Scenes from Tuscaloosa’s first full day after Nick Saban’s retirement
General

Scenes from Tuscaloosa’s first full day after Nick Saban’s retirement

Posted on by admin

The sun came up Thursday in Tuscaloosa.

Around 8 a.m. it was rising over Bryant-Denny Stadium, the place where Nick Saban roamed the west sideline for 17 seasons before retiring on Wednesday. When Thursday began, it was Alabama football’s first full day without him in charge since Jan. 2, 2007.

Some places, the day seemed normal. The Walk of Champions outside the stadium wasn’t seeing much foot traffic, students were in early classes or sleeping in.

But at Saban’s statue, the scene was anything but. Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies, Saban’s breakfast of choice, littered the ground.

That wasn’t all. Bottles of Barefoot wine and Coca-Cola, a single slice of pepperoni and sausage pizza, handwritten letters, a can of Gold-flavored Four Loko, a decoy duck, flowers, Galletes cups, flowers in Gallates cups.

“Somebody left a dollar,” one passerby observed, chatting with a friend via video call.

Someone had indeed left a dollar. The pile of snacks and random junk was getting bigger as students started their morning routines.

Over at the athletics facility, other than the four television cameras pointed at the building, you’d be forgiven for thinking Saban hadn’t left his job. That’s because he was inside.

There was his black Mercedes, parked in its usual spot. Even if he hadn’t been spotted getting out and entering the building, the way it was positioned in the spot, well over the line on the passenger side at an angle that would get the average person’s vehicle keyed in a shopping mall parking lot, was an obvious tell.

Nobody keys Nick Saban’s car in Tuscaloosa though. Not even after he retires on Ferrari Wednesday.

Inside the Waysider, Tuscaloosa’s oldest restaurant, the clientele wasn’t doing well.

“Are y’all OK?” Julie Parker, a waitress at the Waysider, asked as a greeting.

The unthinkable retirement was the topic dominating the room. One diner wanted Dan Lanning to replace Saban, before the Oregon coach took himself out of the discussion later on in the day.

Another noted her children had grown bored of the Crimson Tide winning all the time.

“You have no idea,” she said she told them, recalling a time of dysfunction before Saban set the program right.

Behind the cash register at the Waysider, an angry-looking cardboard cutout of Saban holding a Coke bottle was a popular attraction. Guests posed for photos, with it, a last memento in their iPhone camera rolls.

Parker looked on and laughed as she hustled steaming hot buttermilk biscuits and coffee to tables.

“Y’all had 17 years to take pictures with this,” she said. “…I know, it’s different now.”

A line was building for a table at the restaurant, which counted Bear Bryant among its many fans during his lifetime. Outside, even more were walking up..

“This felt like the right place to mourn,” one man said as he passed through the front door, out of the cold.

The chill had worn off by the time lunch rolled around. Outside of City Cafe in Northport, the weather was beautiful, topping out at 63 degrees.

Inside, the local institution was hopping, with the Thursday menu including chicken-fried steak, hamburger steak and catfish fingers. It was quieter than the Waysider, as guests sat at the their tables, looking at the wood-paneled walls covered with UA memorabilia.

Again, Lanning was a popular pick for Saban’s successor. By the time Druid City Brewing opened for the evening, that notion had been dispelled.

Bartender Tait Thompson thought briefly that UA offensive coordinator Tommy Rees had been promoted to the job. Then he realized the social media account purporting to be ESPN’s Pete Thamel was a fake.

“This guy has 2,500 followers,” Thompson said, dismissing the account.

As Tame Impala’s “Currents” record played at the brewery, patrons discussed the search for a new coach. Rees was dismissed offhand, while Kalen DeBoer and Mike Norvell became popular choices after it was reported they were becoming the focus of the search.

One drinker recalled Crimson Tide coaches of the past when offering up his opposition of Norvell.

“We don’t need another Mike,” he said, drawing laughs from the room.

As midnight drew near, the temperature had cooled a bit on the Walk of Champions. Employees were finishing up removing the decorations surrounding the Saban statue, as the song “Pony” by Ginuwine was heard ringing from the Strip.

They left the slice of pizza alone, agreeing it was too gross to touch. Besides that and a gold crown on top of the statue’s head, the rest of it was packed into the back of crimson Club Car and whisked away.

Nearby, Denny Chimes sat ready on the Quad, where Alabama fans tailgated Saban’s home games for so long. At 11:59 p.m. the tower began its song.

By the time it ended, the sound echoing long past the final bell, it was Friday. Tuscaloosa had made it through its first post-Saban day.