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Where my Bama Boys at?

Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:17 am
Posted by 4TheLoveLSU
North Carolina
Member since Oct 2019
2317 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:17 am
What was the fanbase like when Saban first started and went what 6-6? Did Bama fans give Saban a chance or were they after his head?
Posted by WhaddupDawg
In your heart
Member since Apr 2022
3833 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:19 am to
Who cares

Posted by Rufus T Firefly
Member since Aug 2022
483 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:19 am to
Saban =/= kelly
Posted by Bama Bird
Member since Dec 2011
Member since Mar 2013
19147 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:25 am to
I can assure you I didn't hear a single person call for Saban to be fired in 2007
Posted by SummerOfGeorge
Member since Jul 2013
102699 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:26 am to
I mean, it wasn't fun, but we had an elite recruiting class coming in and kind of understood he was taking over a dumpster fire with a very average roster. We showed some signs of life that year (Arkansas, Tennessee) but just kind of collapsed.

We didn't have a single player drafted after that 7-6 season, so.
This post was edited on 9/6/22 at 10:27 am
Posted by Jacknola
New Orleans
Member since May 2013
4366 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:27 am to
No, they were pretty quiet. Alabama fan base generally has an unusually high “football quotient.” The Alabama boards are pretty sophisticated about what went wrong in a loss… usually concluding that “we beat ourselves.”

There was little woe-is-me after that game because most understood how bad the situation had gotten. And most understood just what Saban was bringing.

I hate to disappoint you, but Alabama fans are just more sophisticated about football. There are trolls and wanna-bes, but fewer just plain knuckle-draggers than in the LSU fan base. LSUers as a group are pretty much top of SEC in getting high and then crashing.
Posted by aduke05
Ohio
Member since Aug 2022
211 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:28 am to
We had faith Coach Saban would right the ship.

Also, Kelly =/= Saban
Posted by Frac the world
The Centennial State
Member since Oct 2014
16962 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:29 am to
thinking Kelly is Saban
Posted by Che Boludo
Member since May 2009
18274 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:30 am to
Coming off a decade plus with multiple probation issues, scholarship reductions, HC personal scandals, a rotating carousel of coaches, and more bad seasons than good, I'd say most knew the program needed a complete overhaul and were rather patient. Fixing the culture in the lockeroom and getting the boosters back in a box and out of his lane were the priorities for Saban, which he did.

LSU is in a bad place, but the situations are not exactly the same.

Kelly is a proven coach and the transfer portal actually helps purge talented cancers and replace them much easier. I think LSU will be fine, but it's disingenuous to try and really compare 2007 Bama with 2022 LSU.
This post was edited on 9/6/22 at 10:31 am
Posted by BamaScoop
Panama City Beach, Florida
Member since May 2007
53918 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:30 am to
Yes, people were glad to have a coach like him after all we had been through! There were those idiots but most people had become aware that we had to be built from the ground up.

Saban was very good at managing the fans as well as the players. He made the fans take responsibility for their role in his process.

We had our typical alumni that fought it and he pretty much told them to frick off and Mal
Moore gave him the authority to control every aspect, which is the only way it will ever work.
Posted by Nitro Express
Gulf Coast
Member since Jul 2018
16202 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:31 am to
We went into the LSU game that season with a chance to win the conference but lost in a close game. After that game, the team fell apart in the locker room. We lacked leadership and heart with the players Shula brought in leading the way, but we could all see how much better the team was all the way up to the point JP Wilson fumbled the ball in the 4th quarter against LSU. I think most of us were still excited. We knew he'd bring in his players and that there would be a bigger culture change.
Posted by BLG
Georgia
Member since Mar 2018
7162 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:31 am to
quote:

What was the fanbase like when Saban first started and went what 6-6? Did Bama fans give Saban a chance or were they after his head?




surely you jest.

Mike Shula was the previous coach and Alabama was still on ncaa probation.
Posted by paperwasp
11x HRV tRant Poster of the Week
Member since Sep 2014
23343 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:36 am to
One of the things I distinctly remember about that year is other fans holding up signs saying that we had paid $4m for six wins.

I think it was at Mississippi State towards the tail end of the season.

Wish I could find a picture of that.

Posted by five_fivesix
Y’all
Member since Aug 2012
13840 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:37 am to
How many hours a day does BK spend in the football complex?
Posted by Gravy_Train
Texas
Member since Sep 2019
22 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:37 am to
The more interesting question I have about the early days of Saban is who he had blackmailed from the SEC and NCAA offices to start dropping bags for annual recruiting riches? He got those classes rolling at a time when the NCAA still thought they had nuts and were laying infractions for secondary recruiting violations.. meanwhile, Nick was playing with greyshirt scholarships.

You can see the same trend with Smart when he took the reigns from Richt. Fortunately, as more programs figure out how NIL actually works, dropping bags for recruits won't matter as much.
Posted by TizzyT4theUofA
This side of eternity
Member since Jun 2016
10096 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 10:37 am to
Do you believe that 2007 Alabama had the same amount of talent as 2022 LSU does?
Posted by Pandy Fackler
Member since Jun 2018
14551 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 11:07 am to
According to 247 sports, the boy grinder inherited the 8th best roster in the country.

FSU is a Walmart parking lot shite diaper of a team.

These Kelly/Saban comparisons are desperate and a little sad.
Posted by coachcrisp
pensacola, fl
Member since Jun 2012
30607 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 11:07 am to
quote:

What was the fanbase like when Saban first started and went what 6-6? Did Bama fans give Saban a chance or were they after his head?
If I remember correctly, there were about 75,000 folks in the stands for his second Spring Game at Alabama (down from the "full house" the year before).....does that answer the question?
Posted by PeleofAnalytics
Member since Jun 2021
2820 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 11:09 am to
quote:

What was the fanbase like when Saban first started and went what 6-6?


You mean the Saban team that had the following players drafted in 2008?

2008 Draft
Le'ron McLain - 4th round #137
Kenneth Darby - 7th round #246
Ramzee Robinson - 7th round #255 (Mr. Irrelevant)


But I am sure Kelly is dealing with a cupboard that bare right? Sorry but Saban was not handed a roster that 247Sports has in the top 10 for talent.
This post was edited on 9/6/22 at 11:15 am
Posted by CapstoneGrad06
Little Rock
Member since Nov 2008
72277 posts
Posted on 9/6/22 at 11:10 am to
We knew he was going to deliver. With the head cases in the locker room and the textbook scandal, everyone knew 2007 was a throw away year. The talent to be a ten win team but the losing culture was rough to overcome once adversity hit.
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