David Folse II

Miami gets St. Nick for Christmas

It happened.

Everyone knew that one day it would happened.

That day just turned out to be on Christmas.

For LSU fans celebrating another trip to a New Year’s Day Bowl, they got coal in their stockings Christmas night as Nick Saban announced he is leaving LSU to become the head coach for the Miami Dolphins.

Now let me make one thing perfectly clear before I continue. I DO NOT BLAME SABAN FOR LEAVING AND WOULD HAVE PROBABLY DONE THE SAME THING IF I WAS IN THAT SITUATION.

The one big difference is the way I would have handled it.

I believe LSU fans don’t blame Saban for leaving either. The thing that makes them mad is how he handled the situation.

Now that it has all gone down, let’s review shall we.

The rumors flying around about Saban and the Miami job began about two weeks ago. Saban gave his usual “I’m listening to them” speech and “I’m happy at LSU.”

Then things got serious and the job was offered to Saban, who spent all of last week “thinking about it.”

In his press conference Saturday night, the lame duck head coach said he came to make a final decision Friday night.

That’s fine. It’s his decision and he made the best move for he and his family’s future. No college program can offer the kind of money the NFL can.

Here’s my displeasure: If Saban knew Friday night that he was going to Miami, why not announce it that night or at the worst the following afternoon?

I believe it is because Saban knew that no one who covers LSU would be in Miami on Christmas Day and that allowed him to not have to answer any questions about LSU. Think back to the press conference Saturday night. There was not a single question asked about the LSU team or the effects of his announcement on the program. The reason is because there was only Miami beat writers there and they could care less about LSU, they just want to get their questions answered about the Dolphins.

While I do not question his coaching ability at all, Saban’s relationship and dealings with the media have been far from “quaint.” The iron fist that he rules the football team with has tried to be transferred to his dealings with his media, but to no avail.

So Saban is gone, now what?

The names you are hearing on your local news are the names that LSU is looking into. There is no “mystery candidate that no one knows about or has never heard of before.”

My choice, former Cleveland Browns and Miami Hurricanes head coach Butch Davis pulled his name out of the running earlier this week, saying he wants to take a year off from coaching.

Focus around TigerTown shifted to a pair of coaches after Davis said no thanks. Oklahoma State head coach Les Miles and Louisville head man Bobby Petrino became the top two targets on Skip Bertman’s radar.

If you believe in rumors and innuendo, Bertman has already offered the job to Petrino and he has accepted it. While I don’t believe this to be true yet, I do believe that the job will be offered to the former Auburn assistant coach and yes I do believe that he will become the new head coach for your Fighting Tigers.

Petrino will bring a fast-paced, high-tempo passing attack and will look to take advantage of the superior talent LSU has at the wide receiver position.

At least I think so!

A Special Shout Out

One last thing, a big shout out to Riverside Academy for their hosting of the 2004 Riverside Holiday Classic. They put on a first-class show and the gumbo and pasta in the hospitality room were great! This media person was a frequent visitor.