Saban’s And Belichick’s Legacies Are Just Fine, Thank You

It appears your legacy begins to diminish the longer you go without a title.

Nick Saban has won seven national championships.  He has so many there are only four current coaches that have also won titles; Jimbo Fisher, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney and Mack Brown.

If Saban and Alabama come up short in 2023 it’ll be the first time in his Alabama tenure he’ll go three seasons without winning a championship.  So of course, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum thinks Saban may be losing his touch.

It’s not like Saban and the Tide are having bad seasons.  They lost to the Georgia Bulldogs in the National Championship Gane in ’21 and lost a pair of games on the last play in ’22.

Meanwhile, New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick has won six Super Bowls during his Hall of Fame career, but doesn’t have as much as a playoff win since Tom Brady departed to Tampa Bay following the 2019 season.

And yet there is reporting Bill is on the hot seat this season if the Patriots don’t improve.

Just for comparison's sake, currently there are five additional NFL coaches with Super Bowl titles; Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Doug Pederson, Pete Carroll and John Harbaugh.

If more reporting has Belichick urging Robert Kraft not to pay Brady $60 million over 2 years, and then Brady wins a Super Bowl, Belichick should have to answer for that.   But anyone who believes he should be on the hot seat or his legacy is going to be tarnished is a few apples short of a bushel.

(Although, be on the lookout for an upcoming column about potential landing spots should Belichick find himself on the unemployment line.)

Admittedly, we are in the ‘what have you done for me lately’ times.  And it’s going to get worse, perhaps even much in college football once the playoffs start. When there are only four spots in the playoffs, groups such as fans, media, and administrations can be understanding if you don’t quite make it.

Expand them 12 teams and to eventually 16, good luck to the coaches at Florida, Texas and Texas A&M should they miss the playoffs two straight years.

But for now the last thing Saban and Belichick should be concerned with are their legacies.  They should be more concerned with winning. (HA!)