Nick Saban aims to grow his legacy

Surprise, surprise — Monday night the Alabama Crimson Tide will be playing for a national championship. You may have come into the college football season –especially if you’re outside the confines of Tuscaloosa– hoping that would not be the case, but here we are. Monday night Nick Saban and his squad will hit the field in Tampa to take on a familiar foe in the Clemson Tigers, as the polarizing head coach will seek to win his fifth title with the program and his sixth overall as an FBS head coach.

Love them or hate them –and there’s generally no in between– you can’t argue that what we’ve seen from Alabama since Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007 is nothing short of remarkable. He was pegged as the almighty savior from the moment he bolted from the Miami Dolphins to take the job after vehemently denying that would be the case, and he has more than lived up to the lofty expectations that were thrust upon him.

At the time of Saban’s hiring, Alabama fans were starving for greatness once again. The program hadn’t won a national championship since 1992, and while they weren’t necessarily bogged down by incompetent coaches running their teams, they weren’t … well, great. Longtime Alabama fans were wired to require nothing but the best when it came to a head coach, even as they were repeatedly informed they would never, ever get another Bear Bryant.

Not only did they get another Bear … but they got something better.

Working out the kinks initially in 2007, Saban and Alabama finished 7-6 with an Independence Bowl win over Colorado. Not the immediate results that Tide fans were looking for, but they were ready to be patient nonetheless. That patience would pay dividends, as the 2008 season saw them win the SEC West and head off to the SEC Championship Game, where they would taste defeat at the hands of Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators.

And then, 2009 happened.

A rematch with Tebow, Meyer and the Gators would take place that season, with Saban and Alabama emphatically stating to the country that the SEC belonged to them now, and they had no plans of giving it up anytime soon. Little did we all know, though, that not only were they proclaiming the SEC as their own, but basically all of college football as well. They defeated Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns on that night out in the Rose Bowl, and the Saban dynasty was off and running in Tuscaloosa.

Since then, Saban and Alabama have somewhat consistently left their mark on the game of college football each and every year. The run started with that Texas win in 2009, and since then they have collected national hardware in 2011, 2012 and 2015. Following the win over Clemson out in Arizona last season in the College Football Playoff final matchup, Saban had led Alabama to four national titles in the seven years that he had been at the helm —  which is borderline insane to think about when you recognize the parity in college football during this generation.

What Nick Saban has created for himself as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide is an undeniable legacy that will live on forever, which is one of the hardest things to do in this day and age. With the aforementioned parity that we do have in college football these days compared to years past, it’s extremely difficult to step out of the shadows as a head coach — especially at a place like Alabama. But not only has Saban stepped out of the shadow of Bear Bryant, he’s rendered it near non-existent as he even had his own statue erected outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium as a thanks for the success that he has brought back to the program.

Monday night against Clemson, Saban is staring a potential fifth title in Tuscaloosa right in the face. Peeking over that trophy, though, is once again Dabo Swinney, Deshaun Watson and the Clemson Tigers, the same team that came about as close as can be last January from preventing Saban from capturing the fourth one. In all seriousness, This may actually be the toughest test that Saban has had to face when it comes capturing a national championship; a team that had them on the ropes just a year ago with maybe the best player in all of college football leading the charge in Deshaun Watson, eager to get the revenge they rightfully deserve.

However, the Tigers might be barking up the wrong tree here in thinking they’ll get the Hollywood revenge conclusion they’re looking for. One of the reasons that Saban has been able to build the juggernaut that is the Crimson Tide, and collect 119 wins as the head coach at Alabama in the process, is because he’s the unquestioned best when it comes to making sure that his team is prepared. You’ll never question the preparation of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the hands of Saban, and that could very well be something Clemson –and the rest of the country, for that matter– is overlooking when it comes to this showdown on Monday night. No one will deny the fact that Clemson is one of the most talented teams in the country, and for as much of a mark as Dabo Swinney has made during his time there — he’s simply not Nick Saban.

The 2016 season marks the 10th for Saban at the helm of the Crimson Tide. 10 years ago, Alabama fans were only dreaming of what could be as they celebrated the hire of someone who used to be their rival, as Saban was the head coach of the LSU Tigers, before taking on the short stint with the Dolphins. Now, though, the dream has turned out to be much more than they could have ever imagined.

Monday evening against Clemson, with a fifth title in the last eight years absolutely on the table, they will have gotten to witness the evolution of a college football legacy in Nick Saban.

And the scary part … he might not even be done just yet.