By JOSH DUBOW, AP Football Writer
December 11, 2003
NEW YORK (AP) -- This is one honor LSU coach Nick Saban won't have to share.
Saban's steady leadership helped earn him The Associated Press Coach of the Year award Thursday, beating Pete Carroll of Southern California.
``Even though I'm accepting the honor, it's for all of the players and coaches and support staff, also,'' Saban said. ``They all had as big a part in it as I did. I'm very flattered and honored.''
Saban received 22 votes in balloting by the panel of sports writers and broadcasters on the AP college football poll, five more than Carroll.
Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Tulsa's Steve Kragthorpe tied for third with four votes each, and Navy's Paul Johnson and Michigan State's John L. Smith tied for fifth with two votes each.
Iowa's Kirk Ferentz won the award last year.
The second-ranked Tigers won a school-record 12 games, captured their second SEC title in three years, and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl against No. 3 Oklahoma with a chance to win the school's second national title.
LSU might have to share the championship because USC is No. 1 in The Associated Press poll and can win the AP title with a win against Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
``It is not a perfect system,'' Saban said. ``I'm sure that there will be some changes made because of this, and I am sure college football will be better because of it. If we had a four-team playoff this year, we would not have a problem.''
LSU finished fast to get into position to win the title. The Tigers were in seventh place in the Bowl Championship Series standings on Nov. 3, with a tough closing stretch to come.
That's when Saban got his team together before an off-week to sharpen its focus. He told the players now was the time to voice any frustration over the rankings, because after that, they could only talk about the next game.
With games remaining at Alabama and Mississippi, home against Arkansas, and possibly in the SEC title game, Saban knew his players couldn't get bogged down in any BCS controversy.
``I said we're going to talk about the BCS and where we're ranked. This is the time to talk about it,'' he recalled. ``I told them when we leave this room we'll focus on what is and not what was.
``Rankings are what was. Rankings are what happened last week; we had to worry about what will happen this week. We knew we had no control of the BCS, but we knew that if we didn't win we didn't have a chance. We could only control what we could do.''
That was the second time this season that Saban sensed that his team's focus could be an issue. The Tigers got off to a quick start, using a 17-10 win over then-No. 7 Georgia on Sept. 20 to move into the AP's Top 10.
Three weeks later, a struggling Florida team came to Baton Rouge off a bad loss at home to Mississippi. The Tigers were feeling full of themselves, according to Saban, and fell 19-7 to the Gators -- their season's only blemish.
``We came out flat as a pancake against Florida,'' Saban said. ``I think from that point on the players bought into what we were saying. They knew they had to play hard all the time. They finally got it. I think it was an osmosis sort of thing with saying it so much that it finally sunk in.''
Instead of screaming at his players after that loss, Saban offered words of encouragement.
The Tigers responded by winning their next seven games to make it to the Sugar Bowl.
``Basically he kind of calmed us down after the Florida game,'' offensive lineman Rodney Reed said. ``He said not to stress out trying to get better.''
Saban came to LSU for the 2000 season, leaving Michigan State to take over a program full of potential and short on results. The Tigers had losing records in eight of the 11 years before Saban arrived.
But with a rich recruiting base in Louisiana and some of the game's most passionate fans, Saban built one of the top programs in the country.
LSU has 38 wins in Saban's four seasons, the first Tigers coach to post four consecutive winning seasons since Charles McClendon from 1976-79.
Saban learned the trade as an assistant to coaches like Don James, Earle Bruce and George Perles in college and Jerry Glanville and Bill Belichick in the NFL.
His NFL ties have always raised questions about whether he would like to return to the pro game. He turned down NFL jobs with the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants while at Michigan State, but his name surely will be l inked to pro openings this year.
But for now, Saban's a perfect fit where he is.
**************
GREAT choice in My opinion and I hope they win the title
December 11, 2003
NEW YORK (AP) -- This is one honor LSU coach Nick Saban won't have to share.
Saban's steady leadership helped earn him The Associated Press Coach of the Year award Thursday, beating Pete Carroll of Southern California.
``Even though I'm accepting the honor, it's for all of the players and coaches and support staff, also,'' Saban said. ``They all had as big a part in it as I did. I'm very flattered and honored.''
Saban received 22 votes in balloting by the panel of sports writers and broadcasters on the AP college football poll, five more than Carroll.
Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Tulsa's Steve Kragthorpe tied for third with four votes each, and Navy's Paul Johnson and Michigan State's John L. Smith tied for fifth with two votes each.
Iowa's Kirk Ferentz won the award last year.
The second-ranked Tigers won a school-record 12 games, captured their second SEC title in three years, and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl against No. 3 Oklahoma with a chance to win the school's second national title.
LSU might have to share the championship because USC is No. 1 in The Associated Press poll and can win the AP title with a win against Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
``It is not a perfect system,'' Saban said. ``I'm sure that there will be some changes made because of this, and I am sure college football will be better because of it. If we had a four-team playoff this year, we would not have a problem.''
LSU finished fast to get into position to win the title. The Tigers were in seventh place in the Bowl Championship Series standings on Nov. 3, with a tough closing stretch to come.
That's when Saban got his team together before an off-week to sharpen its focus. He told the players now was the time to voice any frustration over the rankings, because after that, they could only talk about the next game.
With games remaining at Alabama and Mississippi, home against Arkansas, and possibly in the SEC title game, Saban knew his players couldn't get bogged down in any BCS controversy.
``I said we're going to talk about the BCS and where we're ranked. This is the time to talk about it,'' he recalled. ``I told them when we leave this room we'll focus on what is and not what was.
``Rankings are what was. Rankings are what happened last week; we had to worry about what will happen this week. We knew we had no control of the BCS, but we knew that if we didn't win we didn't have a chance. We could only control what we could do.''
That was the second time this season that Saban sensed that his team's focus could be an issue. The Tigers got off to a quick start, using a 17-10 win over then-No. 7 Georgia on Sept. 20 to move into the AP's Top 10.
Three weeks later, a struggling Florida team came to Baton Rouge off a bad loss at home to Mississippi. The Tigers were feeling full of themselves, according to Saban, and fell 19-7 to the Gators -- their season's only blemish.
``We came out flat as a pancake against Florida,'' Saban said. ``I think from that point on the players bought into what we were saying. They knew they had to play hard all the time. They finally got it. I think it was an osmosis sort of thing with saying it so much that it finally sunk in.''
Instead of screaming at his players after that loss, Saban offered words of encouragement.
The Tigers responded by winning their next seven games to make it to the Sugar Bowl.
``Basically he kind of calmed us down after the Florida game,'' offensive lineman Rodney Reed said. ``He said not to stress out trying to get better.''
Saban came to LSU for the 2000 season, leaving Michigan State to take over a program full of potential and short on results. The Tigers had losing records in eight of the 11 years before Saban arrived.
But with a rich recruiting base in Louisiana and some of the game's most passionate fans, Saban built one of the top programs in the country.
LSU has 38 wins in Saban's four seasons, the first Tigers coach to post four consecutive winning seasons since Charles McClendon from 1976-79.
Saban learned the trade as an assistant to coaches like Don James, Earle Bruce and George Perles in college and Jerry Glanville and Bill Belichick in the NFL.
His NFL ties have always raised questions about whether he would like to return to the pro game. He turned down NFL jobs with the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants while at Michigan State, but his name surely will be l inked to pro openings this year.
But for now, Saban's a perfect fit where he is.
**************
GREAT choice in My opinion and I hope they win the title
