Saban to Alabama: What It Means for Georgia.

As you've no doubt heard, Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban will be the new head coach at Alabama, having accepted a reported 8 year deal with $32 million guaranteed, and incentives that could push the deal close to $5 million a year. Obviously the national media is all over this one. ESPN radio is practically all Nick all the time today. However, since there's been some debate among Dawg fans on the subject, I thought I'd offer one man's take on what this means for UGA football. On the whole, I think it's a positive, as I outline below.

"Stop. Just stop. You had me at 'We'll contact your agent for wiring instructions'"

First, I think the enemy of our enemy is our friend. Tommy Tuberville is our enemy. Phil Fulmer is our enemy. Ergo, Nick Saban, at least until he jumps ship to replace Lloyd Carr at Michigan, is our friend. Anything he can do to disabuse Auburn fans of the perception that they are the marquee school in Alabama (where it's actually spelled "markey", by the way) is fine by me. Bama and Auburn will certainly have to shell out some big bucks now to get the type of upper echelon players I refer to as "Albert Means level talent".

Some have said that Saban will come into Atlanta and west Georgia to take recruits. I think this concern is overstated. For one thing, Tuberville and Fulmer already do this now, and Saban is going to be competing with them for the guys who want to go out of state, not with us for the guys who want to stay. The difference is that when Tubby and Fat Phil get those guys, we have to play against them every year. Alabama will rotate off our schedule after 2008, so Saban at least in the short term won't be able to use Georgia players against us.

Also, I think this concern is overstated because at least initially, Saban's base of operation will likely be in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, where his LSU recruiting contacts are. Quick fact: from 2002 to 2004, LSU signed more players from British Columbia (1) than from Georgia (0). Not to mention the fact that Alabama football just ain't what it used to be, and never quite will be again. Scholarship limits took care of that.

I think Saban's defection is also good for UGA and the SEC in general because it increases our stature nationwide. Seriously, is there another conference in the country that can lure coaches away from NFL teams in what was essentially a lateral hire? I think not. In the postmodern beauty pageant which is the BCS selection process, star power counts for something. Just ask Oscar Meyer and his Gators. Saban increases the overall wattage of the SEC coaching fraternity. This will be really helpful when we beat him senseless next year while he's trying to make a silk purse out of the sow's ear Mike Shula left him with.

On the flip side, a stronger Bama provides one more conference game on Tennessee's schedule that's a "no lose" for us. A good Alabama team will pick Tennessee off from time to time in their annual showdown, thereby providing the bump in the eastern division standings that we traditionally enjoy when either Mississippi State or South Carolina crooms Florida.

The national folks will certainly talk about the salary inflation this is sure to cause. Let 'em. Damon Evans is currently captaining one of the most profitable athletic departments in the country. The salary inflation is going to exact a far greater toll on the Auburns, South Carolinas and Tennessees of the conference (read: schools with football expectations that outstrip their relative financial means) than us.

Yeah, at some point Saban may very well beat us in a game that matters. But Mike Shula might have done the same if given the opportunity. Ok, maybe that's taking things a little far. But I still think this is on balance a good thing for Georgia football.