Saban remembers 4/27/11 tornadoes on 5-year anniversary

That morning was fairly typical, given the atypical time demands that Nick Saban faces every day. Spring football practice at the University of Alabama had wrapped up nine days before on a fairly positive note, as sophomore-to-be A.J. McCarron seemed to be in position to take over as starting quarterback. Recruiting was ongoing, but there weren’t any campus visitors on a Wednesday, just a few phone calls scheduled for that evening.

That didn’t mean a lull in activity. Saban went into the office that morning for staff meetings. Travel arrangements were finalized. Saban’s upcoming schedule was crammed with charity golf events and Crimson Caravan speaking engagements, and every hour away from the office meant double duty on the days when Saban was in town, like that particularly Wednesday.

It was, to use a phrase that seemed innocent enough on that morning, a whirlwind of activity.

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“I’m like go, go, go all the time anyway,” Saban said last week as he reflected on April 27, 2011, in an interview with Tidesports.com. “We were busy. We had Coach (Gene) Stallings in town for his RISE golf tournament and I had a lot to do before his banquet that night. So I was in the office most of the day, then I went home to change for the banquet that night.”

There had been severe weather in Alabama over the course of the day, including tornadoes in Cullman County. The atmosphere was volatile, but not entirely different from other stormy spring days in the state.

While Saban was at home, he received a call that the Stallings banquet had been rescheduled because of possible bad weather. He’d seen “about a dozen book bags” in the entrance hall at his house, as friends of his daughter Kristen were waiting out the weather together. The schedule change with the banquet didn’t mean an evening off for Saban. That’s not the way his schedule works. He decided to head back to his on-campus office to get back to work, to clear some of the backlog before flying to New York for the NFL Draft the next day.

“I started down the road and the sky was getting dark,” Saban recalled. “Then I got to the road (McFarland Boulevard, usually filled with traffic in the afternoon) and there wasn’t a car on it. I said ,‘Something’s going on.’ So I turned the car around and headed back home.”

The Sabans’ tree-lined neighborhood near Lake Tuscaloosa didn’t offer a clear view of what was going on across the Black Warrior River that afternoon. Had Saban gone into the office, there would have been a frightening near-miss. The tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa came close to the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility, which houses UA’s football coaching offices, no more than a few blocks away as it roared out of Forest Lake and tore across 15th Street.

“From where we were, it was very, very dark,” Saban said. “And we could hear it, the sound like a giant train.”

Saban and his wife Terry began to get updates. The first was from their son, Nicholas. He and his wife, Kelse, were living in a house just behind DCH Regional Medical Center.

“Their house was pretty much destroyed, so we went to check on them,” Saban said. “Then we had the coaches in, making sure all the players were accounted for.”

Some had been injured. Carson Tinker, the team’s long snapper, was hospitalized. His girlfriend, Ashley Harrison, was ripped from his arms by the swirling winds and died from her injuries. Others had their houses or apartments damaged or destroyed. It was late that night before every player had been accounted for.

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The next day, Saban was at the office early, checking on his son and his players and beginning the rebuilding process.

“We went out the next day to help everyone we could,” Saban said. “Then Terry was in charge, because I had promised Mark Ingram that I would be at his table for the draft.”

Alabama had four first-rounders selected that day – Julio Jones, Marcel Dareus, James Carpenter and Ingram. Saban sat with the Ingram family, congratulated his players – and rushed back to the airport to get home and resume relief efforts the next day.

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“The first thing that struck me when I got back was how proud I was of our players and what they were doing,” Saban said. “They were out helping people move trees, delivering water, talking to kids. I didn’t tell them to do it. Nobody had to tell them. They just did it.”

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In the five years since the storm, that effort has continued.

“It was a terrible tragedy,” Saban said softly. “Nothing replaces lives that are lost. But we wanted to do what we could. Terry got involved. Nick’s Kids (the Sabans’ charity) got involved. We helped any way we could.

“I was proud of my community. Everybody stepped up. I’m certainly happy we could be a part of it, that we were in a position to help, but the way everyone contributed, it’s been a heartfelt experience for me. We are stronger, the whole community is stronger.”

For Saban, in his professional life, every season, every game is its own lesson. The tornado was far larger, far more meaningful than any game – but just as revealing.

“That’s what adversity is for,” Saban said. “You either give in to it or you learn to work together. This was a chance for people to work together and they did, and still are five years later. And our community is closer because of it.”