For college football, it's that time of year. It's time for meaningless bowl games until the College Football Playoff begins. It's also the time when the best coach in America, Nick Saban, doesn't win a single Coach of the Year award.
Notre Dame's Brian Kelly beat Saban and UCF's Josh Heupel for the AP Coach of the Year in 2018.
Now, don't get me wrong, the 67-year-old Saban has won his share of Coach of the Year honors. In fact, the Alabama Crimson Tide head coach won SEC Coach of the Year in 2016. But for the most part, Saban rarely wins these types of awards for five major reasons.
1. Saban's Teams Are Too Talented
ESPN's @TomLuginbill just now: "Over the next three days, if the chips fall where I think they will, this could end up being Nick Saban's best signing class at Alabama."
— JOXRoundtable (@JOXRoundtable) December 18, 2018
Most of the coaches who take home Coach of the Year honors win the award because they have done more with lesser talent. That's not the case with Saban. Saban normally ends up with the top recruits in the country, which does not help his cause here.
2. Saban Has the Best Staff in the Country
Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Jimbo Fisher, Will Muschamp and Mike Locksley have all assistants under Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa. All of them are now Division I head coaches. Saban has always had the best of the best on his football staff, which is another reason he doesn't usually win SEC Coach of the Year or national Coach of the Year awards.
3. Saban Does the Most With His talent
Nick Saban punished because we expect him to win every year...and he does.
Best coach in CFB? It ain't Brian Kelly. https://t.co/w9bUmfITBY
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) December 17, 2018
Rarely does Nick Saban not bring out the best in his players. A lot of national Coach of the Year nominees win the award because they do more with less. Who would have thought that AP Coach of the Year Brian Kelly would have Notre Dame in its first College Football Playoff? With Saban, the expectations are that as long as he is the head coach, his teams will always perform.
4. Alabama is Expected to Win
Nick Saban’s run at Alabama:
7-6
12-2
14-0 national champs
10-3
12-1 national champs
13-1 national champs
11-2
12-2
14-1 national champs
14-1
13-1 national champs
13-0 (not finished yet)
Yet Nick Saban has only won 3 coach of the year’s at Alabama
— Alabama DieHards (@AlabamaDieHards) December 17, 2018
Although Alabama lost several players to the NFL, especially defensive players and starting a new quarterback, Alabama was still expected to compete for national championship. Who does that? Alabama does. The Crimson Tide reload every year. They are a machine. If Saban did this at another school, he'd easily win Coach of the Year honors.
5. Saban is Not Well-Liked By Everyone
If they end up playing Alabama and win that will be just fine with me. I'm not a Nick Saban fan. Nothing against the Crimson Tide. But I'm still salty about how Nicky did my Dolphins and how he snapped at my boo Maria Taylor. I never forget.
— Robert Thompson (@RT1959) December 9, 2018
Let's face it, Nick Saban is NOT well-liked by a lot of the media and fans. There are people in Miami who are STILL bitter about how he left for Alabama, and that was over a decade ago. So, it can only be natural that he may not be voted in as Coach of the Year because he is not as well-liked as certain coaches.
READ MORE: The 5 Best Options for Bama's Jalen Hurts to Play Next Season
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