Nick Saban's Meteoric Rise at Alabama an Example of Second Year Coaching Magic

If you haven’t noticed Alabama, you must live in a hole.  The 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide are clearly the biggest surprise of this young college football season.

Many people, myself included, scoffed at the multi-year, multi-million dollar salary Alabama gave Nick Saban—but so far they look to have gotten a good deal.  In less than two years Saban seems to have completely changed the culture at Alabama and has young players blending well with seasoned veterans.

After this past weekend’s upsets (including Alabama’s throttling of Georgia on the road), the Crimson Tide are the team to beat in the SEC.  More importantly, with their No. 2 ranking, Alabama is in the driver’s seat for the BCS championship game. 

Many have wondered how it is possible for a coach to turn around a program so quickly and whether Alabama has a realistic shot at the national title.  The answer to the second question is an emphatic "yes," but the first question is far trickier.

Fortunately, we’ve seen this scenario before.  Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, and Urban Meyer all inherited high profile programs in rebuilding mode and won national championships in their second year.  Here is some information on these guys that you may find interesting.

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma

Birthplace: Youngstown, OH
College: University of Iowa
Notable Coaching Roots: Kansas State under Bill Snyder, Florida under Steve Spurrier
First Year at Oklahoma: 7–5 (lost Independence Bowl)
Second Year at Oklahoma: National Champions

Jim Tressel, Ohio State

Birthplace: Mentor, OH
College: Baldwin Wallace (Berea, OH)
Notable Coaching Roots: Ohio State under Earl Bruce
First Year at Ohio State: 7–5 (lost Outback Bowl)
Second Year at Ohio State: National Champions

Urban Meyer, Florida

Birthplace: Ashtabula, OH
College: University of Cincinnati (MA from Ohio State)
Notable Coaching Roots: Ohio State, Notre Dame
First Year at Florida: 9–3 (won Outback Bowl)
Second Year at Florida: National Champions

See any similarities?  Maybe, just maybe, winning so quickly has nothing to do with coaching style or philosophy.  Perhaps it’s all about pedigree.

All of these guys have Ohio roots, either by birth, from college, or both.  All of them are from small towns.  All of them had winning (though often not remarkable) first seasons.  All of them coached under top minds on their way to the top of their profession.

Now let’s look at Nick Saban.

Nick Saban, Alabama

Birthplace: Fairmont, West Virginia
College: Kent State (Kent, OH)
Notable Coaching Roots: Ohio State, Cleveland Browns under Belichick
First Year at Alabama: 7–6 (won Independence Bowl)
Second Year at Alabama: ?

Obviously, this information is all coincidental, but it’s rather interesting.  Saban is also from a small town.  Saban also has Ohio roots (college).  Saban’s first year was also "modest" by many fans’ standards (remember when we all laughed at their loss to Louisiana-Monroe last year?!).

Perhaps Saban could be the next coach to take a sleeping giant to the Promised Land in his second year. 

Another key to each coaches’ success is the fact that they’re all at big time programs.  Oftentimes these traditional powers have sufficient talent to win, but the previous coach underperformed (which is why he was fired).  A new coach comes in, with a new system, and the college football world doesn’t know what hit them.

Now I realize Nick is not a first year coach (he already has a title), but still, nobody expected him to win so quickly at Alabama.  Saban’s Crimson Tide certainly look well on their way to keeping up the recent trend.

If not, though, look out for Bo Pelini in 2009...

Bo Pelini, Nebraska

Birthplace: Youngstown, OH
College: Ohio State
Notable Coaching Roots: New England Patriots under Pete Carroll, Oklahoma under Bob Stoops, LSU under Les Miles
First Year at Nebraska: ?
Second Year at Nebraska: ?