Miami Hurricanes Hall of Famer gave Nick Saban his start in Coaching
Miami Hurricanes Athletic Hall of Famer Don James was credited by Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban for giving him his start in coaching. Saban was a defensive back under at Kent State from 1970-72.
James became the Head Coach at Kent State in 1971. He remained there through the 1974 season. He left to accept the Head Coaching job at Washington. James led the Huskies for 18 years. Washington and the Miami Hurricanes ironically shared the 1991 National Championship.
The irony of the shared National Championship is that the Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Dennis Erickson grew up in Washington. He went to high school 25 miles north of Seattle.
James was a star quarterback at Miami in 1952 and ’53. He set numerous passing records in 1952. Those included the Miami Hurricanes records for attempts, completions, passing yards and completion percentage. He then broke his own records for completions and passing yards in 1953.
James was inducted into the Miami Hurricanes Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. Erickson was inducted into the UM Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.
James was an assistant at multiple schools before being hired to lead the Kent State football program. He was initially a Graduate Assistant Coach at Kansas in 1956 and ’57. James came back to South Florida as the Head Coach at Southwest Miami High School for the 1958 season.
He then followed a similar path to another former Miami quarterback, current Hurricanes Head Coach Mark Richt. James was the defensive backs coach at Florida State from 1959-61. He was promoted to Defensive Coordinator for the 1962 season. He remained in that position through 1965.
James left Tallahassee for Ann Arbor to become the Michigan Defensive Coordinator for two seasons. He spent the three years after that in Boulder, Colorado leading the Buffaloes defense for three years. James left Colorado when he was hired at Kent State.
Saban credits James with being the one to get him into coaching. He had no intention of becoming a coach before James hired him. Saban had many other well-known influences in the coaching profession. James was his first mentor.
"“Don James did probably more than anyone in this profession to influence me…First of all, I didn’t ever want to grow up to be a coach. He kind of recognized that and asked me to be a coach, to be a graduate assistant, and I didn’t have any intention … and the only reason why I did it was because my wife had another year of school.I really enjoyed it.”"
Saban’s first crack at becoming a Head Coach was at Toledo in 1990. He led the Rockets to a 9-2 season. Saban left to become the Cleveland Browns Defensive Coordinator under Bill Belichick. He spent five years in Cleveland. Saban left the Browns to accept the Head Coaching job at Michigan State.
He has been a college Head Coach since, except for an infamous two-year stint with the Dolphins in 2005 and ’06. The Fish were 15-17 in Saban’s two years.
Before his short tenure in South Florida, he was LSU for five seasons where he led the Tigers to a share of the 2003 National Championship. He has been at Alabama since leaving Miami.
In 11 seasons under Saban, Alabama has won six National Championships, seven SEC Championships, and 11 SEC West Championships. Saban has been honored as the SEC Coach of the Year four times and as the National Coach of the Year in four different seasons by various organizations.
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Without James, Saban’s career might have never gotten started. The success of Miami Hurricanes football is often credited as beginning with the 1983 Championship season. The Hurricanes impact on college football goes back much further than that.