Another name is added to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame class of 2025: Nick Saban.
Before he became LSU’s nemesis while coaching Alabama, Saban led the Tigers to the national championship in 2003.
“He loves Louisiana — I know there’s a lot of fans who might struggle with that, but it’s true — And he knows how important Louisiana and LSU have been in his life,” says Doug Ireland, chairman of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Saban was originally a part of the class of 2020, but that ceremony was postponed to 2021 and Saban could not attend.
A change with the NCAA recruiting schedule prevented Saban from taking part in any subsequent inductions until now.
“The NCAA recruiting calendar changed that required him to be in Tuscaloosa for Alabama recruiting weekends every weekend in June, which is typically when we have our inductions,” says Ireland.
Ireland says the real Nick Saban is a very different person than what people who may only know him through his intense nature on the sidelines may be led to believe.
“He doesn’t have a presumptuous attitude,” Ireland says. “He is very down to earth, and he’ll enjoy mingling with not only the other inductees and their families but the people who are at the induction festivities.”
Ireland says Saban’s induction elevates the brand of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
“Nick Saban is one of the great names in modern American sport,” says Ireland, “and you can’t go anywhere and mention his name and not have somebody who’s not even a sports fan know who Nick Saban is.”
Saban has close connections with four other members of the class of 2025: Andrew Whitworth, Herb Vincent, Glenn Guilbeau and the late Ed Daniels.
Whitworth played for Saban on the 2003 championship team, Vincent oversaw communications for the LSU athletic department while Saban coached there, and Guilbeau and Daniels covered his tenure intensely.
The class of 2025 will be inducted in a ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center on June 28th.
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