re: ESPN Article: Now We Know Why Saban Retired...

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The Greatest head coach in all of College Football. I respect how he handled and controlled his players on the team, and how he didn't waste his talent, but even with lesser talent than years past, he still takes the best team in the nation down to OT. One hell of a coach Bama got. Best of luck in retirement, Saban.

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He actually had more talent in the final years than he ever had previously. According to recruiting rankings anyway.

I think it's more of a testament to how people act when they are hungry vs when they are getting paid. When they are hungry, they are watching tape constantly, doing everything they can to be their best so they will one day get paid in the NFL.

But when you're already sitting on a bank account with thousands and thousands of dollars in cash on a Friday night, well it's quite a bit more tempting to go out and snag some strange and party it up.

And at that age, it should generally be expected.

Hell when I was that age, I would get paid on Friday and you wouldn't see me again until I ran out of money. Last thing I wanted to do when I had cash on me was work, it was party time. It wasn't until I had a bunch of responsibility throw on me that it changed, aka I gotta pay for a place to live and food. These kids have little to no responsibility.

I would have been the biggest bust ever. But you get a hungry me and I'm the hardest worker you'll ever meet.

Reminds me of this old Bear video to incoming freshman. We had 100 talent, but they didn't play up to their potential.

LINK

Give me that hungry 3 or 4 star guy who will put in the work and play above their ability. Alabama use to have tons of those guys. I forget his name, but one time we had this undrafted FA LB who made it pretty far before getting cut. The guy was slower than most at the position, which is why he went undrafted. But he was so fast in reading the plays and taking his first step that was able to hang well beyond his physical abilities. That was all from putting in the work over the years. It paid off in college and got him a decent check in the NFL on the scout team.

Since NIL started, we got more talent but they weren't putting in that same level of work like they use to.