SN: Much has been made over the fact you don't have a buyout in your contract. Why is there none?

SABAN: I never had a buyout at LSU or Michigan State. I think the buyout is: They want you and they pay you well, so I do have a buyout. I have an eight-year contract, and everyone knows what it is. That's a buyout. I'm getting positively rewarded for my efforts rather than having to stay here because I would be negatively penalized if I ever tried to leave.

SN: Did you talk to any former Alabama coaches when you took the job?

SABAN: I talked to coach (Gene) Stallings because I have a lot of respect for him as a person. We had a little similar path. You hear so much about this place. I told him: Tell me what it's like. Do you have an opportunity to be successful here? You hear all this stuff about it. I can't imagine it has to be that way. He was extremely positive about the place, the people of Alabama, the university, what you can accomplish here. He told me about the recruiting in the state. The one piece of advice is that the people in the state are special and to give back to them every way you can.

SN: What are your expectations for the season?

SABAN: I really can't say what a realistic expectation is this year because we're still learning about our team. We taught the base offense and defense during 15 practices in the spring. We still are learning a lot about our players and chemistry. What I always like to say is it's not what it could be, it's not what it should be, it's not what it was -- it's what it is. We have to build on it and make it better.

And if you have expectations that we are going to win the national championship this year, and you're going to be all frustrated if we don't, then you don't have the right spirit. You have to have an expectation that's realistic because there's work to be done to get to where we want to go.

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