re: Nick Saban is not special

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This is the exact argument people make against Coach Cal.

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To be fair, Saban is a more complete coach than Cal, and I say that as someone who watched him for several years at Memphis. Cal was ok with good talent, but didn't win big until he could really stack his teams. He had that one great season at UMASS with Camby and a bunch of nobodys, but Camby was a pretty damn good player. Other than that one season, he's had to have a blue chip roster to post those great seasons.

I'm not trying to say Cal is a bad or average coach. Recruiting and player development are a huge part of what a hoops coach does, and he is one of the, if not the best in those departments. However, while he isn't a bad X and O guy, he isn't on the same planet as Saban in that regard. Not even remotely, which is why his "good" Memphis and UMASS teams regularly got bounced hard in the 2nd round before he got hooked up with World Wide Wes.