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Why Alabama fans should thank the Dawgfather every day

Had it not been for Don James, Nick Saban isn't sure what direction his life would have taken.

Maybe he would have sold cars. Maybe he would have opened his own gas station, similar to his dad back in West Virginia. Maybe he would have climbed the corporate ladder in the business world.

But it was James who opened the door for Saban into the coaching world and then nudged him through that door when a resistant Saban was torn on what he wanted to do with his life.

"I didn't really want to be a coach.