Started By
Message
What were you initial expectations when Nick Saban was hired on January 3, 2007?
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:13 pm
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:13 pm
- what did you expect in recruiting?
- what did you expect us to do on a year to year basis?
- what did you expect our ceiling to be?
- how long did you think he would be here?
Try you hardest to think about your thoughts THEN, in 2007, a week removed from losing to Oklahoma State in Shreveport to go 6-7.
For me
(1) My expectation was that he would come in and recruit the shite out of this place. Of all my expectations, I felt the MOST confident in this. I thought we'd be battling for Top 5/10 classes on a regular basis and be in the same stratosphere as LSU/Florida/USC/Texas. I had no doubt we'd get players.
(2) I expected us to compete in the West and for SEC Titles. I would say that gun to my head I would have told you I'd be happy with going 10-2/9-3 on average with a 11-1 type season with an SEC Title and a shot at a national title, maybe, sprinkled in every 3 or 4. Quite frankly, that was pretty close to what he did at LSU. I expected to stop losing every game to good teams. I expected to break the spells that Auburn and LSU had over us. I in no way expected to rule college football for a decade.
(3) I didn't really know how long he'd be here. And, really, I didn't care. I just wanted him to be here for 3-4 years to build the program and the talent base. I thought there was a shot he'd stay a while, but I also knew there was a chance he got antsy and left (possible back to the NFL), because that is who he was at that point.
It's wild to look back and realize that I had pretty lofty expectations given what Alabana football had been for the previous 20 years..................and Saban outperformed them in spades. I mean, just incredible really.
- what did you expect us to do on a year to year basis?
- what did you expect our ceiling to be?
- how long did you think he would be here?
Try you hardest to think about your thoughts THEN, in 2007, a week removed from losing to Oklahoma State in Shreveport to go 6-7.
For me
(1) My expectation was that he would come in and recruit the shite out of this place. Of all my expectations, I felt the MOST confident in this. I thought we'd be battling for Top 5/10 classes on a regular basis and be in the same stratosphere as LSU/Florida/USC/Texas. I had no doubt we'd get players.
(2) I expected us to compete in the West and for SEC Titles. I would say that gun to my head I would have told you I'd be happy with going 10-2/9-3 on average with a 11-1 type season with an SEC Title and a shot at a national title, maybe, sprinkled in every 3 or 4. Quite frankly, that was pretty close to what he did at LSU. I expected to stop losing every game to good teams. I expected to break the spells that Auburn and LSU had over us. I in no way expected to rule college football for a decade.
(3) I didn't really know how long he'd be here. And, really, I didn't care. I just wanted him to be here for 3-4 years to build the program and the talent base. I thought there was a shot he'd stay a while, but I also knew there was a chance he got antsy and left (possible back to the NFL), because that is who he was at that point.
It's wild to look back and realize that I had pretty lofty expectations given what Alabana football had been for the previous 20 years..................and Saban outperformed them in spades. I mean, just incredible really.
18
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:17 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
What were you initial expectations when Nick Saban was hired on January 3, 2007?
Five titles in nine years was not the expectation that is for sure. What an incredible run
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:19 pm to Dubosed
quote:
Five titles in nine years was not the expectation that is for sure. What an incredible run
I'm not even sure the guy that named his son Krimson Tyde would have predicted that.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:19 pm to Dubosed
I mean hell I just wanted to beat the teams that you were suppose to beat. And field a team that plays its tail off for four quarters. He has produced that his entire career here.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:20 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Had no idea on recruiting, but I expected to realistically compete for the West and win it a couple of times if he stayed 5 years. I greatly underestimated his impact and abilities
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:21 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Never in my life did I think he’d win 5 national titles in this short of time! Realistically, I just wanted Bama relevant again...boy did I get what I wanted!
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:21 pm to Dubosed
quote:
I mean hell I just wanted to beat the teams that you were suppose to beat. And field a team that plays its tail off for four quarters. He has produced that his entire career here.
I vividly remember that my very first thoughts were "Fvck yes we're gonna start having linemen like those beast fvckers he had at LSU".
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:23 pm to cajunbama
quote:
Had no idea on recruiting, but I expected to realistically compete for the West and win it a couple of times if he stayed 5 years. I greatly underestimated his impact and abilities
And, to be fair, he wasn't that guy at LSU. They had 1 or 2 stinker games every year, including 2003.
He got better.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:34 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I expected Saban to begin to deliver top 5 classes, which he did (minus today.) I also expected him to stay about 5 years and win 2 nattys. And I would have been stoked with that result.
The fact that Saban is entering his 12th season at UA with 5 NC's and 5 SECC's with a good enough team in 2018 to compete for natty #6, really is amazing. I'm really hoping he has another 5 good years in him.
The fact that Saban is entering his 12th season at UA with 5 NC's and 5 SECC's with a good enough team in 2018 to compete for natty #6, really is amazing. I'm really hoping he has another 5 good years in him.
This post was edited on 2/7/18 at 9:35 pm
Posted on 2/7/18 at 9:36 pm to tider04
I'll be honest - I clearly thought the odds of a national title were as high as they'd been in my lifetime with him here, but I didn't actually, deep down, expect to have a shot at one.
I expected (well, rationally hoped) that we could get to Atlanta. I couldn't even envision anything past that.
I mean man, I wanted to go to Atlanta SO BADLY.
I expected (well, rationally hoped) that we could get to Atlanta. I couldn't even envision anything past that.
I mean man, I wanted to go to Atlanta SO BADLY.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 10:04 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
Five titles in nine years was not the expectation that is for sure. What an incredible run
Bill Belichick could have come to Notre Dame and I don't think 5 titles in 9 years would be the expectation.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 10:08 pm to SummerOfGeorge
That moment when you realize, that's really all we want out of a basketball coach right now.
We don't need John Wooden to come in an lead us to 10 straight titles, we don't need Bob Knight to make us go undefeated.
We just want to be relevant, recruit well, put guys in the league, be a mainstay in the tournament and make fun runs every now and then.
I thought Mark Gottfried was the guy. Our favorite son, come back to lead us. He recruited well, got us in the top 25 and lead us to the tourney every year and then just stopped caring. It was so depressing watching him take the program as far as it had really ever been (sans Wimp winning a bunch of SEC hardware) and then hitting cruise control down to the middle of the SEC.
We don't need John Wooden to come in an lead us to 10 straight titles, we don't need Bob Knight to make us go undefeated.
We just want to be relevant, recruit well, put guys in the league, be a mainstay in the tournament and make fun runs every now and then.
I thought Mark Gottfried was the guy. Our favorite son, come back to lead us. He recruited well, got us in the top 25 and lead us to the tourney every year and then just stopped caring. It was so depressing watching him take the program as far as it had really ever been (sans Wimp winning a bunch of SEC hardware) and then hitting cruise control down to the middle of the SEC.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 10:10 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I was one of those who wasn’t too excited about the hire but I believed Shula had to go. I wasn’t sure about that until Mississippi State pushed us around on both sides of the line in 2006.
I hoped that CNS could get us back into the championship conversation most years. Not even necessarily win, just get the program to the point that the championship had to come through Bama occasionally and where we wouldn’t be overlooked every year. Never did I think that the ‘ship would come through Bama almost every year for a decade.
I didn’t have any idea how long he would stay and didn’t care as long as he could get us to that level. It was actually a couple of championships, and a few times of him turning down other jobs, before I was truly converted.
When he leaves, for whyever and to wherever, I will be sad of course but I will always be thankful for his time at Bama. Taken in totality, what he has accomplished here may never be duplicated, here or elsewhere.
I hoped that CNS could get us back into the championship conversation most years. Not even necessarily win, just get the program to the point that the championship had to come through Bama occasionally and where we wouldn’t be overlooked every year. Never did I think that the ‘ship would come through Bama almost every year for a decade.
I didn’t have any idea how long he would stay and didn’t care as long as he could get us to that level. It was actually a couple of championships, and a few times of him turning down other jobs, before I was truly converted.
When he leaves, for whyever and to wherever, I will be sad of course but I will always be thankful for his time at Bama. Taken in totality, what he has accomplished here may never be duplicated, here or elsewhere.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 10:10 pm to tider04
quote:
I'm really hoping he has another 5 good years in him.
What if I told you....
we're only at the half way mark.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 10:21 pm to Lordofwrath88
I was pissed off that he was getting all the kisses at the airport from the hottest chick ever.
Posted on 2/7/18 at 10:40 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
- what did you expect in recruiting?
No expectations
quote:
- what did you expect us to do on a year to year basis?
Better than Shula
quote:
- what did you expect our ceiling to be?
National champions
quote:Didn't have a timeline.
- how long did you think he would be here?
Posted on 2/7/18 at 10:58 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I remember just wanting to be "like" Oklahoma, Miami, USC and Texas at the time. They were always in the hunt and bullseye on their backs. Thought CNS would bring us to that level, but... never would have guessed the level he has us at. Possibly never happen again anywhere.
Posted on 2/8/18 at 1:59 am to SummerOfGeorge
I was expecting top 10 classes with an occasional top 5 class
I was honestly just wanting us to start beating at least one of Tennessee, LSU and auburn. I was tired of losing to them every year. And then compete in the west and win the sec at least once. I’m only 27, so most of my life, before Saban, being an Alabama fan had been filled with losing and only longing to see a national championship
I thought he could win a national title here. After the 08 class I thought 2010 would be the year we won it all. Definitely did not expect 5 National titles in so short a time.
I thought he’d be here for about 5 or 6 years before heading back to the NFL maybe. After the 2011 tornados I started to feel like he may retire here and now I’m confident he’ll retire here. Hopefully in like 10 years lol
I was honestly just wanting us to start beating at least one of Tennessee, LSU and auburn. I was tired of losing to them every year. And then compete in the west and win the sec at least once. I’m only 27, so most of my life, before Saban, being an Alabama fan had been filled with losing and only longing to see a national championship
I thought he could win a national title here. After the 08 class I thought 2010 would be the year we won it all. Definitely did not expect 5 National titles in so short a time.
I thought he’d be here for about 5 or 6 years before heading back to the NFL maybe. After the 2011 tornados I started to feel like he may retire here and now I’m confident he’ll retire here. Hopefully in like 10 years lol
Posted on 2/8/18 at 7:20 am to SummerOfGeorge
I will be honest, when I first heard Saban’s name associated with the job in October 2007, a light went off in my head. It just seemed like a perfect match that could be very special. He had the winning DNA that I knew would fit perfectly in Tuscaloosa. That’s why I wanted Shula gone ASAP.
I expected him to be here for at least 10 years because his entire career had been a step up the ladder. He wasn’t a nomad like Fran. I figured he would win 2 National Championships, a handful of SEC Titles, and completely put AU out of business. Still working on the AU part of that.
I was worried at the time that maybe the timing was unlucky because Meyer had Florida rolling. Meyer was a younger coach at a “sexier” program in the middle of a recruiting hotbed. Dethroning them would be a tough challenge.
I expected him to be here for at least 10 years because his entire career had been a step up the ladder. He wasn’t a nomad like Fran. I figured he would win 2 National Championships, a handful of SEC Titles, and completely put AU out of business. Still working on the AU part of that.
I was worried at the time that maybe the timing was unlucky because Meyer had Florida rolling. Meyer was a younger coach at a “sexier” program in the middle of a recruiting hotbed. Dethroning them would be a tough challenge.
Posted on 2/8/18 at 8:49 am to SummerOfGeorge
To win a national title.
5 is 4 more than I was hoping for.
Honestly I figured he'd go back to the NFL with a better situation after winning one.
5 is 4 more than I was hoping for.
Honestly I figured he'd go back to the NFL with a better situation after winning one.
Page 1 of 2
Latest Alabama News
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News