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What are your expectations for a post-Saban era?
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:00 am
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:00 am
Let's work under the premise (and I'm not saying this is happening but just for the purposes of this exercise) that Alabama goes 15-0 this year, has a historical sesason, wins the SEC and National Title and Saban retires after year end. Recruiting class is basically the same, very good, and you know the players returning. Generally, the roster is one of the 2-3 best in the country for the next 1-2 years at least.
So with that said, what would expectations be for the 5 year period after a Saban departure - the period before the Saban built infrastructure begins to fade and the new coaches infrastructure, recruiting, system, general fingerprints on the program completely take shape?
- Same as the Saban era (national title or bust, Top 2-3 level recruiting)?
- Slightly lower but still expect to compete for the SEC/National Title every year? Recruit at a high level (Top 5-10) but a step down?
- Top 10 teams, compete for playoffs, compete for SEC Title?
- Win 10 games every year, top 15ish consistently?
- No expectations - the last 15 years was as good as it gets and I'm fine with going back to the Mikes to live out my days as a fan?
So with that said, what would expectations be for the 5 year period after a Saban departure - the period before the Saban built infrastructure begins to fade and the new coaches infrastructure, recruiting, system, general fingerprints on the program completely take shape?
- Same as the Saban era (national title or bust, Top 2-3 level recruiting)?
- Slightly lower but still expect to compete for the SEC/National Title every year? Recruit at a high level (Top 5-10) but a step down?
- Top 10 teams, compete for playoffs, compete for SEC Title?
- Win 10 games every year, top 15ish consistently?
- No expectations - the last 15 years was as good as it gets and I'm fine with going back to the Mikes to live out my days as a fan?
This post was edited on 8/15/22 at 11:03 am
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Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:04 am to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
- Slightly lower but still expect to compete for the SEC/National Title every year? Recruit at a high level (Top 5-10) but a step down?
I would love for us to continue the success via Ohio State. They are the most consistent program over the last 20 + years it seems. They are NEVER awful and will compete for a national title every 3-5 years it seems
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:08 am to cdur86
Not a bad comparison. You know it will decline some but I still would expect us to be “in the hunt” for Sec title most years … just enjoying the ride right now though
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:10 am to cdur86
quote:
I would love for us to continue the success via Ohio State. They are the most consistent program over the last 20 + years it seems. They are NEVER awful and will compete for a national title every 3-5 years it seems
They have been, without question, the most consistent football program in America the last 100 years. Everyone else has had a period of ugly (Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, Oklahoma). They've avoided it almost entirely.
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:15 am to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
They have been, without question, the most consistent football program in America the last 100 years. Everyone else has had a period of ugly (Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, Oklahoma). They've avoided it almost entirely.
You're right. The only year I can remember where they really struggled was the year before Urban Meyer came on board and that was the year Tressell was fired during the off-season. I want to say that was in 2012 or 2013?
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:19 am to cdur86
quote:
You're right. The only year I can remember where they really struggled was the year before Urban Meyer came on board and that was the year Tressell was fired during the off-season. I want to say that was in 2012 or 2013?
Yep - 2011 maybe? The interim year, they went 6-7 I think.
John Cooper was probably the closest to "bad", and they only had 3 years under him from 1988-2000 where they won less than 8 games (1988, 1990, 1999).
1999-2001 is probably their worst stretch - end of Cooper and start of Tressel - where they went 6-6, 8-4, 7-5. However, that 3 year stretch was bookended by 11-1 and #2 in 1998 and 14-0 and #1 in 2002.
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:24 am to cdur86
What is OSU’s secret sauce?
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:25 am to SummerOfGeorge
My expectations probably fall along the lines of what you guys said.
If we hire a competent person (which I expect), the infrastructure and roster left behind by Saban should have us competing for titles for at least 2-3 years (see LSU under Miles post-Saban).
After that, once the Saban touch fades away, by hope/expectation would be:
- recruit in the Top 10 every year, Top 5 every few years
- consistently in the Top 10
- compete for/win SEC (and with that go to the playoff) every 3-4 years
- continue to win most of our games vs our rivals (Auburn/Tennessee)
If the next guy can do that over a 5-10 year period, I'll be plum happy.
If we hire a competent person (which I expect), the infrastructure and roster left behind by Saban should have us competing for titles for at least 2-3 years (see LSU under Miles post-Saban).
After that, once the Saban touch fades away, by hope/expectation would be:
- recruit in the Top 10 every year, Top 5 every few years
- consistently in the Top 10
- compete for/win SEC (and with that go to the playoff) every 3-4 years
- continue to win most of our games vs our rivals (Auburn/Tennessee)
If the next guy can do that over a 5-10 year period, I'll be plum happy.
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:27 am to Sebastian
quote:
What is OSU’s secret sauce?
They recruit southern and national athletes unlike some of their BIG 10 brethren and play faster than most teams up there
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:27 am to Sebastian
quote:
What is OSU’s secret sauce?
For one they've hired, at worst, competent coaches. There haven't been any absolute disaster hires there.
Since modern football started they've had
- Woody Hayes (1951-1978)
- Earl Bruce (1979-1987)
- John Cooper (1988-2000)
- Jim Tressel (2001-2010)
- Urban Meyer (2012-2017)
- Ryan Day (2018-)
For two, Ohio produces great football players - and it used to produce more of them before the Rust Belt started hemorrhaging people to other parts of the country. And they, like Michigan USED to, always recruited Florida well for athletes.
This post was edited on 8/15/22 at 11:28 am
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:30 am to cdur86
quote:
ar Tressell was fired during the off-season. I want to say that was in 2012 or 2013?
No 2012 they went undefeated but were suspended from postseason play. Only reason we got into the National Championship game
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:37 am to SummerOfGeorge
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:38 am to Sebastian
quote:
What is OSU’s secret sauce?
They've done a remarkable job getting coaches. They have taken chances on them too and have had a wonderful ROI. Like another poster mentioned, Ohio is a fairly decent state when it comes to talent and there are no "true" rivals in that state they have to compete with. Ohio St and LSU are two programs that should NEVER have a lack of talent on their rosters even if they just recruited in-state
Posted on 8/15/22 at 11:47 am to SummerOfGeorge
Has to decline slightly... just because Bama is at an insane level never before seen in the sport.
But with the status of the program and support, my expectation would be to have a top 5-6 recruiting class every year, compete for the SEC every year and be in the CFP at least every 3-4 years...if it expands, then every 2-3 years.
I wouldn't expect a NC basically every other season...but I'd expect to be in the CFP more often than not.
But with the status of the program and support, my expectation would be to have a top 5-6 recruiting class every year, compete for the SEC every year and be in the CFP at least every 3-4 years...if it expands, then every 2-3 years.
I wouldn't expect a NC basically every other season...but I'd expect to be in the CFP more often than not.
Posted on 8/15/22 at 12:31 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
Since modern football started they've had - Woody Hayes (1951-1978) - Earl Bruce (1979-1987) - John Cooper (1988-2000) - Jim Tressel (2001-2010) - Urban Meyer (2012-2017) - Ryan Day (2018-)
Heck, the interim year, Luke Fickell was the head coach. They have done great getting and keeping solid coaches.
This post was edited on 8/15/22 at 12:32 pm
Posted on 8/15/22 at 12:38 pm to RolltidePA
Win 10 games every year, top 15ish consistently
Posted on 8/15/22 at 12:40 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Has this stretch under Saban transformed Alabama football forever? I know that good times don’t always last but once you’ve achieved the unprecedented level of success we’ve had over the last 14 years, is it really possible for the program to fall completely off the map?
I think the only way Alabama ever goes back to the Mike days is if we were hit with major sanctions. Otherwise, we should be able to hire nearly anyone we want and maintain a fairly close level of conference and national dominance.
I think the only way Alabama ever goes back to the Mike days is if we were hit with major sanctions. Otherwise, we should be able to hire nearly anyone we want and maintain a fairly close level of conference and national dominance.
Posted on 8/15/22 at 12:48 pm to Goombaw
quote:
I know that good times don’t always last but once you’ve achieved the unprecedented level of success we’ve had over the last 14 years, is it really possible for the program to fall completely off the map?
1982 - 8-4
1983 - 8-4
1984 - 5-6
Situations are definitely different (Bryant left a shell of a roster, Saban will not), but it can happen.
The Miles era at LSU makes me very confident that a solid coach will walk into a well oiled machine that will take years to break down, though. As we've learned, Miles was a damn idiot, and he was able to keep the Saban machine going for 7 years.
And the Saban machine at Alabama is MUCH more well oiled than the initial LSU version was.
This post was edited on 8/15/22 at 12:50 pm
Posted on 8/15/22 at 1:01 pm to SummerOfGeorge
i think the key is the big guns behind the scenes. it seems as tho tosu's big guns stay on the same page, therefore the program stays consistent. if bama's stays on the same page, then it should be on par with tosu. however, if they return to the pre saban era, then so will bama.
Posted on 8/15/22 at 1:05 pm to SummerOfGeorge
It’s been proven that even people completely over their heads can win 10 games a year at least once. Given a good hire, I’d expect someone with previous HC experience, BAMA should continue to compete for the SEC title and playoffs, as long as some dipshite doesn’t get sanctions imposed on us.
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