Alabama’s Nick Saban top-paid coach in college football

Unsurprisingly, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is the top-ranked coach in college football, USA Today has reported. Despite a season where he didn’t win his bowl game and lost to Auburn, Saban – who’s Crimson Tide team is now the top-ranked team in the nation – still earned $7.1m in total pay in 2013 – including a base salary of $6.9m. Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin was the second-most paid in the SEC and the fourth-best coach in college football, pulling in $5m in base salary, and $5.006m total. LSU’s Les Miles earned $4.3m ($4.369m total), and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier earned $4m ($4.016m total).   Here is the total pay for all SEC coaches: 1. Nick Saban (Alabama) – $6.9m

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Geaux-ing, Geaux-ing, Gone: Why Saturday’s game for LSU is make or break

There is a smell around Tiger Stadium, and despite what Katy Perry says, it’s not corndogs and it’s certainly not bourbon. It feels – and smells – like a funeral. That shouldn’t be surprising, because Death Valley has prided itself on being the place where opposition teams’ – and their fans’ hopes go to die. Now, the fanbase- complete with a multi-million dollar new addition the stadium – are feeling the stench of the death upon them as a program, punch-drunk by successive monster losses, falls to its knees like a heavyweight boxer lit up by consecutive Mike Tyson punches. At the start of the season, people weren’t as angry at Les Miles, because they came back from the dead

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2014 SEC Preview: Can Auburn make it two straight SEC Championships?

The 2014 SEC season is nearly upon us, so it’s high time (no pun intended, Nick Marshall) that we start our round of 14 SEC previews with the Auburn Tigers. We were thinking about starting with favorites Alabama, or the Yell Boys at Texas A&M, but we realised that we do previews, we start with the Champions – and those were the Tigers, who beat Missouri in a 59-42 shoot-out in Atlanta. Anyway, here’s your preview of the 2014 Auburn Tigers. LAST SEASON This was an incredible season to be an Auburn fan. ‘War Eagle’ finished 12-1 and 7-1 in the SEC, with their only loss coming at LSU. They beat Alabama and Georgia in stunning circumstances, with ‘Kick-Six’ and

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Former Auburn TE star Lutzenkirchen killed in car crash

Former Auburn star tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen has been killed in a car crash. Lutzenkirchen died in Georgia after a 2006 Chevy Tahoe containing he and three others “ran a stop sign and careened out of control for roughly 450 feet before overturning several times, coming to a rest on its roof“, according to a USA Today report. It is not known whether alcohol was a factor in the accident. Lutzenkirchen played for all four years of his Auburn career – although his final season was cut short by a hip injury that cost him a NFL future. He caught 14 TDs over his 59-game career for the Tigers for 628 yards. He also was one of the mainstays in the

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No.1 JC player spurns Alabama, other SEC schools for Auburn

Auburn had a huge commitment when the nation’s No.1 JC player, Javon Robinson committed to The Plains. It isn’t the first time Robinson, a running back, has pledged to be an Auburn Tiger….he signed with Auburn in 2012 before his grades were changed and he wasn’t allowed in the SEC school. The 5ft-11, 225lb Robinson was recruited heavily by Alabama and Louisville, and visited both schools in mid-April. Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and TCU all gave Robinson offers. Robinson put up 2,387 yards in 12 games for Georgia Military, averaging 198.3 yards per game. He also had 34 touchdowns.  He led the National Junior College Athletic Association in yards, yards per game, and touchdowns. Interestingly, he was also sixth

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‘Saban Rule’ to be reconsidered

The controversial ‘Saban Rule’ which would ensure that would delay offenses and effectively blindside the quick snap tactics is to be re-considered, USA Today has reported. The rule, which would ensure that offenses had to give defenses 10 seconds between snaps (apparently because of ‘safety reasons’, according to Alabama Coach Nick Saban), is apparently going to be reconsidered by the NCAA Rule Committee next week….even before it comes before a vote. The reason for the rule in the first place is worries that more players would be injured as offenses speed up and they are unable to take breaks. Saban and Bielema had lobbied for this since June, according to a piece by Saturday Down South at the time. “I

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The Saban Effect: NCAA looking into slowing down offenses

If a rule comes into place in the 2014 season which would allow teams to substitute within the first 10 seconds of the 40-second play clock (therefore reducing the speed at which an offense can operate), we should call it The Saban Rule. Why? Looking ahead to seeing the days in which his man-mountain defenses would be completely exhausted by lighter, faster offenses (see the second half of the Auburn vs Alabama game for details), Coach Saban complained in September: “All you’re trying to do is get lined up [on defense],” he whined to ESPN.com in September, ESPN’s website reported today. “You can’t play specialty third-down stuff. You can’t hardly scheme anything. The most important thing is to get the

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Despite Evans, a superb National Signing Day for Auburn

Regardless of the screw-up with local boy Rashaan Evans, Auburn had a very, very good National Signing Day. To explain the Evans situation: five-star OLB Evans went to a local Auburn high school and it was anticipated that he would become an Auburn Tiger. So much so that Auburn put his name on their website, celebrating their victory. Well, it was a little too early, rather like Alabama fans celebrating a 2013 Iron Bowl victory. At his commitment ceremony, he opted to play for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Anyway, it’s all in the past, because Gus Malzahn had a great haul – at prep and JUCO level. Auburn signed the best JUCO player in the land in WR D’haquille Williams

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After An Incredible Run, Let’s Applaud Auburn And The SEC

Despite the (Twitter) jokes we may have made in Auburn’s direction after ending the SEC’s BCS National Championship run, really we’re going to quote Jack Buck, when we say: “Excuse us while we stand up applaud”. Auburn was a 10.5 point underdog with Vegas. No-one – apart from those bleeding blue and orange (and some members of the media) who believed in Destiny – really believed that the Tigers would have put up 31 points on Florida State, led the ‘Noles by double digits almost all the way through the game, and exhausted their giant, great defensive lines. But they did. Auburn was a team that wasn’t even meant to succeed this season – let alone this well. Sure, we

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Can Auburn win the SEC another National Championship?

BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: FLORIDA STATE VS AUBURN  WHY FLORIDA STATE WILL WIN  We’ve got good buddy of ours in FSU fan Geoff Bowles who is very sure about his side winning The Big Game on Monday night. He’ll tell anyone who’s listening that Florida will hammer Auburn, winning by 2-3 touchdowns. It’s not because he doesn’t respect Auburn’s high-octane offence (you know, the one that caused perfectly good defences in Alabama and Missouri problems in back-to-back games), but Auburn’s defence, which he thinks is absolutely horrible. And he’d be right. Auburn gives up 24 points per game, which is 38th in the nation. And while they’ve made some key stops in their games in the last month of the

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