So who is the leading candidate to replace him? There is a hotshot young coach up in Ruston, who once hiked the ball to some Flutie guy in some sort of big game a few years ago. Seems like I saw it on some highlight show once....
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
After three days of emotional deliberations, personal and professional discussions with family members and close associates which tore Nick Saban in two directions, the Miami Dolphins have a new head coach.
Saban decided Saturday to leave his comfort zone at LSU, a university for which he has great respect and fondness, and accept the task of rebuilding the Dolphins organization, ESPN.com has learned. The decision came after long Thursday and Friday sessions at his home in Baton Rouge, where he weighed his future with his wife, Terry, and his agent, Jimmy Sexton.
The contract will be for five years and is worth $4.5 million-$5 million annually. Saban was to announce his decision, after apprising university officials and his players of it, at an evening news conference in Orlando. The contract will also provide Saban with near-absolute control over football-related decisions and allow him to help reshape the organization following a disastrous 2004 season.
Saban on Wednesday was formally offered the Dolphins job and told Dolphins and school officials he might need a day or two to come to a decision. Clearly, he wanted a resolution before Christmas, when his team was scheduled to leave for its bowl game, but could not meet his original timetable because of his strong feelings for LSU.
Sexton spent much of Wednesday meeting in Fort Lauderdale with Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga discussing contract parameters. The two made what one source termed "significant progress" toward a deal, but an agreement wasn't struck. There remained some details to be hammered out and, more important, Saban needed time to examine the offer and review his own priorities. Sexton then hunkered down with Saban for nearly three days to discuss the options.
On Friday morning, Huizenga flew to Baton Rouge for another round of meetings. He had hoped to bring Saban back to Miami with him on his private plane, but the coach reiterated that he needed more time.
At no time, sources said, did LSU attempt to significantly augment Saban's contract. Two sources said that, at the outset of the process with Miami, school officials told Saban and Sexton how far they could go financially. There was never a formal counteroffer in an attempt to keep him in Baton Rouge.
There are likely to be dramatic changes now in the Dolphins organization.
Miami will hire a new team president to replace the much-respected Eddie Jones, who will retire in March, and the hiring of Saban could also end the tenure of general manager Rick Spielman, who has been a part of the search for the successor to Dave Wannstedt. It is anticipated that Saban would want to bring aboard his own general manager or personnel director to head the scouting department.
One of the deal-breakers 11 months ago, when Saban rejected the Chicago Bears head coach job, was that he was not offered control over some staffing and personnel matters. Confidants of Saban have reiterated to ESPN.com that control, particularly in terms of acquiring players, was a more critical issue to him than finances.
Saban began taking a hard look at the Miami job a year ago, when it appeared Wannstedt might be in trouble, following a second non-playoff season. A candidate for several NFL jobs since leaving the league to become head coach at Michigan State in 1994, Saban has always indicated he would return to the league only under optimum conditions.
Part of his attraction to the job was that Huizenga is regarded around the league as an owner who does not meddle in football matters, who essentially gets out of the way and lets his coach do his job. The other intriguing element for Saban is the opportunity to rebuild a football organization to his own specifications.
The Dolphins first huddled with Saban on Dec. 14, in a late-night meeting, and it was clear from the outset that he topped the Miami wish list. Teams officials also interviewed former Oakland Raiders coach Art Shell, currently a league vice president, and interim head coach Jim Bates for the position. But there was never any doubt that Saban was their man if a deal could be struck.
Saban, 53, has enjoyed great success at LSU, and leaving the school would be a difficult decision for him. As late as Tuesday morning, even before he had the Dolphins offer in hand, he told athletic director Skip Bertman that he probably faced a tough call and praised the school for its commitment to him and his family. After rebuffing the Bears advances, Saban signed a new seven-year contract, making him the highest paid college head coach in the country.
His team won the national championship in 2003 and, in five seasons in Baton Rouge, he compiled a 48-15 mark. The Tigers, who won their final six games this season to finish at 9-2, will face Iowa in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day.
In stints at LSU (2000-present), Michigan State (1995-99) and Toledo (1990), Saban had a record of 91-41-1.
His previous NFL experience came as secondary coach with the Houston Oilers (1988-89) and the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns (1991-94), where he worked on the staff of longtime friend Bill Belichick.
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Originally Posted by soccer_dawg9
