Could the Tide Turn on Nick Saban?

Is Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban just one losing season away from joining now former Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville on the job line?

To hear the coach of the undefeated and No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide talk, it could happen. When asked about Tuberville's departure from the plains Tuesday, Saban told reporters, "I guess we're 5-7 away from the same thing."

Alabama fans have elevated the second year Tide coach to "Saint" Nick status, as he has turned a moribund football program into a winner facing Florida in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game Saturday in Atlanta.

Saban's name is now mentioned with the same reverence as that used by Tide fans when talking about such legendary Bama coaches as "Bear" Bryant, Frank Thomas, Wallace Wade or Gene Stallings.

Bumper stickers, T-shirts, billboards and yard signs proclaim Saban as 'The Coach." Could all the Saban mania disappear in a single season? Well, duh, all you have to do is look at Bama and college football's recent history.

Last year when the Tide lost a close game to LSU and went on a four game losing skid against such lesser-lights as Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State, some Tide fans were already grousing that Saban wasn't the coach they thought he was and should be fired.

Radio sports talk-show callers showed the same impatience with Nick that helped push the school through the revolving door of eight head coaches between Bryant's retirement in 1982 and Saban's hiring last year.

In UA and SEC fandom the byword is "what have you done for us lately?". Look no further than the University of Tennessee and Mississippi State University to confirm my premise. Phillip Fulmer, one of UT's most successful coaches, took the Volunteers to the SEC Title Game last year but struggled to a losing record this year. He was fired.

Sylvester Croom took over an MSU program mired in probation, player discipline problems and less than first rate facilities in the smallest college town in the league. Last year he re-built the program into a winner and took the Bulldogs to a bowl game.

This year, with some key graduation losses and a young team he struggled to a losing record and an embarrassing loss to Ole Miss. He resigned before he could be fired.

Could Tuberville, Fulmer and Croom have turned their programs around. The answer is an unqualified YES. Did some vocal fans, rich alumni and weak-kneed school administrators give them a chance to do it? A definite NO.

Nick Saban knows success only breeds support until next season. "There have been several coaches who have been let go in our league who have a pretty good body of work," he told reporters covering Bama's preparations for the SEC Title Game.

"I really question some of the judgement relative to how it is for our game, that people who have those kinds of relationships and have done that kind of job, affecting so many people in such a positive way, and have a reasonable amount of success relative to their circumstances, would not be given more respect and consideration."

Tuberville's Tigers had won six straight games against Alabama, including last year against the Saban coached Tide. Yet most observers believe Alabama's 36-0 thrashing of Auburn in Tuscaloosa last Saturday proved to be the undoing of Tuberville.

It was the last straw in a disappointing season that saw plenty of controversy on and off the field and an underachieving team.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Tuberville was in a tenuous situation with powerful Auburn boosters like trustee Bobby Lowder to start with. Lowder was the apparent instigator of the infamous "jetgate" incident where Auburn Athletic Department officials clandestinely took the school's jet to Kentucky in an effort to secretly lure then Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino to the loveliest village.

They got caught and embarrassed which put Tuberville in a stronger position until the 2008 season. The 5-7 record gave his enemies the chance they were looking for. With support from many AU fans embarrassed by the season and the end of the season drubbing by the arch-rival they forced "Tubs" out.

Tuberville was 85-40 in what many consider the brightest decade in Auburn football history. His 2004 team was 13-0 and shortchanged of a chance to play for the national title by the BCS.

That Tiger squad won its first SEC title in 15 years and finished second in the nation, the schools highest finish since a national championship in the 50s. Yet a single season cost Tuberville his job.

It might be said that Nick Saban will never loose his fire and intensity as some say Tuberville and Fulmer did. But the most reknowned coach for intensity in college football history lost it briefly. Fans claim a poor season or two shows a coach has lost it and probably won't get it back.

Yet most fans, especially younger ones, over look the troubles Bama coaching icon Paul "Bear" Bryant himself ran into in the 1969 and 1970 seasons. After winning four SEC titles and three national championships, Bryant coached teams struggled to back-to-back six win seasons.

Critics complained "the Bear" had lost his fire and college football tactics and strategy had passed him by. Bryant actually considered leaving for the NFL under such intense fire and some pundits urged him to do so.

It was fortunate for Bama that sportstalk radio didn't exist then. Also lucky was the fact that sports columnist's criticism didn't carry the weight then it does now along with the power of boosters.

Bryant secretly adapted the wishbone offense and took it to the Coliseum in Los Angeles and beat the highly favored Southern Cal Trojans. His ability to re-tool his program made the Crimson Tide the winningest college football team of the 70s, producing nine 10-plus win seasons, eight more SEC titles and three more national championships. It wouldn't have happened had UA officials not had patience.

This season Nick Saban has already given Bama fans an undefeated regular season and an unexpected SEC West Division Title. His 2008 team is on the cusp of winning the school's 22nd SEC Title and with a win in Atlanta, will have a shot at the school's 13th national championship.

If UA falls short his year and next year doesn't produce another title contender you will hear the wolves howling from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf Coast.

Radio talk lines will be burning with critics claiming Saban can't win the big one and should be fired.  If Saban should lose to Auburn in 2009 you might just behold the turning of the tide against him. The firecoachsaban.com website might just become active.

"No one's ever satisfied,' Saban said, shaking his head Tuesday. "It happens all the time and that's too bad."