Alabama's Saban, ex-Dolphins coach, back in Miami

Saban said he wasn't feeling nostalgic by being back on the Dolphins' turf, further adding that a return to the NFL is not tempting to him.

"I don't have any unfinished business in the NFL," Saban said. "I have a job right now and I want to do the best job that I possibly can for this team, right now. ... That's not something that I'm concerned about. It's not something I'm thinking about; it's not even something that I want to do. I want to be a college coach."

Of course, Saban sometimes changes his mind.

And nowhere has that been more chronicled than Miami.

It was Dec. 21, 2006, when Saban spoke at the Dolphins' facility after his team practiced and, after weeks of trying to denounce reports that Alabama intrigued him as "rumor and innuendo," he offered his most emphatic denial of the entire process.

"I guess I have to say it. I'm not going to be the Alabama coach," Saban said that day, an oft-repeated quote.

Less than two weeks later, Saban was the Alabama coach.

So when he returned Saturday — the first time he was on the field at Sun Life in a working capacity since Christmas 2006 — Saban was predictably all about what's looming for Alabama on Monday night.

"I'm kind of excited for the opportunity that our team has," Saban said. "It's really about our team and this game. We're always happy to come back to South Florida. We have some great relationships here and some very fond memories of being here. But right now, we've recruited and worked to develop this team for a long, long time, and it's really a lot more about them being here ... than it is anything that's happened in my past."