Bama boosters pay off Saban's home

Nick Saban may earn in the area of $7 million per year, but that doesn't stop the Alabama faithful from helping out their championship-winning coach whenever and however they can.

According to a report from AL.com, the Crimson Tide Foundation paid off Saban's $3.1 million home in January 2013 even though the organization was under no obligation to do so.

The Sabans, who bought the 8,759-square-foot home in 2007, continue living there with the foundation picking up the tab for property taxes each year.

"It's not all that unusual in the world for universities to provide the housing," Scott Phelps, assistant secretary of the foundation, told AL.com, noting how the University of Alabama also owned the home of Paul "Bear" Bryant and his family. "We want to keep him happy. We think he is the best coach in America."

According to the Crimson Tide Foundation website, it is a nonprofit group whose mission is to work with the UA athletic department "by raising private funds and providing necessary resources to achieve success." Those funds are distributed for everything from scholarships to coaching salaries to athletic-related construction projects.

A spokesperson for the NCAA told AL.com that a coach's compensation is allowed to come from a university foundation.