When the time came to make a decision, Joe Pendry didn't have to do any homework.

He was fully versed in what the University of Alabama football program was all about and had known Nick Saban for years. So when his friend said goodbye to the Miami Dolphins to head to Tuscaloosa, Pendry immediately saw the potential.

"I thought it would be a good mesh," Pendry recently said when the Crimson Tide was preparing to face Texas in the BCS National Championship Game.

It turns out that was the basis not only for his involvement, but the beginning of perhaps the most overlooked aspect of Alabama's 13th national title, the coaching staff. Despite its success, including back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and appearances in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, there's being continuity in philosophy and at key sports like the offensive line.

While there are always stories floating around college football about how demanding Saban can be to work for, what frequently gets ignored are his fierce senses of loyalty and familiarity. Whether it may a personal assistant who worked for him at LSU or someone like Associate Athletic Director/Football Mike Vollmar, who organized things at Michigan State, Saban's memory is, excuse the pun, like an elephant's.

Strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran came here from LSU. Linebackers coach Sal Sunseri was at Michigan State and LSU. Tight ends and special teams coach Bobby Williams worked with Saban at both schools and the Miami Dolphins, and even followed Saban as the Spartans' head coach (2000-02).

"I've been with him probably more than anyone on the staff," Williams said. "We have a special working relationship."

Actually, Pendry and Saban go back even further, to the days when football was just beginning to enter their lives.

"Well Joe Manchin, who is the governor of West Virginia, was from my hometown and we grew up together, even though he was a few years older than me," Saban said. "Joe Pendry and Joe Manchin were roommates at West Virginia, both on football scholarship, when I was probably in eighth or ninth grade, so there's probably four or five years difference in age. So Joe used to come home with Joe Manchin, the governor, when I was in the ninth grade. I used to go see Joe play in freshman games.

"So, I've known Joe from that time. I've know Sandi (Pendry) from that time. He's visited us at the lake and stayed at our house. We coached together at West Virginia for awhile and now we have the opportunity to coach together here."

Specifically, Pendry grew up in Matheny, W. Va., where he was a three-sport star at Oceana High School. He was an all-state selection in football and basketball and was the state's lineman of the year in 1964. Pendry played two seasons at West Virginia (1965-66) before a career-ending injury turned him into a student coach (1967-68), beginning a 42-year career path.

At his alma mater alone he was a graduate assistant coach (1969), freshman coach (1970), wide receivers coach (1971-72), offensive line coach (1973-74) and offensive coordinator (1976-77). In between there were also stints at Kansas State (1975), Pittsburgh (1978-79), and Michigan State (1980-81), but he had his eye on something else.

"My goal early in my career was to be in the NFL," he said, and it happened, although not directly. At the time the upstart United States Football League sought to challenge the NFL, only play in the spring and summer. Pendry signed on to be an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Stars (1982-83) before becoming head coach of the Pittsburgh Maulers in 1984.

In 1985, when the USFL fell apart, Pendry began his 19-year NFL career with the first of six different teams, concluding with the Houston Texas (2004-05). The others stops were in Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Cleveland and Kansas City.

"I learned a lot," Pendry said. "Toward the end of it, I guess as I got older, I wanted to go back with the younger kids. Not too many get the chance to do what I did. I was very fortunate."

Cue to January 2007, when Saban also decided he preferred the college game and was beginning to build a staff at the Capstone. One of the first calls he made was to Pendry to ask his opinion about offensive line coaches. Not only did the veteran suggest a couple of names but then threw his own in. From that point on, things happened pretty quickly.

"If it's going to be, it's going to be in a place where I knew that the program was done by a guy who knew what he was doing," Pendry said. "We talked, and talked about other guys, and came down to look at it and talk to him, and my wife and I excited about it and never looked back."

"He's done a phenomenal job for us here," Saban said.

After losing two All-Americans, including the Outland Trophy winner as the nation's best interior lineman, and three starters, Pendry pieced together a unit that helped the offense post better numbers this past season even though the Tide had a first-year quarterback.

That alone was extremely rare. Factor in Alabama won its first Heisman Trophy and you're talking beyond unheard-of territory.

Overall, in a pass-happy era the Tide grinded out 3,011 rushing yards on 601 carries, 31 rushing touchdowns, while averaging 5.01 yards per carry and 215.07 a game. Paired with a top-notch, aggressive defense, Alabama was fifth nationally in time of possession (33:31).

"When you have an offense like ours, you are able to control a lot of clock. I think we had (the ball) 40 minutes in the Florida game," All-American left guard Mike Johnson said. "That keeps other offenses off the field. When you have a quick-strike offense, a lot of times you can get points, but the other offense is right back out there. You see that a lot in other leagues. In this tough conference we're in, ball control really helps out a lot.

"Coach (Jim) McElwain and Coach Pendry do a great job in getting us in the right plays and drawing up plays that play to our strengths and I think you've seen that play out on the field."

Even with a junior-college transfer at left tackle, a sophomore first-year starter at center and a redshirt freshman at right guard, Alabama's offensive line finished the season without having a holding call over the final 38 quarters.

The Tide also only gave up 15 sacks until speedy Texas found a way to notch five in the national championship game. But the Longhorns, which coming in had the nation's No. 1 rushing defense, also yielded their first 100-yard rushing performances of the season, to both Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson.

"He's a good teacher," Saban said about Pendry. "He has a lot of experience. He's been around a lot of other good coaches and he'd probably be the first one to tell you that most of us learn what we know from someone else, which is knowledge and experience and being around good people, have good teaching progressions and teach in a way where the players can understand it and have the interest of the players at heart so they can get better. That's the one thing you can say about our offensive linemen here, they've all made a significant amount of improvement and played significantly well for us."

So while defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and offensive coordinator McElwain appear to be on the fast track for head coaching jobs in the near future, perhaps as soon as a year from now, Pendry is happily going in the opposition, nowhere. He's doing what he wants, can see the influence he's had on his players and gives every indication of being content.

Consequently, becoming a coordinator or head coach again holds no interest. What's next for him is simply next week's signing class, followed by spring football and so on ...

"I've coached just about every position, I have no desire to do that, the titles and all that," he said. "All I want to do is coach, I love coaching the offensive line and that's what I told Nick.

"All I want to do is win."