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One of the longest nights of my life was Feb. 7, 2000.

My guest on “Sports Monday” was Nick Saban. He was almost seven months from coaching his first game at LSU. Because my Cox Cable show is live, he was, in essence, making his Baton Rouge television debut.

It was excruciating.

Never in 13 years on the air has a guest seemed so uncomfortable sitting in the big chairs, been so uptight, been so unsure of what to say to the host or the viewers, or made my irreverence seem so lame.

But in the commercial breaks, Saban was great, telling stories, cutting up; he seemed to have fun. Back on the air, he was all business.

Herb Vincent, LSU’s senior associate athletic director, was Sports Information director at the time. He drove Saban to the show and recalled that the coach said little on the drive there. You could argue that he said little on the air, as well. And then Saban said little on the ride back to campus.

But as he got out of Vincent’s car, Saban said, “That went pretty well. We need to do more of those kinds of things.”

Vincent was shocked. And he still laughs when we talk about it.

Saban never came back to the studio. A media consultant told him that he looked too small in my La-Z-Boys.

Les Miles looked great in the big chairs.

Early 1980s - Les Miles has been in the college game a long time, staying five seasons as an assistant at University of Colorado, where he worked with former LSU Coach Gerry DiNardo.

After all, while Saban was an undersized (some estimates have him as short as 5 feet 7 inches) defensive back at Kent State, Miles played offensive lineman at Michigan. Miles actually was undersized for his position. One time when we were standing together and I realized that he’s probably 5 feet 11 inches, perhaps 6 feet, I told him he must have been one tough SOB to play lineman in the Big Ten.

He smiled proudly.

That’s something Saban and Miles have in common. They are tough-minded, fiercely competitive, driven-to-success football coaches. Their roots are similar.

Saban is from West Virginia and went to college in Ohio. His coaching background is a mixture of the pro and college game.

Miles is from Ohio, and his resume also boasts pro and college experience.

They learned the game from the ground up, growing up in football environments, and they were influenced by the best.

For Saban, that included coaching under Bill Belichick at the Cleveland Browns. Belichick, now the mastermind of the New England Patriots dynasty, used to drag Saban to rock concerts.

Mid-1980s - Nick Saban has been labeled a job-hopper, having nine jobs in 21 years before he coached five seasons for Michigan State.

Miles played under the late Bo Schembechler at Michigan, a legendary figure in college football. While Miles appears to love LSU—and who wouldn’t after the success he’s had in two and half seasons—he has a strong place in his heart for Michigan, which is why rumors persist that he will one day coach at his alma mater.

Saban has been labeled a job-hopper, somewhat unfairly.

Until he took over as the head coach at Michigan State in 1995, he’d had nine jobs in 21 years, including one season at Toledo, his only time as a head coach during those two decades.

Finally, Saban seemed to find a home at Michigan State, where he led the Spartans to four seasons of mediocrity (25-22-1) before a breakout year in 1999, when his team finished 9-2, with victories over Big Ten rivals Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Interestingly, his five-year mark at Michigan State was 34-24-1, the same during those five years as LSU’s Gerry DiNardo, the man he replaced. And DiNardo’s Tigers defeated Saban’s Spartans in the 1996 Peach Bowl. Of course, by 1999, their careers were going in different directions.

Miles, meanwhile, stayed in the college game a long time. He stayed five seasons as an assistant at Colorado, where, interestingly, he was on staff with DiNardo, who later stood in Miles’ wedding. Miles then went to Michigan, and during his eight years there as an assistant met his wife, Kathy.

Miles was an assistant at Oklahoma State for three years before going to the NFL as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys. He finally became a head coach for the first time when he took over at Oklahoma State in 2001. During his four years, the Cowboys went 28-21, including 7-5 his last year. There didn’t appear to be anything during that time to indicate he would start at LSU with two of the best five seasons in school history, 11-2 in 2005 and 11-2 in 2006.

Saban is credited with changing the culture of LSU football.

When he came to Baton Rouge, the program had suffered through eight losing seasons in 11 years. Saban made demands of his players, assistant coaches (for whom he almost needed a turnstile at the door), the administration (check out that massive football operations castle across from Alex Box Stadium) and even the fans, whom he scolded and told to act like they’d won before. But they didn’t mind because Saban delivered to them in 2003 the Holy Grail, the Bowl Championship Series national title for the Tigers.

Miles only recently seems to be getting his own credit. LSU fans were slow to warm to Miles, a Kurt Russell look-a-like who has a tendency to speak in a roundabout way.

And his biggest boost came from Saban.

Jilted LSU fans weren’t happy when Saban left them for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but they understood. They didn’t, however, understand him leaving the pros to return to college. And not just any college.

Alabama.

Or, as Miles is reputed to have said at the Recruiting Bash last February, “(Expletive deleted) Alabama.”

There are LSU fans who have openly declared they’d rather be 10-2 this season and beat Alabama, than be 11-1 with the only defeat to Saban. They’re nuts, of course, but that’s how deep this runs for some.

When he was here, Saban got a flier for alienating so many people with his coldness—some say rudeness—and inability to suffer fools. Now that he’s at Alabama, any LSU person who was ever offended by his brusque nature will quickly tell you about it. Some will tell you he was a straight shooter, but others will tell how he walked past them in a hallway and they’d say hello and Saban would stare right through them and not utter a word. That’s other people, I want to add. Saban’s always been great to me, but the stories I’ve heard …

All that is not to say Miles is not intense, but he’s certainly more warm and fuzzy. While people make fun of the way he wears his white LSU baseball cap on the sidelines—even his wife got into the act in the preseason, joining in on some teasing about “Fear the Hat”—the current LSU coach is involved in more than his share of charity events and seems to really enjoy the loyalty of the fans and bantering with the media.

So when they square off Nov. 3 in Tuscaloosa, the game will pit one coach LSU fans now love to hate, and their own coach who they used to hate to love, but now seem thoroughly enthralled with.

Saban, by the way, did improve greatly as a TV guest. He still tells people what he wants them to hear—he’s a master at using the media for setting his team’s attitude and spin control—but he loosened up a lot after that first Sports Monday.

Miles has always been a good interview. And just like his predecessor, some of the things you hear in the commercial breaks are better than the show.

The two coaches met for the first time in person in June at the annual Southeastern Conference meetings in Destin. By all accounts it was cordial.

They meet for the first time as competitors at Bryant-Denny Stadium in what likely will be a cool November Saturday with national-championship implications on the line for LSU, and respectability at stake for resurging Alabama.

LSU vs. Alabama. Nick vs. Les.

One can only imagine what they’ll have to say in the commercial breaks after that one.