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LOUISVILLE — The Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted its 2015 class at Brown Theatre over the weekend and also awarded Alabama Football coach Nick Saban with the ninth-annual Blanton Collier Award.
The honor is named after former UK and Cleveland Browns coach Blanton Collier and recognizes individuals who demonstrate outstanding integrity both on and off the football field.
Saban took a few minutes to speak with the media before accepting the award, sharing his respect for Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops at the improving Wildcat football program.
“I’m a great Mark Stoops fan,” Saban told reporters at Thursday’s induction ceremony, “and I’ve been friends with the family for a long, long time.”
The Crimson Tide’s head coach shares a bond with the Stoops family that extends back to the early 1980s when, as a young assistant at Ohio State, Saban recruited the Youngstown area and developed close friendships with the local high school coaches, including Cardinal Mooney defensive coordinator Ron Stoops — Mark Stoops’ father.