ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski isn't really known for any controversial statements. He's mostly just an intelligent X's and O's type of guy who sticks to analyzing games as opposed to making news. On an interview on Friday morning on Philadelphia's 97.5 The Fan, Jaworski blasted Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, saying he's not a fan because he feels Saban has no integrity.
"I’m not a Saban guy, because I don’t like liars, and I think he lied," said Jaworski. "I think he lied to the Miami Dolphins, and to the fans of Miami, and he left. And it’s pretty simple, I think integrity is very important, if you don’t have integrity, I don’t know how you can be successful. Yeah, I know he’s great at Alabama, and he’ll probably win another national championship, but I just don’t like people that don’t have integrity, so it’s pretty easy for me to say I don’t want Nick Saban in town."
Jaworski makes a valid point. Saban did bail on the Miami Dolphins to take the head coaching job at Alabama after intiially denying that he was going to take the job, and that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. To Jaworski's credit, he was firm in his statements, and also mentioned Bobby Petrino (who left his job as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons under worse circumstances than Saban's abandoning the Dolphins) as someone that he wants nowhere near his team.
Jaworski's main argument is essentially this: Saban (and Petrino) may be a great coach, but not one that he would want running his team because he's not a good person. Quite frankly, Saban's personality traits are very common among coaches in this day and age, and it's tough to find someone with a strong, truthworthy personality. Good for Jaws to bring a little bit of humanity to sports, where on-field performance is king, and for not being afraid to take a different perspective. Don't worry Alabama fans, there'll be plenty of Saban worshipping from the media between now and January 8th.
[AL.com]
