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Saban statue to be completed within 2 weeks
900-pound bronze sculpture will be unveiled in August

By Chase Goodbread Sports Writer Published

TUSCALOOSA | Sculptors expect to finish a bronze statue of University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, planned for placement on the Walk of Champions plaza outside Bryant-Denny Stadium, within two weeks.

For now, the statue remains in Oklahoma City, where artist Jack Nortz is leading a group of sculptors in putting final touches on the 900-pound likeness.

“At different points we thought we had it, but it's gone through some updates and change,” said project manager Corey Beltz of MTM Recognition. “Some of the people at the university involved with it wanted to see a couple of different looks, but it's 95 percent sculpted at this point.”

Beltz said MTM Recognition has met with Saban regarding the design, adding that Saban's wife, Terry, and UA Director of Athletics Mal Moore are among those who have had a hand in planning the sculpture.

Moore has said the unveiling of the statue, planned for August, will also serve as a dedication for the south end zone expansion that will push the stadium's capacity to more than 100,000. The project is being funded by the Crimson Tide Foundation, according to documents released by UA. The final price is not yet available, although the price for the Saban statue is estimated at $50,000. A resolution on the sculpture, as well as a national championship plaque for the stadium's North Entrance Plaza, will be addressed at the UA board of trustees meeting on Thursday. According to a letter from the university's Office of Financial Affairs to UA President Robert Witt, the statue will be 150 percent life-sized and will stand on a granite pedestal with a chamfered edge.

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Coach certainly hopes this happens. There is so much history with Alabama and A&M. And now our Aggie friends Patrick and Tyler could be our SEC rivals..Coach

Sources: Texas A&M close to joining SEC
Kevin Scarbinsky -- The Birmingham News

If the increasing number of media reports are true, at least four more Big 12 schools — Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — will join Colorado in moving to the Pac-10.

Texas A&M, in the delightfully stubborn tradition of one of our favorite regents, Gene Stallings, the former Alabama football coach, may be just ornery and independent enough to go its own way.

Barring political intervention in the Lone Star State, two well-connected SEC insiders told The Birmingham News today, Texas A&M is going to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC.

The announcement could be made in a matter of days.

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