Nate Oats responds to questions about job speculation, UNC vacancy: ‘I love Alabama’
By Mark Kern
Published:
Nate Oats is trying to prepare the Alabama Crimson Tide for a tough Sweet Sixteen matchup against the Michigan Wolverines on Friday night. That is a tough enough challenge within itself, but he is also having to do so with a ton of rumors going around that he is a candidate for the vacant North Carolina job.
Oats addressed those rumors on Thursday, telling reporters that he loves being in Tuscaloosa.
“As a young high school coach, maybe –shoot, I didn’t think I’d even be in this spot to be honest with you that long ago,” Oats said. “If you’ve gotten to know me, I’m not a guy that’s trying to always jump around. The grass is not always greener. I love Alabama. My girls love Alabama. They’re here with me. I love working with the administration that I work with. I think Greg Byrne is the best AD in the country. I love working with him. Would be great if I was able to work with him the rest of my career.
“They’re doing everything they can to make sure that we’ve got a competitive program. And as long as we’re able to compete to win championships here, SEC — National Championships, we haven’t done that here yet. I’d love to be the coach to bring us our first National Championship. We got to a Final Four. To me there’s absolutely no reason to leave here.”
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Since he took over at Alabama, the Crimson Tide have become one of the most consistent programs in the country. He currently has a record of 170-72. With this Sweet 16 appearance, he has made it this far in five of his last six seasons. He has made it to the Elite Eight twice and the Final Four once.
Oats will be going up against a friend in Dusty May, and the Wolverines coach has also had his name linked to the North Carolina job.
For now, both of these coaches are focused on getting their team to the Elite Eight, but the losing coach on Friday night could hear his name become more involved in the rumor mill.
