Nick Saban coached two forgettable seasons with the Miami Dolphins almost 20 years ago. But it’s a revisited “what could have been” hypothetical that some pundits and fans like to discuss.
On December 6, Saban was discussing it himself. The 7-time national champion head coach brought up his Dolphins tenure when he received a question about the Chicago Bears current opening while appearing on The Pat McAfee Show.
Saban suggested he has regrets over jumping into the NFL in December 2004.
During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban seemed to be encouraging any aspiring head coach who will interview with the Bears to do the proper homework on the entire organization. He just took a very round about way to prove that point.
To make his point, Saban outlined the reasons why the situation in Miami he entered was something not conducive to success.
However, one could argue Saban was part of the reason why the Dolphins didn’t have a franchise quarterback.
“If Saban wants to bemoan the fact the Dolphins didn’t have a quality quarterback on the roster, this is where we’ll point out he used the second overall pick in that 2005 draft on running back Ronnie Brown instead of a quarterback who went 24th overall, guy by the name of Aaron Rodgers,” wrote SI.com’s Alain Poupart.
Poupart also noted that Saban’s point about giving up draft picks for Ricky Williams wasn’t exactly accurate. Miami did trade draft picks for the running back, but those selections happened before Saban arrived.
In Miami, Saban seemed to make the mistake a lot of head coaches do. He assumed he could fix issues with the Dolphins that previous coaches couldn’t.
He explained on The Pat McAfee Show, though, that he saw after two years that he wasn’t going to solve them.
