2021 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 64
BY SENATORS BERNARD, ABRAHAM, ALLAIN, CLOUD, CORTEZ, FIELDS,
HENSGENS, HEWITT, MILLIGAN, PEACOCK, REESE AND
TALBOT
A RESOLUTION
To commend Nick Saban, former national champion LSU head football coach, upon the
occasion of his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
WHEREAS, Nick Saban was born on Halloween in 1951 in Fairmont, West Virginia;
and
WHEREAS, he enjoyed an illustrious athletic career at Monongah High School,
where he was named to the all-state team in baseball and basketball and led the football team
to the 1968 state championship as its starting quarterback; and
WHEREAS, Nick Saban went on to play defensive back for Kent State University
where he helped the Golden Flashes win their first Mid-American Conference title in 1972;
and
WHEREAS, after the conclusion of his playing career and graduation from Kent
State, Nick Saban found his true calling as a football coach and joined the staff of his alma
mater as a graduate assistant; and
WHEREAS, he quickly established himself as an up-and-coming member of the
collegiate coaching profession and began a journey that included stops as an assistant coach
at Syracuse University, the University of West Virginia, Ohio State University, the United
States Naval Academy, and Michigan State University; and
WHEREAS, Nick Saban became a head coach for the first time at the University of
Toledo in 1990, where he produced immediate results, guiding the Rockets to a 9-2 record
and a share of the Mid-American Conference championship; and
WHEREAS, his success at the University of Toledo provided a springboard to the
ranks of professional coaching, where he joined the staff of legendary coach Bill Belichick
with the Cleveland Browns as defensive coordinator; and
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WHEREAS, Nick Saban returned to the collegiate game in 1995 as the head coach
of Michigan State University, where he spearheaded a rebuilding effort of the program,
culminating in a Citrus Bowl victory in 1999 that gave the Spartans their first double-digit
win season since 1965 and highest ranking since 1966; and
WHEREAS, he arrived in Baton Rouge in 2000 and began the restoration of the LSU
Fighting Tigers football program to national prominence; and
WHEREAS, in 2001 Nick Saban led LSU to its first SEC championship since 1986,
defeating the University of Tennessee in a thrilling upset in the SEC Championship game
that earned the Tigers a berth in the Sugar Bowl, where they defeated the University of
Illinois; and
WHEREAS, the 2003 team achieved immortality by finishing the season with a
stellar 13-1 record, again winning the SEC title and securing LSU's first national
championship since the famed Chinese Bandits of 1958 with a historic 21-14 victory over
the University of Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans; and
WHEREAS, in recognition of the tremendous success of his 2003 national
champions, Nick Saban was named both the SEC and national coach of the year; and
WHEREAS, during his tenure as the LSU head coach, Nick Saban compiled an
overall record of 48 wins to just 16 losses and established the Tigers as an elite program
capable of annually contending for championships.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend former national champion LSU Head Football Coach Nick Saban
upon the occasion of his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Coach Nick Saban.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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