The stars come, but always leave — sometimes for the pros, sometimes earlier than expected. Mark Ingram becomes Derrick Henry. Julio Jones turns into Amari Cooper. Reggie Ragland replaces Rolando McClain.
Assistants are brought to Tuscaloosa, Ala., then lured away. Jim McElwain ends up at Florida. Kirby Smart is hired by Georgia. Lane Kiffin’s next offer is approaching.
Over the past decade, Nick Saban has been the constant at Alabama, the coach who elevated a dormant power into the most dominant team in the country — perhaps soon to be recognized as the greatest dynasty in college football history.
“What he’s doing is unheard of,” Kiffin said after January’s national championship victory. “[What he’s doing] is supposed to stop. … There’s supposed to be 9-5 years because that happens to everyone, [but] he continues to do it.
“The players change, the coaches change. He’s the one guy that stays the same.”
And staying on top has never been harder.
When Notre Dame won four national championships in the 1940s and Oklahoma went 107-8-2 from 1948-58, titles were decided by polls and before bowl games. When Miami made its mark in the 1980s and Nebraska won three times in four years in the 1990s, titles still were being split and the top teams weren’t guaranteed to meet in a championship game.
Today, there are more contenders. There are more opportunities to stumble. There is more time for injuries to occur. There are conference championship games and semifinal games and true national championship games.
Nevertheless, the Crimson Tide enters this season with three of the past five — and four of the past seven — national championships, with Saban needing one more to tie Alabama legend Bear Bryant with a record sixth national championship.
“Anybody can do something one time, have a great year because everything just goes right, but can you maintain it and sustain it for a long time?” Kiffin said of Saban earlier this month. “It really is remarkable. And no disrespect to coaches a long time ago, it’s harder nowadays.”
The run hasn’t been perfect — just one of Saban’s teams has finished a season undefeated — but it has been so incredible it feels as if titles have been left on the table. Three seasons ago, unbeaten Alabama’s regular season ended on Auburn’s unforgettable “Kick Six.” The next year, the top-seeded Tide were upset by Ohio State in the first-ever playoff.
Most often, Alabama has won with defensive performances reminiscent of yesteryear, like their 2012 BCS title game shutout of LSU, but since Kiffin arrived two years ago, Alabama unexpectedly has adapted to the proliferation of up-tempo, spread offenses, scoring 45 points to hold off Clemson in January’s title game.
“He’s driven to be the best, and I think that’s what makes him different,” Smart said at SEC media day of his former boss, following nine seasons as defensive coordinator. “Everybody is driven for their different purpose and everybody has their why, and for Coach Saban, I think he wants to be the best.”
Again, Alabama is expected to be the best. Even after seven of his players were taken in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, the Crimson Tide carries the No. 1 ranking in the country into its latest title defense — without having named a starting quarterback yet.
Maybe that doesn’t matter, because Alabama has won titles with three different quarterbacks during this run. Maybe it doesn’t matter, because it is the third straight year the Tide will have a different starting quarterback, the third straight season the most important position will be manned by someone with virtually no experience — Cooper Bateman, David Cornwell, Blake Barnett or Jalen Hurts.
In 2014, an unproven Blake Sims set a school record for the most passing yards per game. Last season, Kiffin leaned on a Heisman-winning back to move the chains, setting up Jake Coker’s career-best game on the sport’s biggest stage.
Maybe it doesn’t matter, because of another top-ranked recruiting class and returning stars such as wide receiver Calvin Ridley and offensive lineman Cam Robinson. Maybe it doesn’t matter, because of a defense that shows up as often as the sun, stacked again with defensive end Jonathan Allen and safety Eddie Jackson.
Maybe it’s not an issue because the players already know how to handle heightened expectations, because Saban’s “process” has eliminated complacency so many times.
“Our kids are buying into the fact that we’ve not done anything,” new defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt said at the team’s media day. “I was here before when we had some success, won a championship in 2009 and the next year we couldn’t hardly get over ourselves. We had a little bit better transition because we’d experienced it before and understood the growing pains. We’ve got to get over ourselves. That’s over with now.”
How long, though, can this run last? How many more trophies will end up in Tuscaloosa?
The answers seem stitched to Saban, a 64-year-old with no plans to step away anytime soon.
“I’ve been a part of a team since I was 9 years old. It scares me to ever think of the day when I wouldn’t be a part of the team. The feeling that you get being associated with a group like this makes you want to do it more,” Saban said after his most recent triumph. “I know you can’t do this forever, but I certainly enjoy the moment and certainly look forward to the future challenges that we have and really have no timetable for ever not being a part of a team.”