Schlabach: Prominent coaches turn actors

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By Mark Schlabach, ESPN.com
Posted Jun 30, 2009
Copyright © 2009 AuburnUndercover.com


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Tommy Tuberville, right, greets Nick Saban after sixth consecutive win over Alabama/Todd Van Emst

ATLANTA - With his arms crossed, wearing a gray sports coat, Nick Saban leaned toward the computer screen on his desk and shook his head.

"Wow!" he said. "This guy is something else."

A few feet away, a thin man sitting in a director's chair yelled, "Cut!"

"Very nice," said director John Lee Hancock. "Let's go just a little bit faster."

So with the cameras rolling again, Saban leaned toward the computer screen and picked up the pace of his still-evolving Southern drawl.

"Wow!" Saban repeated. "This kid is something!"

"Perfect!" Hancock yelled. "That was really good."

And with that Saban finished Scene 132 of the upcoming film "The Blind Side," which is based on Michael Lewis' best-selling book about the life of former Ole Miss star Michael Oher. The book, "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game," documented Oher's transformation from the son of a drug-addicted mother and murdered father growing up in a Memphis housing project to an All-American and NFL prospect at Ole Miss.

While actress Sandra Bullock and country singer Tim McGraw are the film's most famous entertainers, a handful of current and former college football coaches played some prominent roles. Along with Saban, former Notre Dame and South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, current Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt and former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville filmed scenes at an Atlanta office building as the movie neared the end of production earlier this month.

Former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer and ex-Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron filmed scenes for the movie on a previous day.

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