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Nick Saban Is a Liar

Nick Saban is a liar. And you know what? Who cares? Mr. Saban agreed today to become the next head football coach at the University of Alabama, leaving his job as head coach of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Many people seem to be upset that Saban told reporters for weeks that he wasn’t interested in the Alabama job and was going to stay with the Dolphins:

Saban punctuated weeks of denials with this declaration two weeks ago: “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach.”

He lied. Nick Saban is a documented liar, and the University of Alabama has just offered $32 million for 8 years of the coach’s service. What kind of lesson does that teach young kids? Well, it teaches them the lesson that it’s okay to lie if you have an incentive to do so. Sounds pretty cold, doesn’t it? It’s reality. What incentive did Nick Saban have to tell the truth to the media? None. What incentive did Nick Saban have to lie to the media? There’s plenty of them.

His job performance will always be evaluated by how his teams perform on the field. It’s not like he needs the publicity. If you’re head the coach of any NFL team or any of the biggest schools in the major college conferences, you’ll have all the publicity you need. The media is plainly and simply a pest at that point.

Not only do coaches have no incentive to tell the truth to the media, they have very real incentives to lie. Does Nick Saban want to be answering every freaking week whether he’s going to stay with the Dolphins or go coach at Alabama? Hell no. What’s the easiest way to shut people up? Just say, “I’m not going anywhere.” What are people going to say? There’s not much to say at that point. The next time someone asks, you say, “I’ve already commented on that. I’m not going anywhere.” Three or four more times of that, and people will leave you alone. It’s not news at that point.

Now, rumors will spread regardless, and if the rumors come from sufficiently trustworthy sources, then the coach may not get off the hook so easily. But what alternative does the coach have? Should he say he’s on the fence? “I don’t know, I’ll weigh all my options at the end of the season and decide what’s best for myself and my family”? That’s nonsense. Talk about throwing fuel on the fire. Just tell everyone you’re staying put, and tell your agent to have some discussions with Alabama privately.

Is it really that big a surprise that Nick Saban lied to the media to get them off his case? What are they going to do? Not cover Alabama football? Yeah, right.