The reason Arkansas will never be successful in the SEC

Have hope

Saying the same thing over and over again doesn't make it come true.

That coach is now unemployed

That wasn't the point I was trying to make. This was about recruiting.

I guess what I really mean is the guy has taken Clemson to going on four consecutive playoff appearances, now. Looking at his coaching record, it's just a hair away from Saban's, even if he isn't winning the big game at the end. He'd keep them in the conversation every year or nearly every year.

In terms of how that applies to us, I don't think our chances of beating Alabama are going to get any better if Swinney takes over. I really hope you're right about him staying at Clemson, but I'm afraid being an Alabama grad and playing on their '92 championship team is going to have an effect.

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How? You think Swinney is just as good as Saban? Clemson still will goof up and lose to teams they shouldn't at a way higher rate than has happened to Saban at Bama.

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Since 2012, Clemson has lost two games to teams that haven't finished with 10 wins. Alabama has lost one. That's hardly a real discrepancy. They've also lost eight games in general to Alabama's 11. Two of those 11 are to Nick Saban, himself.

I'm just trying to remain realistic about our chances going into the future. The whole "things will get better for us when Saban retires" narrative isn't as ironclad as some seem to think. Clemson is performing at a level dangerously close to Alabama's, with theoretically less resources and a fraction of the history of success. I don't particularly want to be right about this, but most of the numbers seem to add up.


And I don't think Swinney is as good as Saban because Saban is probably the best that's ever been. However, a lot has yet to be seen. Swinney does have a NC and another NC appearance at a far inferior football program, and Swinney has been a head coach for 11 years. Nick Saban had an NC and no additional appearances at 11 years CFB HC experience. Nick Saban has been a CFB HC for 23 years, twice as long. Do you really think Swinney won't close that gap significantly if he gets to be the HC at Alabama and doesn't ever have to play Nick Saban? The guy is exceptionally good and I don't particularly look forward to playing him every year as Saban's replacement, so I'm hoping like hell that I'm wrong and he just stays put.

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Since 2012, Clemson has lost two games to teams that haven't finished with 10 wins. Alabama has lost one. That's hardly a real discrepancy. They've also lost eight games in general to Alabama's 11. Two of those 11 are to Nick Saban, himself.

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Fair enough but I think you would even agree that it would be a little different if they were playing the same schedule.

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I'm just trying to remain realistic about our chances going into the future. The whole "things will get better for us when Saban retires" narrative isn't as ironclad as some seem to think.

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I'm not trying to say that Bama is going to fall apart. I just know it can't get any worse than what it is right now.

Having said all of that, I use to be in the camp that thought he would come to Bama after Saban but I'm not so sure anymore. I believe his son just joined him at Clemson so I doubt he leaves in the next 4 years. Might not matter though if Saban is around another 5 I guess. I think he enjoys being the "King" of Clemson. He could join Bama, win 3 NCs and 3rd be their 3rd best coach ever.

But when momma calls.....

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We're at, what, 11 straight with no end in sight?

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11 or 12, I stop counting

The senior class at Clemson the year they won it all was ranked 13th or 14th I believe coming out of of high school. Yes recruiting matters and you want to be at the top but if your top 15 nationally you will compete with just about everyone in the country. So even if were 4th in the division if the difference is only a few spots nationally it means we still have the talent to compete with anyone.