It has been nearly seven months since the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees first approved the construction of Nick Saban’s bronze statue, honoring the team’s 13th national championship, yet Saban’s spot on the Walk of Champions is still vacant.
TideSports.com first reported that the company building Saban’s statue, MTM Recognition, could have it completed by April 17, 2010, the date of the Tide’s annual A-Day game.
However, as the date approached, reports came out saying the statue had not been cast yet and would not be ready for an A-Day unveiling. AL.com then reported the statue would be dedicated in mid-August, but later retracted that statement and said the unveiling would take place at some point during the Tide’s 2010 football season.
Thad Turnipseed, the University’s director of athletic facilities, also weighed in on the statue’s whereabouts to ESPN.com; the article reported that “the first two statue submissions were rejected partly because the hair and face weren’t right. Saban, his wife Terry and Alabama athletic director Mal Moore have final say on the sculpture but have yet to see a version they like.”
John McWilliams, a junior majoring in journalism and political science, said once the Tide won the national championship, he expected the statue to be on campus within a couple of months.
“You’d think that the statue would be ready by now,” McWilliams said. “I’m no expert on statue making, but good grief. This isn’t the Lincoln Memorial we’re talking about here; it’s a statue of a 5-foot-tall man. I’m sure it’ll look good when it’s completed, and hopefully they will have it ready for this year’s the A-Day game.”
The day before the Tide’s victory in the Capital One Bowl, AL.com reported that MTM Recognition had begun casting the statue, and that in should be in Tuscaloosa by the end of February.
Abby Haynes, a nursing student, said she was happy Saban is getting a statue and that she didn’t care when it arrived on campus.
“I am excited for the statue of Nick Saban to be placed in its proper spot on the Walk of Champions,” Haynes said. “Saban, along with the memorable 2009 National Championship team, worked long and hard toward developing the team and I think the statue is a reflection of that wonderful season and a reminder of what’s to come.”
Comments from MTM Recognition and Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Doug Walker could not be obtained by deadline.
“It doesn’t matter when the statue comes as long as it is, indeed, coming,” Brandon Cole, a junior majoring in Spanish, said. “Coach Saban helped create a new sense of spirit in the athletic program at UA that it had been lacking for quite some time.’
