Word around the coaching circles in college football is that Nick Saban is too tough of a taskmaster and his management style is scaring away excellent assistant coaches. One former Nick Saban assistant says that the perception of Saban is not exactly correct. Nick Saban s a tremendous football coach, no question about that, but he is a truly demanding individual. Nick s management style is what is giving the perception of him being a tough guy to get along with. He s very tough on assistants and some people don t respond well to that type of pressure and constant demands.
Some coaches keep assistant coaches for many, many years.
Bobby Bowden at Florida State, Joe Paterno at Penn State, Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee, Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech and Frank Solich keep the same assistants for long periods of time, others just don t, the former Saban assistant said. This is a very demanding business. Some head coaches do a better job than others managing assistant coaches time better and financially rewarding them. Nick s got an edge to him, but he s very fair. I think it is unfair for people to criticize his management style, because he s won.