This "petty nonsense turns national offseason news" must be getting old for Nick Saban.
A week after responding to Bob Stoops' dismissal of the SEC's dominance, the Alabama coach will once again have to take time away from counting his four BCS titles to respond to a coach's quote — at least this time the story will stay within his own conference.
This time, at a recent booster club function, Florida offensive line coach Tim Davis referred to Saban as "the devil himself." Davis, who coached under Saban in stints with the Miami Dolphins (2005-06) and at Alabama (2008), now works under Saban protege Will Muschamp in Gainesville, a job he perhaps jokingly said he likes much more.
"I've always wanted to work with Will," Davis said. "Will's got a plan. Will coached under the devil himself for seven years. I only did three. He did seven. And his DNA is not any different than Nick."
The incident is not the first of its kind this offseason.
Vanderbilt coach James Franklin referred to the Crimson Tide headman as "Nicky Satan" just a few months ago at a high school function. And though he apologized for the comment, he appears to have opened the door for others to follow through — including Florida position coaches.
Alabama and Florida are not scheduled to play one another next season.
Now, it should be mentioned that these types of comments and petty jabs are commonplace at booster functions. They serve their purpose to get the crowd loose. It's tough to believe there was actual venom being exchanged from a guy who was twice given a job by Saban at two separate levels of coaching, and if there were it is unlikely that any of it would actually bubble to the surface at a booster club meeting.
But it is Nick Saban, one of the most successful college football coaches of all time. You can't just throw out offhand quotes concerning fire and brimstone without the media taking notice. He just better take another 15 minutes out of his busy schedule to downplay the entire "situation."
