The only way a statue would keep Saban from leaving would be if he had to go to it every week to get his paycheck from his own statue's hand.
There are five coaches with statues on the Walk of Champions. All have won national titles. Saban's was built and unveiled in the spring of 2011 after the 2009 BCSNC. It was going to happen regardless.
It doesn't usually happen while the guy is still on the sideline, unless that's some weird Bama thing.
OK, you're insisting on going here, eh? Yes, having five coaches in your schools' football history winning national titles would be weird ... to someone who isn't accustomed to that. Things that people haven't experienced are often deemed weird. Now, the 2009 team was honored the same weekend the statue was unveiled. They have their own plaque embedded in the walkway leading up to the front of the stadium. If one was being recognized, it would have been half-assed not to do the same for the coach. While you may not like it, or may think it's funny, the root causes of both come from much more than a simple statue in front of the stadium. The plaques you see to the left and right of the one pictured list every team member.
@LaSalleAve Pictured below is the outside of Champions Plaza which is located just outside of the right field fence at Sewall-Thomas. It recognizes teams, players and coaches from national title winning years. Pat Murphy is there: still coaching. Sarah Patterson is there: multiple titles, and was still coaching at the time. (Hired by Coach Bryant, BTW.) Jay Seawell is there: multiple titles, still coaching. Mic Potter is there: still coaching. Trying to make this all about Saban ... it's just wrong. It's about the coaches, the players, those teams, those years ...
I wasn't trying to make it all about him, just curious, I guess it's just a Bama thing then. It's just not the norm everywhere else, you usually aren't canonized until you retire, but if that's the norm in Bama then it makes sense.
