Saban Retiring
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Used to not like Saban at all but over time came to admire the precision that his teams, especially defensively, operated with. Greatest college football coach of all time.
Rumor is that Oregon coach Dan Lanning is front runner. Will Stein as OC at Bama would be something.
Rumor is that Oregon coach Dan Lanning is front runner. Will Stein as OC at Bama would be something.
They’ll be no shortage of hats in that ring. Kiffen, dabo and sark just for starters - on top of Lanning. I nominate Porky Stupes with Sunbelt Scotty Satterfield as his OC.
It is going to be interesting to see who they hire. Alabama is the premier coaching job in the country there will be no shortage of applicants. Following Saban will be hard to follow whoever the next coach is.
Almost impossible to follow Saban and be acceptable to the Bama faithful. I forget who followed Bryant, but they cycled through several coaches with varying results before getting Saban from the Dolphins. It’s strange why he was so incredibly successful at the college level but not so much in the NFL. Different animal I guess.
Saban deserves all of the platitudes that he is receiving; however, I believe that Alabama is one of maybe 5 schools where that sort of domination could occur for other top notch HCs.
Look at the number of NFL players who played at Alabama before and during the Saban era, and then examine the rather bizarre phenomena where 2nd and 3rd string kids (prior to NIL and the Portal) remained on the Tide roster for 4 or 5 years, who were as just as talented as the 1st string kids playing elsewhere.
Alabama will continue to be one of those schools that will be traditionally at the top of contention for a NC, but you could see the change this year at Alabama, losing to both Texas, Michigan and should have lost to a mediocre Auburn team since the advent of NIL and Portal.
Parity in college football has arrived! The next HC at Alabama will never accomplish the Saban era dominance.
Look at the number of NFL players who played at Alabama before and during the Saban era, and then examine the rather bizarre phenomena where 2nd and 3rd string kids (prior to NIL and the Portal) remained on the Tide roster for 4 or 5 years, who were as just as talented as the 1st string kids playing elsewhere.
Alabama will continue to be one of those schools that will be traditionally at the top of contention for a NC, but you could see the change this year at Alabama, losing to both Texas, Michigan and should have lost to a mediocre Auburn team since the advent of NIL and Portal.
Parity in college football has arrived! The next HC at Alabama will never accomplish the Saban era dominance.
It isn't uncommon for great college coaches to struggle in the pros and many great pro coaches struggle at the college level.
Dan Lanning at Oregon will be their pick it seems.
The Louisville connection?
Will Stein could move up to HC at Oregon. Or he becomes the OC at Bama, which puts him on a fast track for a big time job. Who would’ve thought Will Stein could be in a position to be the big name Trinity alumni as a college HC?
Love to see Will succeed!
The Louisville connection?
Will Stein could move up to HC at Oregon. Or he becomes the OC at Bama, which puts him on a fast track for a big time job. Who would’ve thought Will Stein could be in a position to be the big name Trinity alumni as a college HC?
Love to see Will succeed!
Stallings did fine.
Then Mike Dubose failed. Dennis Franchione was a joke. Mike Shula flames out.
They had a generation of poor football before Saban.
And people forget they offered the job to Rich Rodriguez before Saban. They could’ve become Indiana very easily had Saban won with the Dolphins and RichRod said yes.
Saban winning big really changed the dynamics of everything. He made Urban Meyer leave Florida. Les Miles would probably have 1-2 more titles and be a legend in the sport. Who knows where a program like Auburn or Ole Miss might be without him owning the recruiting.
It’s now looking like Norvell or Dabo might be the coach at Bama. Which means Coach Prime could be heading to the ACC very soon.
The only thing though about Dabo is that he has the best resume of any coach in the country.
I hate him. He hasn’t adapted to NIL and there’s been a drop recently.
But he took over an above average program and made them among the elite in the sport. I mean when he arrived South Carolina was their Daddy in the stage of South Carolina.
2 championships and 2 runner-ups. Plus 4 other NY6 games. Finished ranked 13 straight years. They hadn’t won the ACC since 1991 before he arrived and he’s won 8 in the last 13 seasons. He gets top 10 classes yearly.
Let’s not act like Clemson is Alabama or Ohio State either. It’s not a guaranteed easy win. He’s a CEO that really relies on letting his great coordinators work and he’s have much larger budget at Bama. He’s from there and played there too.
If there’s anyone that has the resume and stature in the sport to coach Bama, it’s him.
All good points. Interesting though that the crowd that showed up last night at Bryant-Denny only chanted one negative thing.
“Anybody but Dabo”. 😂😂😂
It can be much worse. Many times programs think they’re too good for certain coaches that they’ll talk themselves into a much worse coach.
It’s interesting that, like Bellichick, Saban had a built-in advantage. Bill had Brady. His record without Tom gives one pause before anointing him greatest coach ever. Saban never built a so-so program into a powerhouse. He did well at Michigan State, but it’s not like he was dominating. That happened when he went to LSU (a bona-fide powerhouse) with recruiting advantages based on location and tradition. Same thing at Bama. How would he have done at Duke or Texas Tech? One can only speculate. But the extraordinary record of success is clear. Even at Bama, six titles is tough to do. I tend to give him credit. He’s not Rockne, but he’s certainly the best of modern times. So long Nick!
Well he did recruit the best to win titles, but there are other programs that recruit at an elite level every year and don’t win.
Look at Georgia. Richt had them top 10-15 every year with all that elite talent, historic talent. But he couldn’t win titles. Tennessee and Florida always have top classes and have losing seasons. Notre Dame. Florida State. Miami.
Now no one could win a title at Duke. When is the last time you’ve seen a coach take a football program from nothing to become among the elites? Maybe Dabo recently, but Clemson had a previous title and great fan support.
Who has won a title since 2000 Oklahoma, Miami, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Texas, Florida, Auburn, Florida State, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan.
Those programs are all pretty well established. And to be honest, LSU wasn’t anything special before Saban arrived. He turned them from a decent program to a power.
I read on the main board that Saban was showing signs of Alzheimer’s. I don’t know how true that is but that was on the board before he announced his retirement.
People just saw him as a giant that could do no wrong, but he was leading a stressful operation for so many years at a standard we’ll never see ever again.
He is 72 and He is mortal. It’s hard for men that age to have the same edge they did 10-20 years earlier. You lose a step and everyone thinks your mind is gone. He didn’t have anything left to prove. More titles than anyone. He wasn’t going to be able to catch Parerno more than likely, so he just probably looked around and said why am I doing this anymore?
Yeah, his detour to the NFL doomed his chances to catch JoPa.
