- 1. Those that want to tear him down for being a liar or a money hungry bastard or both.
-- Saban lies when his lips move - Pat Forde
-- You can't Trust Anyone - Peter King (SI.com)
2. Those that think Bama struck gold, but he's just a short timer.
-- Saban is a Short Timer - Yahoo.com
-- Bama Gets its Man - At a High Cost - Stewart Mandel
3. Those that think Bama spent too much, and that's somehow bad for football.
-- Bama bought a coach - Ivan Maisel
Personally, I didn't think Bama had any shot at Nick Saban. Not because Bama isn't relevant anymore, but I felt that way because Miami would pay more. And, that Saban wouldn't leave until he turned the 'Fins around. And more importantly, I felt that Mal Moore and company lacked the professional competency to land a coach of Saban's caliber.
In the end, Saban is taking a short term pay cut to come to Bama ($4.5 million at Miami vs. $4 million in Tuscaloosa); although, it's a more lucrative deal in the long run. All the credit in the world goes to Mal Moore for landing Saban. (Note: Union money only came to Tuscaloosa a few years ago. Hopefully his agent, Jimmy Sexton, asked for the right kind of dollars)
As to the comments that he won't stay long at Bama...who cares?
1. Bama can't fire him. It's a $30-32 million guaranteed contract. It ain't like they can eat it. He has a contract large enough to finally say "blow it out your ass" to Bryant Jr., Lee Roy Jordan, and anyone else that tries to meddle.
2. He burned bridges in the NFL with his departure from Miami. Especially with his endless denials about taking the Bama job. He can still go back, but not for several years.
3. For him to go elsewhere he has to win huge at Bama. He has to make people so excited about him that they will overlook his professional wandering eye.
If he wins big enough at Bama that other organizations pursue him, then he's winning. Isn't that what they want?
When was the last time Bama had a coach that other top programs wanted to hire away?
So what if leaves in 4 or 5 years. Bama will be left with a full cupboard of recruits, and it's much easier and less expensive to go "coach shopping" when you're winning than when you're on probation, 3-8 or dealing with stripper scandals.
At the end of the day, Bama made the best hire that they could make to put them back on track. And as a Georgia fan, I'm eager to see Tennessee and Auburn pick up more losses each year. Especially to a program that we only play 2 out of every 5 years.
PWD
BTW -- There are some other takes on this that are a bit out of the above three main buckets. They're all excellent.
-- NFL isn't the end all be all now - Len Pasquarelli
-- The NFL was a bad fit for Saban - SI.com's NFL writer
9 comments:
I agree with the "full cupboard" assessment. Look at LSU. They win in spite of the idiot at head coach, not because of him. Saban left him hooked up.
mike-
Did you honestly post that comment with a straight face?
The Sugar Bowl is on right now, and the 2 coaches involved are universally believed to be a sooper-genius (Weis) and a moron (Miles).
FWIW, LSU is up by 20 right now.
Miles can coach circles around most of the coaches out there. Yes he wears an insanely huge/white hat. But the man can coach.
After 2 years, you can't just claim 'former coach's recruits!!!'. The college scene these days is loaded with underclassmen talent and a win-now attitude.
i think if he wins at alabama, and he likely will, its a good hire - like you said even if its a short term deal (if he leaves within 5 years).
bama can fire him though, especially after the first 5 years or so. i haven't looked at the contract, but they might be willing to eat up the last couple of years if he's not working out...plus i'm sure they have a 'mike price' clause in there allowing them to fire him if he doesn't 'behave'.
My wife's family are all Bama grads so we've been monitoring this situation closely over the past few weeks. And I can tell you that the Bama people I know are squarely in the camp of the large text comments you made that if Saban was lured to leave after 3-5 years it is only because he won so much there and that is a good thing.
Kudos to Bama for realizing they panicked on RR and for getting there guy. The SEC just got a lot harder for everyone.....
Everything you say is true, yet as someone who has been surrounded by the wackiest of the wacky here in Birmingham for the past four-plus years, none of it will keep Bama Nation from screaming bloody apocalyptic murder in four or five years if/when Saban does decide to jump at some other job. It's who they are; it's what they do.
It will be extremely entertaining, I can assure you, but it will be something I probably elect to watch from a safe distance.
Even if Saban leaves Alabama after five years, the program will be in much better shape. Look at LSU. It was squarely in the crapper when Saban took over and he built it into an elite program that challenges for the BCS every year. If Bama can get to that point, the Saban money will be well spent.
The use of stereotypes in the constant "Bama" bashing are a result of ignorant prejudices. In my opinion it is disgusting. I am an Alabama Alumnus and fan of The University. It is a great University. If you have not been to the campus maybe you should visit before judging us. Roll Tide!
Congratulations. Yours is one of the few intelligent analyses I've seen of the Saban hiring.
So many of those other writers, especially those from ESPN, lack credibility. The problem is that they've spent six weeks telling everyone how unattractive the Bama job is, how that no one wants it. And they've been proven wrong, so now they have to save face. And that's all these negative articles are about...embarrassed writers trying to save face.
Les Miles has won ten games in back-to-back years at LSU in his first two seasons. That is something the mighty Saban didn't do in five years.
Post a Comment