DALLAS — Three years ago, Nick Saban entered Baton Rouge as the new head coach of the LSU football team, inheriting a losing program desperate for a turnaround. During those three seasons, Saban has led the Tigers to a 26-12 record and three bowl games, including two-consecutive New Year’s Day bowls.
The success Saban has had in Tigertown is directly linked to the reception he was granted by the core group of players he worked with. The seniors of today were the sophomores of his first season at LSU, and Saban said he has never had such a strong bond with a group of players in his coaching career. And following their 35-20 loss to the University of Texas in the 2003 SBC Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saban and the seniors reflected on their sincere, heartfelt bond.
“We have a really good senior bunch,” Saban said holding back tears. “This is the hardest bunch for me to let go. I would swim the Mississippi River 100 times over for them.”
Saban said the manner in which this class accepted his system showed how much they were willing to learn, which influenced the rest of the team.
“Sometimes it’s hard for old players to accept new things,” he said. “But they bought into what we wanted to do. I have grown very close to a couple of guys in that class who have overcome a lot of personal adversity in their lives and continue to be successful in all parts of their lives. This program has accomplished a lot in the last three years, and I’m proud of that.”
The respect the players have for Saban is what allowed this relationship to reciprocate.
“We respect coach Saban a lot,” said senior strong safety Norman LeJeune, who ranked second on the team with 106 tackles. “He has taught us so much, and in turn we treat him more like a father than a coach. And he treats each of us like we are his own son, and when you have that combination of respect it leads to a great experience.”
The two years before Saban arrived in Baton Rouge, the Tigers had a combined 7-15 record, and their future looked bleak. There was an internal problem resulting from an obvious quarterback controversy and the firing of then-head coach Gerry DiNardo left the Tigers in disarray.
But the hiring of Saban changed all of that.
“Saban has taught us everything that we know,” said senior All-America linebacker Bradie James. “He came into a losing program and rebuilt it so fast. We have so much trust in him, and we have since square one. He is the reason I was able to make the All-America team.”