Paul Finebaum explains why Nick Saban still 'carries a torch' at LSU

The butterfly effect in football is very real and there are a few moments that stand out that altered the landscape in both the NFL and in college football dramatically. Nick Saban leaving LSU for the Miami Dolphins in late 2004 was one of them.

Multiple coaches have since won national titles with the Tigers since Saban’s departure, and Brian Kelly is the latest to attempt to do so despite the fact that many viewed him as an odd cultural fit for the job.

“But it’s worth remembering Nick Saban didn’t fit either and he loved that place,” ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum said Sunday on the ESPN College Football channel on YouTube with Matt Barrie. “I will argue this till my last day, Matt, that Nick Saban still carries a torch for LSU. It was a special place. I don’t think he wanted to leave. I think his wife wanted to stay. But he got offered the big money from Wayne Huizenga from the Dolphins and he simply couldn’t turn it down.”

That move, of course, would have significant ramifications at both the college and professional levels.

After Saban took the Dolphins job, Miami passed on quarterback Drew Brees prior to his second season due to a medical evaluation. Brees would go on to win a Super Bowl in New Orleans, where he spent 15 years putting together an almost certain Hall of Fame career.

Saban’s NFL stint would flame out after just two seasons, prompting him to return to college, at Alabama in 2007.

What could have been had Nick Saban stayed at LSU… a dynasty, perhaps?

“He was a wanderer back then, he was getting half-a-dozen NFL offers a year,” Finebaum recalled. “But you’re right, it could have happened. They won one with him and one without him, and he would have won obviously the one against Alabama without him. They had the best team that year. It’s incalculable. He’s won six at Alabama. Could he have nine or 10 at LSU? Yes, he could have.”

Fit at LSU not necessarily indicative of success

Going back to the larger point Barrie was working at, Finebaum dove into the topic of Saban’s time at LSU.

Finebaum kept harping on the fact that Saban has a soft spot for the program.

“He still has friends down there,” Finebaum said. “Until a couple years ago he was still in business with some of his friends from the bayou.”

Now, of course, Saban is at Alabama, where he’s built a juggernaut. He remains public enemy No. 1 in Baton Rouge.

LSU, now ranked No. 18 in the country under Kelly, will look to hand Saban only the second loss against his former program in the last 11 meetings when the two reconvene after bye weeks, on Nov. 5.

If Kelly wins that one, that cultural fit talk is likely to disappear in a hurry.

“Les Miles was even a goofier fit,” Finebaum said. “He did pretty well, he won a title and played for another one. And (Ed) Orgeron was the ultimate fit and he flamed out quickly.”