The greatest testament to Nick Saban is not his championships nor his Iron Bowl victories. It isn’t his players who have gotten drafted in the NFL or his No. 1 recruiting classes. It is the fact you cannot tell the story of modern football without mentioning his name. Many coaches win, but few fundamentally alter the way the sport is played.
It all started in 1995 because he had a problem.
At the time, Saban was the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick, and they’d just flamed out in the playoffs to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of the Browns’ six losses that season (including the postseason loss), the Steelers delivered three of them because they presented a unique issue for Saban’s defense.
