BOSTON - Days after Forbes Magazine named Nick Saban as "The Most Powerful Coach in Sports," sources close to the Alabama football coach report that he had gone into hiding after hearing rumors of a pending hit put on his life by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichik.
Saban was absent from practice on Friday, and calls to his home, office and cell phone went unanswered. Sources close to Saban, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for retaliation, confirmed that Saban had been acting strangely over the past 24 hours.
"Nick was sky high after he heard about that Forbes Magazine thing," said the source. "I was hanging out with him at his office, and that's all he could talk about. Then his secretary came in and handed him a fax from the Patriots...man, as soon as he read that, he got a blank look on his face. I mean just froze. I don't know what the fax said, but it must have been bad."
There were unconfirmed reports of Saban being spotted at the Tuscaloosa airport in a disguise, asking an American Airlines ticket agent if there were any tickets available to South America that left as soon as possible.
This is not be the first time that Belichik has allegedly taken out rival coaches after they received positive press. Red Sox manager Terry Francona was found beaten and bloodied in the trunk of a car in the Fenway Park parking lots in January after being named "The Best Coach in Boston" by the Boston Globe. Francona refused to talk to police about the incident, calling it a "harmless prank" but authorities suspected Belichik.
"The only thing more frightening than Bill Belichik's power is how he uses it," said former FBI mafia expert John House. "He has a hair trigger and he's easily insulted. That's a dangerous combination for anyone unfortunate enough to cross him."
