Nick Saban Calls 2004 LSU Exit a Mistake After Skip Bertman Dies at 88

Q: What alternate college football dynasty would exist today if Nick Saban had actually listened to Skip Bertman's warning?

If Nick Saban had listened to Skip Bertman and stayed at LSU, the likeliest alternate dynasty is an LSU-centered version of the run he ultimately built at Alabama. The evidence is straightforward. By 2003, Saban and Bertman had already restored LSU to national prominence and won a national championship. Bertman had also helped build the infrastructure Saban wanted, including the academic center and broader fundraising support. Saban now says he already knew his legacy belonged in college football, not the NFL, and called leaving LSU “a mistake.” That strongly suggests LSU, not Alabama, was the natural place for his long-term empire. In that scenario, LSU probably keeps Saban through the late 2000s and 2010s, meaning Les Miles likely never becomes LSU’s coach in 2005 and Alabama likely never hires Saban in 2007 after his Dolphins stint. The biggest ripple is obvious: Alabama’s modern dynasty—multiple national titles, SEC dominance, and the sport’s defining program of the era—may never fully materialize in the same way. Would LSU have matched Alabama’s exact championship total under Saban? That cannot be stated as fact. Circumstances, recruiting cycles, assistants and league changes all matter. But the most defensible answer is that college football’s dominant program of the past two decades would likely have been LSU, with Baton Rouge replacing Tuscaloosa as the center of the sport’s modern dynasty.

3 articles · Updated · WAFB · Aug 14

More than 20 years after leaving LSU for the Miami Dolphins, Nick Saban said taking the NFL job was "a mistake" and that Skip Bertman was "100% right" to urge him to stay in college football.
Saban said Bertman had asked him to decide where he wanted his legacy to be built; Saban now says he wanted to be remembered as a college coach but left anyway.
The remarks came after Bertman's death Friday at 88, as Saban also rejected any notion LSU failed to keep him, saying the former athletic director did everything he could.
Saban used LSU's $15 million academic center for athletes—completed after fundraising instead of waiting on state money—as an example of Bertman's leadership and ability to turn ideas into action.
Their partnership helped restore LSU football, culminating in the 2003 national title before Saban departed in December 2004, giving his latest comments added weight in assessing Bertman's legacy.