Will Saban outshine the Bear?

In just a matter of eight seasons, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is getting damn near close to doing what took legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant nearly three decades to accomplish. If you know anything about Alabama football, you know that Tide fans wax nostalgia for  "The Bear" like Republicans do for Ronald Reagan. Coach Bryant represents the good old days, when the University of Alabama was a force to be reckoned with. 

But Nick Saban may just replace him as the dominant coach—something that you would have been laughed out of Tuscaloosa for saying just a decade ago. 

Following Bryant's retirement in 1982, which ended a 25 year ca

It is difficult to imagine the "Bear" taking a backseat to anyone, but Saban might just prove to be an even bigger winner than his predecessor. But fans are saying that you can have both.

"The Bear's legacy is as big now as it ever has been," Tuscaloosa News sports columnist Todd James said. "While Nick Saban is on track to tie Coach Bryant's record, he is simply adding more fire to the story but not taking away or replacing the Bear's legacy."

Most Bama fans agree that Saban is just another part of the same story and that building on Bryant's legacy only makes the school and the Tide stronger. 

"We're proud to have had two of the best coaches to have ever coached the game. Only a small handful of teams can say that," James said.