SLS 21RS-923 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 64
BY SENATOR BERNARD
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Coach Nick Saban upon being inducted into the
Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Nick Saban, former national champion LSU head football coach, upon the
3 occasion of his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
4 WHEREAS, Nick Saban was born on Halloween in 1951 in Fairmont, West Virginia;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, he enjoyed an illustrious athletic career at Monongah High School,
7 where he was named to the all-state team in baseball and basketball and led the football team
8 to the 1968 state championship as its starting quarterback; and
9 WHEREAS, Nick Saban went on to play defensive back for Kent State University
10 where he helped the Golden Flashes win their first Mid-American Conference title in 1972;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, after the conclusion of his playing career and graduation from Kent
13 State, Nick Saban found his true calling as a football coach and joined the staff of his alma
14 mater as a graduate assistant; and
15 WHEREAS, he quickly established himself as an up-and-coming member of the
16 collegiate coaching profession and began a journey that included stops as an assistant coach
17 at Syracuse University, the University of West Virginia, Ohio State University, the United
18 States Naval Academy, and Michigan State University; and
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SLS 21RS-923 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, Nick Saban became a head coach for the first time at the University of
2 Toledo in 1990, where he produced immediate results, guiding the Rockets to a 9-2 record
3 and a share of the Mid-American Conference championship; and
4 WHEREAS, his success at the University of Toledo provided a springboard to the
5 ranks of professional coaching, where he joined the staff of legendary coach Bill Belichick
6 with the Cleveland Browns as defensive coordinator; and
7 WHEREAS, Nick Saban returned to the collegiate game in 1995 as the head coach
8 of Michigan State University, where he spearheaded a rebuilding effort of the program,
9 culminating in a Citrus Bowl victory in 1999 that gave the Spartans their first double-digit
10 win season since 1965 and highest ranking since 1966; and
11 WHEREAS, he arrived in Baton Rouge in 2000 and began the restoration of the LSU
12 Fighting Tiger football program to national prominence; and
13 WHEREAS, in 2001 Nick Saban led LSU to its first SEC championship since 1986,
14 defeating the University of Tennessee in a thrilling upset in the SEC Championship game
15 that earned the Tigers a berth in the Sugar Bowl, where they defeated the University of
16 Illinois; and
17 WHEREAS, the 2003 team achieved immortality by finishing the season with a
18 stellar 13-1 record, again winning the SEC title and securing LSU's first national
19 championship since the famed Chinese Bandits of 1958 with a historic 21-14 victory over
20 the University of Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans; and
21 WHEREAS, in recognition of the tremendous success of his 2003 national
22 champions, Nick Saban was named both the SEC and national coach of the year; and
23 WHEREAS, during his tenure as the LSU head coach, Nick Saban compiled an
24 overall record of 48 wins to just 16 losses and established the Tigers as an elite program
25 capable of annually contending for championships.
26 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
27 does hereby commend former national champion LSU Head Football Coach Nick Saban
28 upon the occasion of his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
29 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
30 Coach Nick Saban.
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SLS 21RS-923 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Matt DeVille
DIGEST
SR 64 Original 2021 Regular Session Bernard
Commends Coach Nick Saban upon his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
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