GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2007 to rescue the University of Alabama football program from a stunning stretch of mediocrity. The Crimson Tide had recently endured the scandal of Mike DuBose, the quick exit of Dennis Franchione, the quicker exit of Mike Price and the underwhelming tenure of Mike Shula. As the losses piled up, the Tide’s struggles somehow made the accomplishments of legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant loom even larger.
With each year that passed, Bryant’s dizzying résumé of success inched farther out of reach, an unattainable ideal that practically taunted the Tide through their down years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.