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Nick Saban

Not even close. Runs a tight ship, has adjusted to the changes in CFB.

He’s still kind of a plick but seems to be more human/less of a tight ass than he was
 
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Nobody else is close. He has to get new coordinators every other year, is in the toughest conference in college, changes systems with the times and is great at in game adjustments. It doesn't hurt that Bama gives him any resource he wants.
 
The most impressive thing about him is how fundamentally sound his teams are. They very rarely make mental mistakes, commit very few penalties and their technique is usually flawless.
 
The most impressive thing about him is how fundamentally sound his teams are. They very rarely make mental mistakes, commit very few penalties and their technique is usually flawless.

Yes. He’s also got the greatest tool in the world to use as a motivator to make sure of those things, too. Competition resulting from fantastic talent and depth. The greatest threat to any FB player with pro aspirations (and big $$$$) is the threat of being replaced/benched. Then finding out the guy you were benched for is (gasp!) BETTER than you!

Nick has done a brilliant job at Alabama. The SEC West is a meat grinder. The expectations at Alabama are huge. He has answered the bell very consistently. He deserves the accolades.
 
Did Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, and Mike Shula all fail their driver’s test?

None of them have come close to the financial support and infrastructure Saban has been blessed with. No one in college football has. It's an apples and oranges comparison.
 
Will the next head coach win 6 national titles since it is so easy?

#1. It's not easy.

#2. Saban is and has always been one of the best coaches. When combine a great coach with 1% resources that 99% of the nation does not have access to, you win and you win big.

So let me give you a recruiting story when one of my athletes committed to Tennessee. 2 years ago, I had a conversation with Pruitt about what Tennessee is like compared to Bama and what it would take to get to that level. He said coaching at Bama is like entering the Indy 500 with an Indy car and the rest of the drivers are using stock cars. He was the 1st to admit that Saban is elite and the entire staff is too. But, he said the assistants of the assistants are elite too.

Ken Niumatolo recalled taking his son on an official visit to Bama. He said the visit in part was for him to see what Bama looked like up close in the recruiting process. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said that the closest thing he seen to an organization was a special forces unit on a mass scale. He said that type of operation is not feasible for the overwhelming majority of CFB.

The 2 years where Saban competed where there was league wide parity, he obtained below average results. Is it fair to compare Saban's 1st 2 years to say Mike Tomlin's? I mean Tomlin went 25-5 in his 1st 2 years in the NFL with 2 playoff berths and a Lombardi whereas Saban went 15-17 with no playoff berths...

This takes me back to my original point. It's not an apples to apples conversation when discussing the 1% of today the 1% of yesteryear or even to the rest of CFB today.
 
Along with Pitt, I’m a big LSU fan. My daughter was a freshman @ Baton Rouge in 2000, Saban’s first year there as HC. When he left to coach the Dolphins most Tiger fans “accepted” it. When he left to come back to coach college football @ ‘Bama, there was outrage. But that’s life. He (Saban) is much the same coach with ‘Bama as he was with LSU. Successful and focused on building good teams with good character players. I may be in the minority, as I am not lifetime invested in LSU, but it’s hard to fault Saban for his success in Tuscaloosa.

And going somewhat “off topic”, I wish that the Steelers would have recognized the amazing talent that those two SEC programs have developed over the years. To think that they have just Minkah Fitzpatrick on their roster is incredu
 
Along with Pitt, I’m a big LSU fan. My daughter was a freshman @ Baton Rouge in 2000, Saban’s first year there as HC. When he left to coach the Dolphins most Tiger fans “accepted” it. When he left to come back to coach college football @ ‘Bama, there was outrage. But that’s life. He (Saban) is much the same coach with ‘Bama as he was with LSU. Successful and focused on building good teams with good character players. I may be in the minority, as I am not lifetime invested in LSU, but it’s hard to fault Saban for his success in Tuscaloosa.

And going somewhat “off topic”, I wish that the Steelers would have recognized the amazing talent that those two SEC programs have developed over the years. To think that they have just Minkah Fitzpatrick on their roster is incredu
The Steelers have 2 guys from Bama and 1 from LSU. Hassenhauer and Hawkins are the others.
 
#1. It's not easy.

#2. Saban is and has always been one of the best coaches. When combine a great coach with 1% resources that 99% of the nation does not have access to, you win and you win big.

So let me give you a recruiting story when one of my athletes committed to Tennessee. 2 years ago, I had a conversation with Pruitt about what Tennessee is like compared to Bama and what it would take to get to that level. He said coaching at Bama is like entering the Indy 500 with an Indy car and the rest of the drivers are using stock cars. He was the 1st to admit that Saban is elite and the entire staff is too. But, he said the assistants of the assistants are elite too.

Ken Niumatolo recalled taking his son on an official visit to Bama. He said the visit in part was for him to see what Bama looked like up close in the recruiting process. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said that the closest thing he seen to an organization was a special forces unit on a mass scale. He said that type of operation is not feasible for the overwhelming majority of CFB.

The 2 years where Saban competed where there was league wide parity, he obtained below average results. Is it fair to compare Saban's 1st 2 years to say Mike Tomlin's? I mean Tomlin went 25-5 in his 1st 2 years in the NFL with 2 playoff berths and a Lombardi whereas Saban went 15-17 with no playoff berths...

This takes me back to my original point. It's not an apples to apples conversation when discussing the 1% of today the 1% of yesteryear or even to the rest of CFB today.
I was going to post some similar thoughts in a different thread. How many ex-P5 coaches does Bama have at any given time on that staff, mostly in quality control positions? Many of those guys like Butch Jones are still getting paid millions from their prior job buyouts. Bama can get away with paying them peanuts and they’re still lined up around the block to join that staff, as it’s a guaranteed path to another HC job after a couple years.

Bama has become a self-fulfilling prophecy that nobody else can truly compete with on a consistent basis.
 
I had a young lady working for me in a sales position back in 2005. After a day of work we have a cocktail at a nice restaurant and he husband joins us. Big dude ! He told me he played offensive line for a small private school in Michigan but was recruited really hard by Saban at Michigan State. During his recruiting visit and then sit down with Saban they discussed academics. This guy tells Saban he wanted to study mechanical engineering. Sabans response to him was “we have easier fields of study for you at Michigan State”. “That field of engineering is going to be a big strain on your time if you want to play football”
 
I had a young lady working for me in a sales position back in 2005. After a day of work we have a cocktail at a nice restaurant and he husband joins us. Big dude ! He told me he played offensive line for a small private school in Michigan but was recruited really hard by Saban at Michigan State. During his recruiting visit and then sit down with Saban they discussed academics. This guy tells Saban he wanted to study mechanical engineering. Sabans response to him was “we have easier fields of study for you at Michigan State”. “That field of engineering is going to be a big strain on your time if you want to play football”


Saban is not alone in that regard in academic advising.

I love it when a coach comes in and asks the athlete what he wants to major in and the athlete says something in engineering. The coach looks at the transcripts and says "if you studied as well as you you play football, engineering might be an option" lol....
 
I was going to post some similar thoughts in a different thread. How many ex-P5 coaches does Bama have at any given time on that staff, mostly in quality control positions? Many of those guys like Butch Jones are still getting paid millions from their prior job buyouts. Bama can get away with paying them peanuts and they’re still lined up around the block to join that staff, as it’s a guaranteed path to another HC job after a couple years.

Bama has become a self-fulfilling prophecy that nobody else can truly compete with on a consistent basis.

Absolutely. They have offensive and defensive analysts that can’t coach on game day, but can work on game plans and watch film on opponents a few weeks before the game. Sarkisian was one after he was fired from USC. Alabama has something like 10 of them.

This year they had Sarkisian as OC and Kyle Flood as offensive line coach on staff. That’s 2 former P5 head coaches. They replaced Sark with Bill O’Brien; a former NFL and P5 coach.

They had Butch Jones, Charlie Strong, and Mike Stoops as ANALYSTS!!!

Throw in 4/5 star players at the two deep at every position and how do you compete with that? Not for nothing, but it should be surprising if they DON’T win the NC.
 
Exactly my point...

I agree. They have every possible advantage. There’s no doubt he’s a great coach. His record proves it.

But I heard a sportswriter a few years ago argue that he was the greatest football coach of all time, including college or the NFL, period. Sorry, I can’t shake his stint in the NFL where he was 15-17.
 
I had a young lady working for me in a sales position back in 2005. After a day of work we have a cocktail at a nice restaurant and he husband joins us. Big dude ! He told me he played offensive line for a small private school in Michigan but was recruited really hard by Saban at Michigan State. During his recruiting visit and then sit down with Saban they discussed academics. This guy tells Saban he wanted to study mechanical engineering. Sabans response to him was “we have easier fields of study for you at Michigan State”. “That field of engineering is going to be a big strain on your time if you want to play football”

remember when OSU gave robert smith "####" in the 90's when he wanted to be pre-med? crazy.

pretty sure billy west went for engineering back in the day. but yeah, engineering is too much of a time commitment if you want to play top level football, barring being a genius.
 
The Steelers have 2 guys from Bama and 1 from LSU. Hassenhauer and Hawkins are the others.
I stand corrected. Had forgotten about Hassenauer and Hawkins, though they weren’t among the top draft selections from those schools.

What I meant was, it sure would be nice to see the Steelers grab one or more of the impact players from Bama, LSU, Clemson, or any of the recent CFP champion teams, if available.

The Steelers definitely need better OL’ men, and a more punishing RB on offense, and with the exception of a few players, they’ve whiffed on many recent defensive picks. It used to be that you could count on the Steelers to excel at the draft, but that hasn’t seemed to be the case of late.
 
The Steelers definitely need better OL’ men, and a more punishing RB on offense

Offensive line is the top priority, but I can't agree they need a punishing RB. They need a game breaker. Conner and Snell are inside, physical runners. The Steelers need a guy who can do it in all phases of the game. Good at making his own room, big play ability, capable of going out as a receiver. As great as Henry is, as soon as the Ravens shut him down he wasn't able to contribute as a receiver.

and with the exception of a few players, they’ve whiffed on many recent defensive picks. It used to be that you could count on the Steelers to excel at the draft, but that hasn’t seemed to be the case of late.

I wouldn't say they've whiffed on many on defense. Since 2015 they've drafted 11 players in the first three rounds. Of this, you have Senquez Golson, Artie Burns, and Justin Layne who could be in the "bust" category. They have a backup player with Sean Davis. Beyond this, they picked up 7 quality starters with Dupree, Hargrave, Watt, Sutton, Edmunds, Bush, Highsmith.

They've been pretty good with offense too. JuJu, Conner, Washington, Johnson, and Claypool. Remember, outside of Bush they've drafted all of these guys near the bottom of the round.
 
The greatest college football coach of all-time. Drop the mic.
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