Coaching Buzz: Saban, Pettine And (Jay) Gruden


We’ve learned that what Nick Saban says and what Nick Saban does when it comes to his coaching future can be two different things. But he sounded pretty convincing Tuesday when the questions about the NFL came up once again. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“I think somewhere along the line you’ve got to choose. You learn a lot from the experiences of what you’ve done in the past.

“I came to the Miami Dolphins, what, eight years ago for the best owner, the best person that I’ve ever had the opportunity to work for. And in the two years that I was here, had a very, very difficult time thinking that I could impact the organization in the way that I wanted to or the way that I was able to in  college, and it was very difficult for me, because there’s a lot of parity in the NFL, there’s a lot of rules in the NFL.

“And people say you can draft the players that you want to draft; you can draft a player that’s there when you pick. It might not be the player you need, it might not be the player you want. You’ve got salary cap issues. We had them here. You’ve got to have a quarterback. We had a chance to get one here; sort of messed it up.

“So I didn’t feel like I could impact the team the same way that I can as a college coach in terms of affecting people’s lives personally, helping them develop careers by graduating from school, off the field, by helping develop them as football players, and there’s a lot of self-gratification in all that, all right.”

“I kind of learned through that experience (with the Dolphins) that maybe this is where I belong, and I’m really happy and at peace with all that,” said Saban. “So no matter how many times I say that, y’all don’t believe it, so I don’t even know why I keep talking about it.”

Local product Mike Pettine, who served as the Jets defensive coordinator from 2009 to this past season, is a free agent. And he’s keeping at least a half-an-eye on what the Eagles are doing. From Ed Kracz:

“Obviously a lot of people, myself included, are very interested to see what happens there,” he said. “Growing up an Eagles fan, you always have that hometown team in the back of your mind.”

Pettine, the CB West grad and former North Penn coach, is expected to interview for the DC job in Buffalo.

Finally, a report surfaced that the Eagles will interview Jay Gruden on Wednesday. The Eagles have denied that report.

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