ESPN SEC Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

	AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
	Coach Nick Saban says he's in Tuscaloosa to stay.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Here's Part 2 of my sit-down with Alabama coach Nick Saban, who's careful not to offer up any timetables for when fans can expect to see the Crimson Tide back in the SEC championship hunt. One thing to keep in mind is that every coach at Alabama since Bear Bryant (not counting Mike Price) has won at least nine games by his third year. All but Ray Perkins won 10 games by their third year, and Perkins won 10 games in his fourth year. Notice toward the bottom of the Q&A that Saban jabs back a little bit at Tommy Tuberville. (For Part I of the interview, click here.)

Where are you in building this program back as opposed to where you thought you would be at this point?

Nick Saban: I'm really pleased with the progress that we've made. I really am. Are we where we want to be? You know, I don't have any standard of, 'OK, you're supposed to be here on this date, this year and this time.' All I know is that this is the ultimate goal. It kind of is what it is where you are right now, and you've just got to keep working to try to get where you want to go. You keep focusing on what you've got to do to get there.

Could recruiting have gone much better for you this past year?

NS: There were a couple of good players in the state that got away, but we felt good about the players we got. We got some really good players from out of state. We don't have as many seniors, so we might not be able to recruit the numbers. But hopefully we can continue to get character-quality people who are good football players and want to get an education. This class is going to help us continue to build here.

How has the league changed the most since you were at LSU?

NS: The league has always been tough. But now even more than then, there seems to be more parity. When I say that, I don't know of any team that's not going to be decent. Ole Miss could have a good team. On paper, I think they're going to be pretty good. I think Mississippi State's gotten better and better and better. Arkansas has consistently been one of the better teams in our division, and the East is loaded. There are three really good teams in the East, and South Carolina's getting better and Kentucky's getting better. There weren't this many six-, seven- and eight-win teams before.

Do you think that the balance has increased enough that the days of teams going through this league unbeaten are pretty much over?

NS: LSU probably had as fine a team last year as anybody, and they had two losses. I think that's pretty much the way it's going to be now.

Are you really the most powerful coach in all of sports as Forbes Magazine contends in its Sept. 1 cover story on you?

NS: I don't know about that. I don't even know if I'm the most powerful coach at home. I can't get anything done at my house. My wife is more powerful than me. She's the boss.

Part of Forbes' rationale in choosing you was that you had total control of the Alabama football program. Do you have any more control here than you did at LSU or anywhere else?

NS: No, and in a lot of ways, it's the only way you have a chance to get it done like you need to. But we have tremendous support here. We all believe in the chain of command around here, and everybody has been supportive and helpful in trying to right this ship.

I'll ask you the same question I asked Tommy Tuberville earlier this week. How would you characterize your relationship with him?

NS: I like Tommy. I don't have any problem with Tommy. He's done a helluva job there. He's a good coach. He was one year ahead of me when I was at LSU, and we had some hellacious games then. I think they've got a little better players than we have right now, but we've just got to keep working at it.

What about Tuberville's dig that you'd be in Washington next year?

NS: I can't. I'm still under contract at Miami (smiling and shaking his head). He needs to come up with a better one than that.

So that means, as you stated with conviction back in the spring, that you're at Alabama to stay.

NS: I ain't leaving, I might retire, but I'm not leaving this place for anywhere else. The worst decision I ever made was leaving LSU and not just because it was LSU. I wasn't happy [in the NFL]. That wasn't for me. I'm happy here, and this is where I'm going to stay.