re: Spurrier Unlocked: Saban is a Great Recruiter, Not a Great Coach

After watching Saban and Miles at LSU I'll say this: I actually think Miles is better at preparing his teams for the everyday game. Saban has out coached Miles one time (we all know what game that was). I'll give Saban a slight edge in recruiting. Saban, Spurrier, and Miles are all good to great coaches. I think Malzahn will become one (just hasn't had enough time yet).

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Saban has out coached Miles one time (we all know what game that was).

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Do we?

This One?

or

This One?

The REC is the master of recruiting. Without the REC network and millions in slush money every year Satan would not be nearly as good.

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After watching Saban and Miles at LSU I'll say this: I actually think Miles is better at preparing his teams for the everyday game. Saban has out coached Miles one time (we all know what game that was).

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Bama has won 5 of the past 7 games vs LSu and is in 3 game win Streak. But yeah, Les is the better coach. :(

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10-10 bowl record

1-2 against Houston Nutt's Arkansas teams.

9 seasons at USC, has seen 1 conference championship game and got blown out. Not 1 BCS game appearance. A handful of these years it wasn't like UT, UF, and UGA were the dominant programs they could be.

As Florida's coach in the 90's he dominated, but Florida is the most talent rich state and at the time the SEC was SEC "light," not the powerhouse SEC we've seen the last decade. What he did in the 90's deserves respect and a place in history, but should be just one aspect of the coach Spurrier is.

He's a great coach, just not the "genius" or near the top of "greatest coaches" as some like to believe.

He's had 9 years to build USC, yet the results have yet to earn him anywhere near the reputation he built at Florida. While he has built the program and maintained it, he has proven himself to simply be a top coach in today's game, not the legendary genius. Last year he got beat by a depleted UT team under first year coach Butch Jones. He got taken to the woodshed in 2012 by second year head coach Will Muschamp. A "genius" like Spurrier in his 8th or 9th year at a program should not be beat by the likes of these coaches in their first or second year if he is the "genius" people like to believe he is.

In 2011, where USC finished 11-2 (which they seem to be doing every year), he beat up on a weak East but got smoked by a good Arkansas team and got beat at home by a mediocre Auburn team - showing that if he had been coaching in the West these years he wouldn't seen as many double digit win totals. Pretty sure he has a losing record against Arkansas since taking the USC job, and Arkansas is admittedly the definition of a middle of the pack SEC West team.

I get that USC is not a traditional powerhouse program, but after 4 years of being under one of the "greatest coaches ever," and while being located in a nice recruiting area, that "excuse" should not be given much weight.

Saban is a level or two above Spurrier in terms of overall head coaching ability, and it's not close.

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And there's no way 62-24 would've happened to Saban.

So you are saying that if Spurrier worked as hard as Saban he could sign the amount of elite talent as Bama does? Then Spurrier or Saban could actually do the same at Arkansas State. If hard work is all it takes. bullshite.

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When you think about the 2010 Iron Bowl, 2011 Bama vs LSU, and 2013 Iron Bowl, all three games exemplify when Saban was unable to out-talent the opponent and

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his coaching abilities failed to close out the game.

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When Saban is unable to out-talent opponents, does he fall apart?

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So you choose 3 games out of the mans career to question his coaching abilities? Im not buying this nonsense that Saban is only good cause he can recruit. Ogregon can recruit his butt off, but you dont see teams busting down the door to hire him as a HC.

Did not Saban and his "coaching abilities" close out the following games:

2012 SEC Title Game
2012 LSU
2008 LSU
2013 TAMU

Werent those teams on par as far as talent with Bama at the time?

You win close game and you lose them

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As for Saban, it doesn't matter what anyone on here thinks,

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It's just something you'll have to accept -- people have this desperate, ridiculous need to cherry-pick and over-interpret facts to fit their agenda. There is literally no college football coach in the country that has experienced the level of success Saban has, and all the attempts to undercut his achievements by claiming lack of absolute perfection somehow equals serious flaws just makes these people sound really, really stupid and petty. If their coach had Saban's win record and national titles, they'd be so far over the moon they'd be crapping asteroids. But their coach doesn't, and it's inarguable, so all that's left is to say that Saban lost a game (OMG, the horror!) and thus must be inferior to their coach who...er, lost two or three games over the same time period.

I mean, seriously, if your best evidence of Saban's supposed inferiority is that, over the space of 3 seasons, he lost a game to a high-ranked opponent by 3 points, and another game to a high-ranked oppoentby a literal last second touchdown, and another game to a high-ranked by 5 points...you've fricking lost any perspective. And talking about Saban as if he's the only coach that has talent? Seriously? People are arguing that LSU and Auburn aren't abso-fricking-lutely stacked with talent themselves?

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Also we lost those last two games last year because of defense.

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Wrong! Alabama lost those two games because of their offense. Oklahoma scored 21 points off of AJ's 3 turnovers, and the team had 1 more when they were close to scoring. Alabama's only score of the 2nd half of the Iron Bowl was an underthrown 99 yard touchdown pass. Alabama struggled offensively for 3 quarters; don't let the total yardage fool you.

On that note, Alabama's offensive failures are usually overlooked when people discuss Alabama's losses. People tend to focus on the defense sense Saban is a defensive coach, but the offense oftentimes is just as much to blame.

2012 Texas A&M: 3 turnovers and didn't discover the deep ball until it was too late. AJ underthrew two deep balls that allowed Aggie defenders to catch up and prevent touchdowns. Alabama struggled running the ball.

2011 LSU: The offense couldn't do much. 1 turnover set up an LSU field goal, and the other one took Alabama out of potentially great scoring position. The offense couldn't advance the ball deep enough to give their struggling field goal kickers a better shot at making a kick.

2010: The offense didn't do squat in the second half of the Iron Bowl. The offense didn't have a great showing versus LSU; the last touchdown was garbage points. Alabama couldn't run the ball versus South Carolina, and being unable to run effectively was a common theme of Alabama's 3 losses that season.

Do you get the picture? It is a common misconception that Saban's defensive philosophy is in need of an overhaul; in actuality, the defense kept the score manageable in several of Alabama's losses, yet the offense couldn't get the job done.

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I actually think Miles is better at preparing his teams for the everyday game.

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What do you mean? From my interpretation, you are wrong. LSU plays down to the competition and regularly struggles with teams that are significantly less talented. Yes, LSU is Arkansas and Ole Miss' Super Bowl, but that doesn't excuse the fact that LSU struggles against them despite having a better program and better recruits. Tennessee is Alabama's Arkansas; both Tennessee and Arkansas are down yet observe the difference in the results of these rivalries the past 7 years .