An Iron Bowl that for years had Paul “Bear” Bryant guiding Alabama and Ralph “Shug” Jordan leading Auburn will present the most unique coaching matchup in series history come Saturday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Nick Saban vs. Carnell “Cadillac” Williams.
While Saban is nearing the end of his 16th season in Tuscaloosa with a sparkling track record that includes eight Southeastern Conference championships and six national titles, Williams is 2-1 as an interim coach since Auburn parted ways with Bryan Harsin. Williams was a stellar running back for the Tigers two decades ago who returned to his alma mater in 2019 as Gus Malzahn’s running backs coach, and he was retained by Harsin after Malzahn was let go following the 2020 regular season.
A 39-33 overtime loss at Mississippi State on Nov. 5 got the interim Williams regime off to a heartbreaking start, but the past two weekends have yielded a 13-10 topping of Texas A&M and a 41-17 dumping of Western Kentucky before a packed Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“He’s done a great job — the energy, the enthusiasm, and the way their guys are competing and playing,” Saban said Monday in his weekly news conference. “They’re playing to win, and that was his personality as a player. I remember when I was the coach of Miami Dolphins, and Ronnie Brown and Cadillac were both coming out at the same time in the same draft.