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How would you categorize the Saban teams?
Posted on 8/6/22 at 8:51 am
Posted on 8/6/22 at 8:51 am
Here is how I would Classify the Bama teams under Saban:
Teams that were suppose to win a Championship and did:
2009
2011
2012
2017
2020
Team that overachieved and won the Natty:
2015
Team who season was depleted by Injuries:
2019
Team that was disappointing/underachieved/just got beat:
2010
2013
2016
2018
True Rebuilding Teams:
2007
2008
“Rebulding” teams after Saban got program rolling:
2014
2021
Teams that were suppose to win a Championship and did:
2009
2011
2012
2017
2020
Team that overachieved and won the Natty:
2015
Team who season was depleted by Injuries:
2019
Team that was disappointing/underachieved/just got beat:
2010
2013
2016
2018
True Rebuilding Teams:
2007
2008
“Rebulding” teams after Saban got program rolling:
2014
2021
Posted on 8/6/22 at 9:59 am to mistaken4193
I wouldn't say that 2009 Alabama was supposed to be national champions. Going into the season, we were ranked #5 in both polls and there were still some people in the media who thought 2008 was a flash in the pan and that we would take a step back after losing guys like Coffee, Wilson, Caldwell, Smith, Johnson, etc. Ole Miss was the trendy pick to win the SEC West. It was also thought that Florida, with all the talent they were bringing back from the '08 squad, would easily repeat as national champions.
Posted on 8/6/22 at 10:19 am to mistaken4193
Last season could nearly qualify for three of your categories:
rebuild
injury depleted
overachieved and would have won natty if not for the injuries
I'd like to propose another category- Would have won a title if the playoff system had existed:
2013 Bama would have mopped the floor with anyone that season. They lost to pure voodoo down in cowshit land
rebuild
injury depleted
overachieved and would have won natty if not for the injuries
I'd like to propose another category- Would have won a title if the playoff system had existed:
2013 Bama would have mopped the floor with anyone that season. They lost to pure voodoo down in cowshit land
Posted on 8/6/22 at 1:44 pm to mistaken4193
quote:
Team who season was depleted by Injuries:
Probably should be more than just 1 season out of the past 15
Posted on 8/7/22 at 1:44 am to mistaken4193
Did 2015 overachieve though? They had an incredibly talented defense. One of the best we’ve ever had (along with 2011 and 2016). Offensively they got better and better as the season progressed and had a Heisman Trophy-winning RB. They were a fluke loss away from going 15-0.
Posted on 8/7/22 at 6:51 pm to mistaken4193
quote:
Team that overachieved and won the Natty: 2015
I’d put 2017 here, mainly because I don’t think that Georgia team was all that good.
This post was edited on 8/7/22 at 6:52 pm
Posted on 8/7/22 at 6:54 pm to diddlydawg7
2019 should have been Saban's Doomsday Machine, but lady injury had to ruin it.
Posted on 8/8/22 at 8:11 am to mistaken4193
quote:
Team that was disappointing/underachieved/just got beat:
2010
2013
2016
2018
2016 doesn't deserve to be lumped in here. They deserve their own category.
Posted on 8/8/22 at 9:53 am to PowHound
quote:
2013 Bama would have mopped the floor with anyone that season. They lost to pure voodoo down in cowshit land
not sure about that.
I think that we had the offensive fire power to do it, but not the right guy calling plays, especially after the regular season when he had basically already accepted the Michigan job.
Also, our defense had some serious holes in it.
I think that 2013 Bama vs FSU, or a Bama vs AU rematch would have both been wonderful games, but I don't think that we would have mopped the floor with either of those teams, or Michigan State that year.
Posted on 8/8/22 at 9:57 am to The Silverback
quote:
Did 2015 overachieve though? They had an incredibly talented defense. One of the best we’ve ever had (along with 2011 and 2016). Offensively they got better and better as the season progressed and had a Heisman Trophy-winning RB. They were a fluke loss away from going 15-0.
The only reason one could say that they "overachieved" is because the QB position was kind of a mess until basically the UGA game that year.
Posted on 8/8/22 at 10:16 am to mistaken4193
2008 team probably was probably my favorite team. Even though they didn’t win any championships, that team built the foundation for winning championships. What Saban did with the 2008 team was remarkable to me. In less than a yr he almost built a championship team in one of the worst times in Alabama football history.
Posted on 8/8/22 at 11:20 am to hwyman108
quote:
2008 team probably was probably my favorite team. Even though they didn’t win any championships, that team built the foundation for winning championships. What Saban did with the 2008 team was remarkable to me. In less than a yr he almost built a championship team in one of the worst times in Alabama football history.
They embodied the "make his arse quit" ethos better than any Saban team before or since. The team that established what Saban said in his opening conference: he wanted people to dread playing Bama.
Offenses and football in general has become more finesse oriented since then...and that's fine.
But the 2008 team just bodied people. And came up a little short.
Posted on 8/9/22 at 12:13 am to mistaken4193
To me 2010 and 2019 are really the only true disappointments. 2007 wasn’t disappointing because it was what we were used to and we beat the shite out of Tennessee. That was a big deal back then.. We’ve been so fortunate to experience this run. It’ll never happen again. Enjoy every bit of it. Roll Tide
Posted on 8/9/22 at 2:47 am to Hater Bait
Contrary to what many believe, the 2007 season was the product of a phenomenal coaching job until the end of the first half vs MSU. The week before, Bama was a 4th and 4 stop with ~3 min left of beating the eventual NCs and winning the SEC West; and doing it with the 5th best talent in the division.
Beat Ark, East champ UT, took the eventual national runner-up to OT and as already noted, came within an eyelash of beating the eventual national champs starting 2 players that would start for them.
All of that with 3 former walk-ons STARTING on defense, along with mostly a mix of 2 and 3 stars filling out the rest. Vandy's never had it that bad.
Saban is much more than a great recruiter and CEO, he is a great game-week and game-day coach. I can still see him running down the sidelines vs OM and calling TO to talk to the officials about a ruling they had missed; they eventually agreed, thus sealing the close win. He knew the rulebook better than the SEC officials. (He's not perfect, but yes he should have called TO vs AU in 2013 to kick the winning FG. He was being aggressive as always and knew that Bama would unlikely win in OT.)
Beat Ark, East champ UT, took the eventual national runner-up to OT and as already noted, came within an eyelash of beating the eventual national champs starting 2 players that would start for them.
All of that with 3 former walk-ons STARTING on defense, along with mostly a mix of 2 and 3 stars filling out the rest. Vandy's never had it that bad.
Saban is much more than a great recruiter and CEO, he is a great game-week and game-day coach. I can still see him running down the sidelines vs OM and calling TO to talk to the officials about a ruling they had missed; they eventually agreed, thus sealing the close win. He knew the rulebook better than the SEC officials. (He's not perfect, but yes he should have called TO vs AU in 2013 to kick the winning FG. He was being aggressive as always and knew that Bama would unlikely win in OT.)
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