Fansided

Nick Saban recruited against because of old age

By John Buhler

Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban before the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl against the Michigan State Spartans at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban before the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl against the Michigan State Spartans at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nick Saban may be the best college football coach of the last decade, but that doesn’t mean his competitors don’t try to recruit against him, citing old age.

Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide have a stranglehold on the college football game, as the elite SEC West program have won four of the last seven National Championships. Saban deserves a place on college football’s Mount Rushmore when he calls it a career, but that doesn’t mean that his foes aren’t trying to best him annually on the gridiron.

One tactic that competitors have used in recent years to recruit against Saban at Alabama is his age. Kevin McGuire of College Football Talk writes that the tactic of recruiting against Saban’s age is “a waste of time.”

McGuire argues that the 65-year-old Saban isn’t Joe Paterno or Steve Spurrier, who rode on the coattails of their previous success as they approached and even surpassed retirement age. Yes, Saban has complete control of his excellent Alabama football program. But opposing coaches will still recruit against his increasing age until he calls it a career in Tuscaloosa.

Now that Spurrier hung up the visor mid-season, Saban is now easily the oldest coach in the SEC. That’s not to say that he can’t continue to run the best football program in the country into his early 70s, but how long will Saban stick with the Crimson Tide?

The amount of scrutiny he is under nationally and regionally is a tad absurd, and a rare two or even three-loss season could have even the best college coach in the game run out of town.

Given that he has lost many top assistants to other programs, including Jim McElwain to Florida and now Kirby Smart to Georgia, top prospects may feel more comfortable committing to one of Saban’s many disciples, knowing that they’ll be at that university all three or four years.

Recruiting against a coach because he is supposedly getting up their in age is a bit juvenile, but coaches will do anything to recruit against a respected rival. Eventually, Saban will have to face Father Time. Until then, expect Alabama to stay the preeminent college football juggernaut in the SEC going forward.

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