NFL Rumors: Why Nick Saban Was ‘So Pissed’ With Bill Belichick On Browns

While there’s no questioning Bill Belichick’s greatness as a coach, it’s understandable that he may not be the easiest guy to work for.

Just ask Nick Saban.

The now-Alabama head coach has gone on the record about his time serving as the Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator in the mid-1990s under Belichick, going as far as saying those four years were “the worst of my life.”

Well, we may now have an idea as to why that is.

Ian O’Connor, the author of the upcoming book “Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time,” had portions of the book released to ESPN. In the latest story from ESPN, O’Connor shares an anecdote as to part of the reason why Saban was “so pissed” under Belichick.

“Though the longtime friends formed a devastating tandem in 1994, when their Browns defense allowed a league-low 204 points, Belichick and Saban had their moments in Cleveland. Saban had little use for Belichick’s restrictions on his assistants’ access to reporters or for Belichick’s conservative philosophy on defense. “Nick was so pissed with Bill,” recalled Pro Bowl defensive end Rob Burnett. “He wanted to do so many things and he was hamstrung by Bill. I used to meet with Nick all the time, and Bill would not bend as far as changing defenses. He stayed as vanilla as ice cream. … To Nick I was like, ‘Oh, man, remember in training camp when they couldn’t block us on this blitz?’ He goes, ‘I know, I know. But sometimes I put it in the game plan and Bill won’t run it on Sundays.’ … At the end, it wasn’t the best relationship.”

Interesting.

While the two appeared to have butted heads plenty, things seem to have worked out for both parties outside of Cleveland.