Poll: Saban popular, but his salary isn't

Nick Saban is a popular choice as the new University of Alabama football coach, and there is a strong belief the Crimson Tide will be competing for a national championship in the near future, the results of a new statewide survey suggest.
"The general view, and probably the most important finding, is there seems to be a huge approval of the hiring of Nick Saban," said Keith Nicholls, who conducted the Press-Register/University of South Alabama telephone poll last week.
"More than 80 percent approve of Saban as the Alabama coach," Nicholls said, referring to people who identified themselves as Alabama fans. "There are a lot of politicians who would love to have those numbers." The poll surveyed 700 Alabama adults, and the results carry a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points. The results of the sub-sample of 363 people who identified themselves as Alabama fans carry a margin of error of 5.1 percentage points.
Although the Saban hiring received high marks from those surveyed, his approximate $4 million-a-year salary did not.
Seventy-percent of the general sample think the amount is too high, while 60 percent of Alabama fans responded the same way. Most of Saban's salary comes from outside sources rather than the university's state government appropriation.
Saban, 55, posted a record of 15-17 in two season with the NFL's Miami Dolphins, but his reputation as one of the most successful coaches is college football remains strong. In five years at LSU, he guided the Tigers to four top-25 finishes, two Southeastern Conference titles and the 2003 national championship.
Alabama residents believe he will duplicate that early success in Tuscaloosa.
When asked how likely it is that Alabama will win a national championship under Saban in the next five years, 88 percent of Alabama fans responded either very likely or somewhat likely. The percentage in the general survey was only slightly lower, with 79 percent saying a national championship in the next five years is at least somewhat likely.
Saban has done nothing to try to lower those expectations. At his Jan. 4 introductory press conference he said, "I know there are tremendous expectations here for what you would like to accomplish with this football program. I can tell you that however you feel about it, I have even higher expectations for what we want to accomplish. I want to win every game we play."

As reported by: Press-Register
By RANDY KENNEDY Sports Editor