MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama coach Nick Saban can make more than $55 million over the next eight years with the Crimson Tide. A unanimous vote by the Alabama system trustees compensation committee Tuesday made Sabans new deal official nearly seven months after the university announced the agreement. The 62-year-old Saban will make $6.5 million in base pay and what the university describes as a "talent fee" plus a $400,000 completion bonus for each year. Its a seven-figure raise over the eight-year contract worth about $5.6 million annually he received in March 2012. New offensive co-ordinator Lane Kiffin will make $2.074 million over three years. Alabama athletic director Bill Battle said that Saban, often rumoured for other college and NFL jobs, will "be our head football coach for many years to come." "He is the best coach in the country and hes brought Alabama back to the pinnacle of college football," Battle said in a statement released by the university. "His success on the field is obviously second to none, but Coach Sabans influence on academics and all the other areas of our athletic programs are equally impressive to me." Saban is one of four coaches in The Associated Press poll era to win four national titles, joining Alabamas Bear Bryant, Southern Californias John McKay and Notre Dames Frank Leahy. "We are honoured by the commitment the University of Alabama has made to us with this new contract," Saban said in the prepared news release. "It is certainly a mutual agreement in terms of our commitment to the University of Alabama. We will continue to work hard to keep our football program among the nations elite. My passion has always been to develop young men to their full potential as student-athletes. "Weve had great success in that area at Alabama and Im appreciative of all the support and the resources we receive from the administration in order to make that happen." Saban has led the Crimson Tide to three national championships in seven seasons. Trustees also approved details on the contract for Kiffin. The former Tennessee and Southern California coach will make $680,000 salaries each of the next two years and $714,000 in the final year ending Feb. 28, 2017.. Other coaches got raises while defensive co-ordinator Kirby Smart had his deal extended one year through Feb. 28, 2017. He signed a three-year contract worth $3.85 million in 2013. Matteo Darmian Manchester United Jersey . Kerber will next play Estonias Kaia Kanepi, who beat American qualifier Victoria Duval 6-1, 6-3. In other first-round matches, Lucie Safarova beat 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands had a 6-4, 6-3 win over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard. Antonio Valencia Manchester United Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. http://www.jerseymanchesterunitedsoccer.com/womens-romelu-lukaku-manchester-united-jersey/ . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. Fred Manchester United Jersey .com) - The Atlanta Hawks have stepped up to every challenge during their 14-game winning streak and will face another daunting task Friday with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in town. Marouane Fellaini Jersey .Those stars, most notably the top line of James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel, struggled against the Montreal Canadiens and must be better as the Leafs look ahead to facing the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers this weekend.CLEVELAND - The Indians addressed the need for more power in their lineup. Now Brandon Moss has to provide it.Cleveland finalized a trade — the first of the winter meetings — that has been in the works for weeks by acquiring Moss, a first baseman/outfielder and All-Star last season, from the Oakland Athletics on Monday for minor league infielder Joey Wendle.The 31-year-old Moss batted .234 with 25 homers and 81 RBIs in a career-high 147 games for the As. The left-handed hitter drew 67 walks and scored 70 runs. Moss hit .268 with 21 homers in the first half of the season to earn his first All-Star selection, but a nagging hip problem cut into his production over the final months.On Oct. 21, Moss underwent an operation on his hip. Moss said Dr. Thomas Byrd was prepared to perform microfracture surgery but all that he needed was a labrum repair and cartilage cleanup, which should make his rehab somewhat easier.Moss said his rehab is coming along well and he expects to be cleared to run later this month.The chance to join the Indians, who contended for a playoff spot until the seasons final weekend, excited Moss. He said the club is similar to some of the Oakland teams he has played for.Theres a great core group of guys and, in all honesty, it reminds me of after 2012, when they brought us all up and we all kind of took off, he said. That next year in 2013, we had that core group of guys and the young pitching staff and we won the division by a pretty good margin. It reminds me of a team like that. Its a team with a lot of talent and a lot of capability and its going to be exciting to be a part of it.Despite the hip issue, Moss, who also has played for Boston, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, finished among the AL leaders in homers, RBIs, extra-base hits and slugging percentage. He played 67 games at first base, 56 in left field and 34 in right for the wild-card winning As.One of the things that attracted us to Brandon is hes got the versatility to play either corner spot in the outfield and first base, Indians general manager Chris Antonettti said at the winter meetings in San Diego.ddddddddddddAcquring Moss to solidfy the middle of the order could mean decreased playing time for David Murphy and Nick Swisher, who hit .208 with eight homers in a season cut short at 97 games because of injuries. The switch-hitter had surgery on both knees in August. With two more years on a four-year, $56 million contract, moving Swisher in a deal likely would be difficult.We still expect Nick to be a big part of our team, Antonetti said. Right now his focus is on getting healthy for the start of spring training.Moss is eligible for arbitration for the second time after making $4.1 million last season.Hes glad he wont have to play in spacious Oakland Coliseum, where his statistics were not nearly as good as they were on the road.I love the fans there, he said. I hated playing at the Coliseum. It killed me as a hitter. I know this past year I hit under .200 at home and the year before that I think I hit exactly .200. Ive pretty much made my seasons on the road. Id hit 10 or 11 or 12 home runs there, but its just a tough place to hit. You dont get rewarded for fly balls unless you absolutely crush the ball.Its just a tough place to play, so Im really excited about playing in a park where Ive had some success. Ive always enjoyed playing there.Wendle batted .253 at Double-A Akron last season.As general manager Billy Beane said Wendle would be penciled in at Triple-A next season.The As traded another All-Star last month, sending third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Brett Lawrie, left-hander Sean Nolin, right-hander Kendall Graveman and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto.Weve done it before, Beane said about making big moves in the last several months. Weve had to. The tough thing is youre talking about players who are really good players for us in a very successful period. Its tough having to do this every few years but unfortunately necessary.___AP Sports Writers Howie Rumberg and Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report. ' ' '