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While participating in a roundtable discussion with U.S. Senators in Washington D.C., earlier this week, legendary college football coach Nick Saban revealed his decision to retire was based in part on the new financial reality of the sport.
“All the things I believed in for all of these years — 50 years of coaching — no longer exist in college athletics,” Saban said in a video that was posted online by Sen. Ted Cruz. “It was always about developing players. It was always about helping people be successful in life. … That’s the reason I always like college athletics more than the NFL — because you have the opportunity to develop young people.”
Everyone can view that through their own lens. Is he a hypocrite or hitting the point dead on? Seth Emerson explored that question in his column this week.
But what’s clear is that love him or hate him, when Saban speaks, we listen.
This got me thinking: Who are those people in our sport now? Who are the villains and who are the heroes, especially now that Saban and former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh — also a very polarizing figure — are no longer college coaches? Let’s explore.
Villains
When I think about villains, I try to envision which coaches are universally disliked the most by random fans. Who says things publicly that irk people? Whose behavior rubs us the wrong way?
Of course, every one of the villains on this list is going to be loved by his own fans. But who is polarizing in a way that gets random fans from different conferences fired up?
Colorado’s Deion Sanders
Sanders is going to do things his way. He’s unconventional and brash. And there was relentless coverage of his every move last year, even though Colorado turned out to be a bad football team.
Very few people do not have an opinion of Sanders. Some view him as the figure who is going to upend the status quo of the sport and win in a way that hasn’t been done before. Others view him as an entitled phony. His larger-than-life aura — and his ego — force people to pay attention.
There is this sense that Deion Sanders, above all, is about Deion Sanders. He didn’t make a single trip to visit a recruit in his first year as Colorado’s head coach — not one — but he is down to do a book tour before spring football kicks off. How many AFLAC and pistachio commercials can we sit through as he lines his pockets?
Also, Sanders’ methods of building his roster seem more like a short-term stunt than something from a coach who is in it with the genuine desire to build something sustainable.
USC’s Lincoln Riley
I’m the last person who would criticize Riley for leaving Oklahoma to head to USC. One scroll through the Zillow listing of his beachfront house with a resort-sized pool was enough for me.
But the way he left Oklahoma? He’s now an enemy to every Sooners fan, and rightfully so. But it isn’t just Oklahoma fans. Many fans took exception to the lack of loyalty Riley displayed to the program that gave him everything. Then on his way out the door, which came abruptly, he took star quarterback Caleb Williams with him.
Riley is a quarterback guru. What he did with Williams, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield cannot be disputed. But his defenses have stunk the majority of his head coaching career, and his tenure at USC is off to a rocky start because of it. Many view him as a traitor and take delight in his early struggles on the West Coast.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney
Swinney has been in the college game long enough that he’s had a Walter White-type character arc. At the beginning of his Clemson tenure, he was the lovable, happy-go-lucky coach who did things the right way and built a juggernaut. It was easy to root for him. As White did in “Breaking Bad,” he has turned into a villain, even if some people are still rooting for him.
Two national titles later, Swinney has been very opinionated about the changes in the sport and how players are compensated. Swinney is the type of person who will tell you how he feels first and think about how the world is going to react second. That has gotten him in hot water, dating back to the comments about his desire to leave coaching the day his labor — er, his players — were compensated.
On top of that, Swinney snapped and went on a long rant at a rude radio caller last year for questioning his qualifications for being Clemson’s coach. He also has been reluctant to utilize the transfer portal, which has hurt his program.
Swinney is one of only two active head coaches with two national titles, so he has accomplished enough that his voice matters. It just seems that when he chooses to use his voice, there is a negative reaction, even if most of us view him as a decent human being.
Heroes
It’s so much easier to come up with villains. In sports, it’s more natural to root against someone than to root for them. Who in the sport, now, do random fans genuinely just like and root for? Kansas’ Lance Leipold? Utah’s Kyle Whittingham? That list may be closer to zero than it is to five.
So we have to think outside of the box. Which coaches are in a position to take Saban’s mantle as the guiding force of our sport? Which coaches are funny and entertaining? Which coaches are lovable?
Georgia’s Kirby Smart
You’d think that Smart would wind up on the villains list given he’s leading the most dominant program in the country. People are probably already experiencing Georgia fatigue as the Bulldogs try to win a third national title in four years.
But consider this: When was the last time Smart had a controversial public opinion or comment? When was the last time he interjected himself into someone else’s business? Smart is about his own business. And he takes care of it.
Smart will take the occasional jab. He did take a veiled shot at Dan Mullen after Georgia’s win over Florida last year in Jacksonville. But, for the most part, the only hatred Georgia seems to get is from rival schools’ fans and people resentful of its success. It doesn’t seem like there are random Washington or Miami fans who just despise Smart and Georgia.
Remember the leaked audio of his pregame speech before the national title game two years ago? People loved it. He managed to walk that line between motivation and profanity-laced inspiration without taking shots at other people. He’s a master at staying in his lane.
Smart has proven he knows how to build a juggernaut. As his star continues to rise, he could be the voice to represent the sport — as Saban did for so many years.
Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss’ head coach is an interesting case study because there are plenty of people who would probably throw him into the villain section. The way he left Tennessee for USC — sound familiar? — may still irk some people, but enough time has passed for him to evolve from the young, entitled coach who was handed the keys to the kingdom at Tennessee and USC to the funny veteran coach at an underdog SEC program.
Simply put, Kiffin is entertaining. He throws his play sheet in the air on a touchdown pass. He tweets about important topics in sarcastic and amusing ways. He is good for at least one or two amazing soundbites per year.
But at the same time, he is leading a program that presumably just NIL’d its way to a really good roster as the Rebels attempt to contend in the SEC in the coming year. He’s for change in the sport while simultaneously playing the game the way it needs to be played — all waiting for further rule evolution.
He just makes people laugh. Villains aren’t funny.
Trying to get swole after spending Sunday with the 🐐 @AlabamaFTBL @KirbySmartUGA pic.twitter.com/nJBvb6yIev
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) June 22, 2021
Oregon’s Dan Lanning
Did Lanning know the camera was there? Of course he did. Before Oregon played then-undefeated Colorado last year, he took a shot at Sanders’ program during a fired-up pregame speech: “Rooted in substance, not flash. Today we talk with our pads and the top of your helmet. Every moment. The Cinderella story is over, man. They’re fighting clicks, we’re fighting for wins. There’s a difference. This game isn’t going to be played in Hollywood, it’s going to be played on the grass.”
People loved it. Maybe it was because Lanning was taking a shot at a villain, but he has become one of the emerging stars in the sport. He’s not afraid to put himself out there, like when he tweeted a video of him puffing a cigar after Oregon dominated the first day of the early signing period two cycles ago.
Lanning remained at Oregon despite his name coming up for every conceivable job opening last year. He said publicly that he views Oregon as one of the best jobs in the sport and he backed it up by staying. People love loyalty.
Maybe one day Lanning will turn out to be a villain. His behavior, coupled with big success on the field, will make for quite the cocktail of emotion. But there is no question he is becoming one of the biggest stars in college football.
(Photos of Lane Kiffin, Kirby Smart and Deion Sanders: Dale Zanine, Brett Davis, Kirby Lee / USA Today)
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