Nick Saban left LSU and took the job as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins on Christmas Day in 2004. The NFL had changed in the decade hed been away. Free agency, in its infancy during Sabans time as the defensive coordinator with the Browns, had grown into full maturity. The players were now empowered, and they werent afraid to show it. The college game wasand remains todayabout the cult of the coach. In the pros, the players now reigned. In the 2005 off-season, Saban discovered quicklyand rudelyjust how different things had become.
At the Miami Dolphins annual rookie talent show, Matt Roth and Channing Crowderthe second- and third-round draft picks, respectively, that yeardecided to team up for their act. Instead of trying to sing or dance or tell jokes, they opted to go with something a bit bolder. With the coaches, players, and staff gathered in an auditorium at the Dolphins headquarters, Crowder called the rookie head coach up to the stage, which had, as a prop, a single chair. I looked out into the crowd and said, Hey, Coach, we just appreciate you giving us the chance to play in the NFL, and we want to show you some love, says Crowder. With that, he pointed to the chair and invited Saban to sit down.
Saban, somewhat reluctantly, obliged. He sat facing Crowder and Roth. At that moment, Kay-Jay Harris, an undrafted free agent who had been signed by the team, was supposed to start playing some loud club music over the speakers, but he couldnt figure out how to get the CD player to work. The surprise that Crowder and Roth had in store for Saban didnt wait for her cue, however. From behind him, a stripperdressed in high heels, a very small bikini, and a Jason Taylor Dolphins jerseypranced out of a door and onto the stage. She touched Sabans back. He flinched. When she walked around to face Saban, he shot straight up in his chair. Harris still couldnt get the music going. The auditorium was instead filled with shouts and catcalls coming from the seats. The stripper moved in front of Saban and began to dance provocatively. He sat completely still for one more moment, then abruptly stood up, walked off the stage, and hustled up the stairs. The room went silent. There were like 30 stairs, says Crowder. All you could hear was the click, click, click of his shoes, then the door creaking open and the boom when it shut behind him. The room exploded in delirious peals of laughter. It was pretty immature on our part to include Saban in the skit, says Crowder. But thats why we did it.
