Nick Saban Should Not Be An Option For New York Giants

Rumors have been swirling about New York Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin‘s future as of late due to the Giants missing the playoffs three years in a row. Big Blue currently sits at at 3-9 and have been mathematically eliminated from the NFL Playoffs for weeks now.

Yesterday while speaking to the media, Giants co-owner Steve Tisch originally stated that “all personnel decisions would be made after the Super Bowl.” He later amended his statement by saying that personnel decisions would be made at the end of this season. Those statements added more fuel to the fire about the rumors surrounding Coughlin and the state of the Giants’ head coaching job.

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If the Giants choose to move on from Coughlin who would be a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, there aren’t many options to replace a coach of Coughlin’s caliber.

A few names have been thrown around as possible replacements like Jim Harbaugh, Bill Cowher, or promoting first year offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. One name that has also been mentioned but should NEVER be considered for head coach is current Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.

Don’t get me wrong, Saban has had huge success at the collegiate level, winning multiple national championships with Alabama and LSU, but failed to find success in his previous tenure as an NFL head coach during his two seasons in 2005 and 2006 with the Miami Dolphins. Saban went 9-7 in 2005, then 6-10 in 2006. Saban bolted for Alabama soon after the end of the 2006 season despite constantly denying rumors during the season of him possibly taking the Alabama job.

Saban is one of many successful college coaches who failed to find similar success at the pro level. It is very difficult to make the switch from college to the pros and very few coaches have been able to pull such a transition off. Coaching young men in their twenties is completely different than coaching a group of young men and established veterans with big egos and contracts. Certain coaches are great at not only being a mentor for young kids but also excel at the tedious task of recruiting young players.

Saban is one of those coaches that is outstanding at recruiting and getting through to young athletes and should stay at the college level. Plus due to the fact that McAdoo brought in a new offense it is unlikely he will be fired and forcing quarterback Eli Manning to learn a third new offense in three years simply won’t happen.

Many coaches want to bring in their own staff and not inherit someone they may not want. That will turn away many replacement options for Big Blue which may cause them to be desperate and reach out to a 63 year old Saban who has had very little success in the pros.

Saban would also command a large contract similar to what he is making at Alabama, something the Giants would be dumb to do for such an unproven coach at the NFL level. Many people in Miami are still upset with how Saban bailed suddenly on them to go back to his comfort zone coaching college ball. If he were to pull something similar in New York, the Giants organization would be sent into a tailspin scrambling once again for a new head coach that could mean more years of mediocrity for Big Blue.

With all that being said, the whole Saban scenario is purely hypothetical but it serves as a warning for Tisch as well as John Mara that if they do indeed choose to move on from Coughlin, Saban should never be considered for the head coaching job that is if Saban even chooses to pursue it, which he may not.

If he does however, the Giants would be wise to look elsewhere and not feed into the rumors or risk the long term future of the great Giants franchise and doom the loyal fans into more years of agonizing disappointment. These past few seasons have already become too much to bear for a team with a strong winning tradition.

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