He did a great job for us for a long time. If we had to lose a national championship, I’d rather lose one to one of the former assistants who certainly did a great job for us and has done a great job for his program and his team.
“If any team deserves — they deserve it. They played great all year. We were the only team to beat them in the SEC Championship game. And we just couldn’t finish the game tonight like we wanted to.
“But I think Kirby has done a really really good job there. I congratulated him on the win. I’m really proud of him. And I’m proud of the way he’s been able to coach his team and the consistency that they’ve played with all year.”
Get The Picture 
Saban is a lot less awful than a lot of other coaches, IMO, when you consider the landscape of the Urbzes, Todd Grahams, Leaches, Dabos, et. al. Still ready for him to hang ’em up, tho.
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Exactly. I don’t like Saban because he beats us (well, usually 😁).
I don’t like those other guys because they’re dicks, crybabies, and hypocrites.
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Correction: I DIDN’T like Saban because he beats us. I gained a lot of respect for him after his comments following the 2012 SECCG.
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Saban was truly happy for Kirby you can’t fake the look on his face. He never wants to lose however if had to lose Kirby was the guy he would pick. Coach Saban was all class in defeat no excuses.
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I agree. When they showed their on-field interaction I was a little surprised Saban had such a huge genuine smile on his face talking to Kirby. I think he really does have a lot of respect and affection for CKS.
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You could hear him tell Kirby, ‘”You guys kicked our asses in the 4th quarter.”
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Now, is satan gonna’ claim this title due to their long association…
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Stuff like this (and the fact that he’s the best coach in CFB history, even allowing for recency bias) is why I just can’t bring myself to hate Saban. He conducts himself and his program with class, and he mostly stays away from the pissy, self-righteous sound bites you always seem to get from the Dabos and Urbans of the world. It’s clear there’s a great deal of mutual respect between him and Kirby, too, which is nice to see. Like every other Dawg fan, I’ll breathe a long sigh of relief when he finally retires, but there’s no denying his well-deserved status as an all-time legend.
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I’m just glad Kirby was able to beat him in Saban’s prime, and for all the marbles in front of God and everybody.
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Amen, brother! This is how I wanted to win it, over Saban in his prime. Yeah, they had some injuries but we kicked their ass in the 4th quarter (as Saban said), and we’ve had injuries all season, too.
Spotting them the SECCG and then coming back to whip them for the NC makes it even better to me, since that’s the path Bama has taken to two of their titles.
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Indeed. When the smoke clears, it wouldn’t surprise me to see that this game was closer to the end of Saban’s career than the Tide faithful would like to consider. Knowing that if there’s another dynasty in the making, it will be forever tied to Saban has to have crossed his mind.
He’s absolutely thinking about his own vine and fig tree after Monday.
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Literally, could not have said it better. Agree with all of it.
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Replying to Doug Gillet
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As others have said, the midfield exchange after the game seemed as genuine as any I’ve seen. Saban looked happy for Kirby, and tip of the cap to Kirby for asking about JW in that moment.. with all the emotions running through his head, he deflected complement with a sincere ask about their injured star player. Seeing that clip make the rounds yesterday made me smile..
I’ll also note that I’ve run into a number of Bama friends and they have been gracious. They too seem happy to lose to our program and respect what CKS has built. No gimmicks, moral superiority, or fake juice – just straight up physicality on both sides of the line.
Last, the adrenaline from Monday night and yesterday wore off this morning. Got home from the game super late yesterday morning, up early and riding the high, and to bed early, but holy shit, I’m smoked this morning. Saturday can’t get here fast enough!
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Great speech Saban now go ahead and retire!
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Pure Class from Saban, and I to have been surprised at how most Alabama fans have been so gracious. It was almost like they knew sooner or later that Georgia would get them.
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I like Saban.
He’s the GOAT and he’s also genuine.
But the Bama fans?
Most of the ones I’ve seen and heard giving congratulations to the Dawgs and Dawg fans have almost all thrown in a caveat about how many injuries they had….Dawgs just got lucky….they beat us worst in the SECCG…and even blaming the officiating (if you can imagine that).
Saban?…”You guys kicked our asses in the fourth quarter”.
Mutual respect.
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There is a meme out there that is a shot of the Alabama Locker Room – says the following: “No excuses”… Both my boys have sent that out to their Bama “buddies” who start that.
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I’ve softened on Saban, but it’s because Saban has softened. As recently as 5 or so years ago his demeanor and approach to others seemed borderline sociopathic. It was well known that the people that played and worked for him never really had much in the way of personal relationships with him. But he has changed. Whether it is age granting him perspective, the realization that he has nothing left to prove to anyone, trying to make the most of his remaining years, or a Mellon/Vanderbiltan/Rockefeller legacy-building effort, he has changed for the better. He is still a hyper competitive dude and had to get in the “we still beat them this year” line but big picture I truly believe Saban now wants what is best for college football. Seeing Smart and other programs win is part of that, and all the better he can claim partial credit.
As the person who did more than anyone to take advantage of loopholes and opportunities to outspend, out man, out grind, and out manipulate rosters Saban would make a great CFB commissioner, and it should be seriously considered if we hope to restore some semblance of sustainability to the sport. He is the Robber Baron of CFB that now seems to be trying to pay it forward, and he is probably the best if not only option for such a role.
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on the drive home from Indy yesterday we had plenty of time in traffic to listen to all the talking heads. Two interviews really surprised me. Greg McElroy said that Kirby and Saban don’t like each other. He said that Saban drives his staff hard and that the demands do not allow for friendships.
Then another talking head on with Neuheisel said that Saban had to soften his demeanor because college football players will not put up with the hard ass anymore. They said that Ms. Terry told him he had to change. There were too many videos of him chewing asses instead of raising people up.
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I don’t buy the line that Kirby and Nick hate each other for a minute. Just watch that post game handshake video and read this post for proof that there’s respect and even affection there.
I do think that Saban rides his staff too hard, and that’s one reason why coaches get the resume booster and leave as quickly as they can. That Mrs. Terry comment sounds believable. I also think that once you have built a successful culture, you can let go of some of the ass chewing, or at least that was my experience when I was competing.
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Heh, it’s like when teachers are advised not to smile until November. Get a reputation for letting the malcontents know you mean business, then you can soften up a little bit.
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I forget what show it was on, but I was watching a post-Natty Kirby interview and they asked about Saban and he said one of the biggest changes he’s seen from Saban over the years is that he truly embraces the relationships he’s made with coaches and players. You could definitely sense that. He ain’t so bad now.
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Don’t be fooled, Saban does NOTHING that’s not a recruiting ploy. He adapts like the Borg that he is.
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I’m a longtime reader, occasional commenter, and Bama fan. Congrats guys. It’s been a longtime coming and I hope y’all relish it more than you thought you would.
Kirby was a part of so many happy times for me when he was Bama’s DC. I will never have any ill will towards him. I’ve always thought of UGA as one of the good guys. I guess it’s our mutual hatred of all things orange.
Again, congratulations on a great season and NC game.
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That is much appreciated.
I have never understood the Bama fans I see online who trash or mock Kirby regularly. Richt was not successful when he went to Miami, but I would never speak of him in the same manner because of all he did for us. Bobo wasn’t quite as accomplished a coordinator as Kirby, but even if he became a rival team’s coach, I still don’t see the point of being spiteful.
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Plus, he knows he’s snaked two trophies from Kirby already. It was only a matter of time before Kirby got him.
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I want the Dawgs to beat Bama so bad next year that the psychopathic, redneck, Gump trash fire Saban’s ass and Kirby hires him as a $10 million per year analyst at $350k yearly.
I simply am not feeling magnanimous.
Piss on Bama. Fuckn losers.
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I appreciate the sentiment, RR, but I’m just not feeling it right now.
Consider those Canines!!!!!
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