Nick Saban will face his alma mater in the season opener next season when Kent State travels to play Alabama on Sept. 3.

The schools made the announcement Wednesday. The game will be the first meeting between the two schools.

Saban played defensive back for the Golden Flashes from 1970-72. He was teammates with NFL Hall of Famer Jack Lambert and current Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel in 1972 when Kent State won the only MAC championship in school history under coach Don James.

He graduated from Kent State in 1973 and then went on to earn a master's degree in sports administration in 1975 while serving as a graduate assistant for two seasons. He then spent a year as the linebackers coach in 1975.

And both Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel got their first DI-FBS (known as DI-A back then) head coaching jobs at Toledo.

(10-20-2010 05:15 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  And both Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel got their first DI-FBS (known as DI-A back then) head coaching jobs at Toledo.

And the grass is always green, and it never rains in Toledo..... -)

(10-20-2010 05:25 PM)the_instigator Wrote:  

(10-20-2010 05:15 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  And both Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel got their first DI-FBS (known as DI-A back then) head coaching jobs at Toledo.

And the grass is always green, and it never rains in Toledo..... -)

Kent state had an opening but did not hire Gary Pinkel. But Sabin told him he was leaving and would put his name in the hat for the toledo job He then coached tens years after Sabin left before heading to Missouri. Then Tom Amstutz took the job for almost another decade. It was one heck of a run of great coaches. More or less Kent state missed two of the best because they wouldn't hire either one.

(10-20-2010 05:32 PM)tampabayrocketfan Wrote:  

(10-20-2010 05:25 PM)the_instigator Wrote:  

(10-20-2010 05:15 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  And both Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel got their first DI-FBS (known as DI-A back then) head coaching jobs at Toledo.

And the grass is always green, and it never rains in Toledo..... -)

Kent state had an opening but did not hire Gary Pinkel. But Sabin told him he was leaving and would put his name in the hat for the toledo job He then coached tens years after Sabin left before heading to Missouri. Then Tom Amstutz took the job for almost another decade. It was one heck of a run of great coaches. More or less Kent state missed two of the best because they wouldn't hire either one.

Lou Holtz is a Kent grad and Don James went on to coach U of Wash for years. Glen Mason may also be a Kent grad. It would be interesting to see a list of all who coached in the MAC in the last 30 yrs

Urban Meyer contacted Nick Saban when Saban was the head coach at UT, asking for a job on his staff. Saban never heard of the guy and didn't call him back. A few short years later, Meyer was the head coach at BG, and you know the rest of the story.

The MAC has a lot of ties to top head coaches.

(10-20-2010 05:25 PM)the_instigator Wrote:  

(10-20-2010 05:15 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  And both Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel got their first DI-FBS (known as DI-A back then) head coaching jobs at Toledo.

And the grass is always green, and it never rains in Toledo..... -)

Yep, you're the instigator.