Fair or not, Nick Saban's dominance over former assistants is staggering

HOOVER, Ala. — One of the key talking points of this week’s SEC Media Days has been Nick Saban’s 16-0 record against former assistants.

“I’m well aware,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart shot back when questioned about the topic Tuesday.

Smart was one of four former Saban assistants present in Hoover this week. Jeremey Pruitt, Jimbo Fisher and Will Muschamp were all reminded of their shortcomings as well.

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What emerged as an interesting stat a few years ago has now grown into an overwhelming trend. Saban is not only 16-0 against his former assistants, but he has also outscored them 682-242 in those games. Last year alone, the Alabama coach took down four assistants with wins over Texas A&M (Fisher), Louisiana (Billy Napier), Tennessee (Pruitt) and Georgia (Smart). Saban's seemingly inevitable success even prompted one reporter to question each of the coach's former staff members in attendance whether they believe they will ever get the best of their old boss.

“It depends how long he coaches,” Smart said, perhaps hinting at Saban’s eventual retirement. “It depends on how many opportunities they get. Inevitably, with enough opportunities, anything can happen.”

By the look of it, Saban’s former understudies will have those opportunities for years to come. This offseason the 67-year-old underwent hip replacement surgery only to spring back into action 36 hours later.

“It doesn't look like he's slowing down very much,” Muschamp said. “The hip injury didn't put him out. He wasn't on the disabled list very long. He was out there, based on what he said, on the golf course pretty quickly.

"He looks good. Obviously, it hadn't affected their wins and losses. They continue to be successful, and I don't — I wouldn't put a timetable on him on anything.”

Saban will face at least three of his former assistants this season. Alabama travels to Muschamp’s South Carolina on Sept. 14 for its SEC opener. After that, the Crimson Tide will make the trip down to College Station, Texas to take on Fisher’s Aggies on Oct. 12. The following week, Pruitt and Tennessee will have their chance to topple the Tide inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

However, those hoping for an end to Saban’s perfect streak shouldn’t hold their breath. According to the Golden Nugget, Alabama is favored to win each of those games by at least two touchdowns.

While Georgia isn’t scheduled to face Alabama in the regular season, Smart might be the former assistant best positioned to take down Saban this year. The former Alabama defensive coordinator nearly bested his old team the past two seasons but instead suffered heart-breaking defeats in the 2018 national championship game as well as last year’s SEC Championship Game. Smart took leads into the fourth quarter of both contests only to twice end up on the losing end of a midfield handshake.

Saban did his best to downplay the dominance Wednesday, stating his sterling 16-0 record was “not a very fair stat.”

“All of the former assistants that we have, they get jobs. They don't take a program over that has the established, you know, talent, culture, and all that that we have at Alabama,” Saban said. “So when they get the opportunity to establish those things in their program, they're going to be able to beat Alabama and compete with Alabama.”

At least that’s the hope for a fourth of the SEC's head coaches.

“As far as beating Alabama, you got to go beat Alabama,” Muschamp said. “They are not going to beat themselves. They are very well-coached. They have really good players. They're going to attack you in all three phases. That's how you got to approach that game as far as beating that football team.

“Nick's doing a fantastic job. He's the best football coach in college football history. The consistency that he has maintained at Alabama is pretty phenomenal. In this league, it's very difficult. But you got to go beat Alabama. You can't hope and wish something's going to happen. You got to go beat them.”

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