[Tuck4Bama]

Nick Saban has a message for you, the football coaches of the SEC, his colleagues old and new.

al.com: Everything Alabama

[Tuck4Bama]

West Virginia governor says that's what friend Saban will always be
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The conversation earlier this month started with Gov. Joe Manchin talking about his lifelong friend "Brother."


Another 'Brother'- al.com

[vincesanity82]

Alabama coach Nick Saban has a message for you, the football coaches of the SEC, his colleagues old and new. "We all have to compete against each other," Saban told me last month. "But the more we try to hurt each other, it hurts the league. It really does." Saban doesn't want to hurt you. He does want to beat you, and if you're Auburn, he wants to dominate you 365 days a year. But don't get your headsets in a twist. "That's been another one of my pet peeves," he said. "It's not personal." It's business. In the SEC, you're family. ... Saban said that while he was with the Dolphins some of the SEC coaches he's again competing against "helped the hell out of me." "I talked to Tommy (Tuberville) for a long time about drafting Ronnie Brown," he said. "I sat in Phillip Fulmer's office for a long time about drafting Jason Allen. "I heard a sermon once in church: `Don't burn bridges. Build bridges. It'll always help.' I try to do that all the time." -- Birmingham News

al.com: Everything Alabama

[Stoney]

Saban has the right approach but come gameday he wants to tear them a new one. Any coach worth his salt has to be a politician first. Charlie Pell of Florida was a great example of being a politician and recruiter. Unfoprtunatley he walked a little too close to the line and then he fell over on the wrong side. He was a great coach and a nice guy he just simply broke the rules and it cost him a place in history. Saban is all to aware of the minefields at Alabama and you can bet he is taking extra precautions in avoiding mistakes. Buttering up his competition is just the first step in his plan. Second will be administering a thrashing that the other teams will never forget.