TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Nick Saban knows what he wants to say. For a week and a half, he has thought about this. And today, inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, he has a plan: Start out slow, pat everyone on the back like he's supposed to and then pivot. It won't be a smooth transition, but it will be one everyone remembers.
It's January 16, 2010. It's below freezing. There's a constant drizzle, but it doesn't dampen the spirit of the parade and the celebration that follows. Not after the near-two-decade national championship drought that came before, the void since Gene Stallings and Derrick Lassic dominated Miami in the 1993 Sugar Bowl.