Must Read - Spurrier Knows Saban's Pain

Spurrier can relate to Saban's quandary
PAT DOOLEY, The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun
Published January 4, 2007

Spurrier, whose name came up in Alabama's search for a new coach before it hired Saban, said he figured once Rich Rodriguez turned down the job Saban was going to be the Alabama coach.

"I think Nick Saban is sick of (the NFL)," said Spurrier, who left Washington after two years. "When we were all growing up, we'd think that someday we'd coach in the NFL. You go there and you realize it's not what you thought it would be. In college, you work for two people -- the athletic director and the president. And they don't tell you who to play, they don't come to practice, they don't recruit for you."

When Spurrier left the Redskins, he sat out a year before taking the job at South Carolina.

"I wish there had been a big-time opening during my second year in Washington," he said. "I would have left in a heartbeat."

Saban's $4 million per year deal more than doubles Spurrier's recently-extended contract that pays him $1.8 million per year. But it doesn't bother the former Florida head coach and Heisman Trophy winner.

"It just jacks it up for the rest," he said. "All of those guys who are blasting him are just jealous. The one thing he shouldn't have said was, 'I will not be the coach at Alabama.' But those guys who are criticizing him are just jealous."