Flashback: LSU Hires Nick Saban for $1.2 Million

The price of milk sure has gone up...

quote:

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LINKBATON ROUGE, La. -- Nick Saban left bowl-bound Michigan State on Wednesday for LSU, a job that will nearly double his salary and make him one of the country's top-paid coaches.

He signed a five-year contract for about $1.2 million annually, joining a select group of millionaire coaches that includes Bobby Bowden of Florida State, Steve Spurrier of Florida and Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee.

Saban succeeds Gerry DiNardo at a football-mad school that just completed a 3-8 season for its second straight losing year. DiNardo was fired with a game left.

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The only reason I post this is to say this: You pay top-dollar for your top target, regardless of who it is and what their resume looks like, if you believe in your choice and you want to be one of the top programs. At the time, Nick Saban was not considered the best coach in college football ... many weren't even familiar with him. Spurrier and Fulmer and Bowden were certainly better coaches with better resumes at the time. But LSU made Saban one of the highest paid CFB coaches because that was who they wanted to lead the program and they wanted to send a strong message to the CFB world that LSU was committed to getting back on top.

If Fisher or Herman wants $7-8 million, you sign on the dotted line and get it done. We can debate the merits of coaches salaries another day, but that's the cost of being a major player in college football today.

Go get Herman or Fisher (or whomoever LSU has targeted #1), whatever the price tag, and make him one of the Top3 paid coaches in CFB.