A chill ran through the air.

Nineteen years ago, on Christmas day, Miami Dolphins fans awoke to cheers and a shiny new present. Meanwhile, LSU fans awoke to lumps of coal.

On Dec 25, 2004, Nick Saban, then head coach of LSU, officially accepted the Miami Dolphins offer to become their new head coach.  

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LSU entered the 2004 season looking to win back-to-back National Championships, instead they finished with three losses, including a close loss in the Capitol One Bowl. The Tigers lost 30-25 after the Iowa Hawkeyes threw a touchdown on the final play of the game. 

The lackluster season caused some LSU fans to speculate why Saban left. 

The truth of the matter is he wanted to coach professional football and was offered more money. Fans, while still upset at his departure, respected his decision. The fanbase initially lacked animosity for Saban; it stung, but plenty of Tigers were ready to cheer him on at the next level. 

How do LSU fans feel now?

A recent debate questioned LSU fans’ opinion on Nick Saban: Do fans still genuinely dislike him, or has time healed old wounds? A poll titled “Nick Saban, yes or no?” ran on Instagram and received around 200 votes. Thirty-eight students voted in favor of Saban, and 174 voted against him. 

A poll isn’t enough though. The students and fans have emotion, something polls lack. The Reveille interviewed LSU students, and each of them gave insight into how they feel about Saban.

The questions were simple, “are you an LSU fan?”, all answered yes, and “how do you feel about Nick Saban?” Most of the students agreed that Saban was a good coach but didn’t like how he left LSU and went to Alabama. 

“He’s a respectable coach,” Billy Kistner, a student at LSU, said. “I don’t like him because we have to face him” and reasoned it’s because Saban is a “very effective and talented coach.”

That opinion was popular within the group of people interviewed.

“You have to respect him, he’s the greatest college coach of all time,” LSU freshman Alex Pierce said. “I respect him for coaching here at LSU, but there are some feelings of negativity towards him,” because, “he said he would stay here for a long time.”

Of course, there was the usual quips and speculation about Alabama’s success. 

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“The person who makes the schedules is an Alabama alumni, so that’s why they always have an easy schedule,” Joshua Cruthirds said about Alabama’s strength of schedule. He prefaced that statement with expletives describing Saban.

Decades later, the hostility towards Saban still exists.

LSU and Alabama have a rivalry with a long history; while other universities can attempt to replicate it, no program matches the animosity both programs have for each other.

Crimson Tide and LSU fans will argue all week as the teams prepare to face each other this Saturday. Although the matchup has taken place for decades, Saban may need to wait a couple more before he’s welcomed back in Baton Rouge.