Former LSU star Justin Vincent candidly recalls final week of Nick Saban’s tenure as ‘lost cause’
By SDS Staff
Published:
Coaching changes are never easy on a college football team. In late 2004, Nick Saban made the decision to leave LSU for the Miami Dolphins. The fact that Saban accepted the job while the Tigers were in Orlando ahead of the Capital One Bowl led to a week of out-of-control practices according to former LSU running back Justin Vincent.
“Now mind you this, before we left Baton Rouge, he said he wasn’t going anywhere,” Vincent recently told WAFB-9. “He told the team before he left Baton Rouge he wasn’t going anywhere. He flies to Orlando with the team, the team goes to the hotel and he goes to the interview and tells the world he’s taking the Miami Dolphins job. Anybody would tell you who was on that team, that whole week of practice was a lost cause.
“People were talking crazy to coaches. It was one of those things where you were asking, ‘Is there a hidden camera somewhere?’ People didn’t care. They felt lied to. But I tell people all the time I don’t have any hard feelings for him. I just don’t like the way he did it.”
Even with a wild week of practice, Saban almost went out with a win in his final game as LSU’s head coach. Iowa won the New Year’s Day 2005 contest 30-25 thanks to a 56-yard touchdown on the game’s final play.
More from Vincent on the end of Saban’s tenure can be found at WAFB-9’s website.
[H/T The Spun]
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
