re: NIL has ruined college football, for Saban

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And the last time it was said, he evolved the offense and won three more titles. He just needs to evolve the defense to a zone blitz scheme


Yes, because other coaches won’t figure that out lol

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Taurus, nobody hate's li'l Nicky's Red Horde more than me, but take the purple glasses off for a sec. When Bama's offense was starting a slow decline, Saban made a change and it worked.

Personally, I hope Bama keeps their backwards-arse coordinators, and that their performance finally drives Nick into retirement.

But don't discount the possibility that Saban, unlike Miles, will make the necessary changes to get better. He already did it once on Offense.

If he decides to do that on defense - with a roster of 5 stars to work with - well, that thought alone is troubling.

Buck Fama and all, y'all, but keep it real.

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But don't discount the possibility that Saban, unlike Miles, will make the necessary changes to get better. He already did it once on Offense.

If he decides to do that on defense - with a roster of 5 stars to work with - well, that thought alone is troubling.

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Will happen on both sides of the ball in the off season.

We will move towards a 5 DB type defense. And I suspect we will either hire Freeze or Riley as OC.

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But don't discount the possibility that Saban, unlike Miles, will make the necessary changes to get better. He already did it once on Offense.

If he decides to do that on defense - with a roster of 5 stars to work with - well, that thought alone is troubling.


Will happen on both sides of the ball in the off season.

We will move towards a 5 DB type defense. And I suspect we will either hire Freeze or Riley as OC.

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You really think Riley is going to leave LaLaLand and USC to be Saban's bitch? That won't happen until USC runs him out of town with pitchforks and torches. And by then, Bama will be looking for (or have) a new HC, so....

Freeze is a possibility for many reasons. If he attended L'il Nicky's Rehab Hospital for Troubled Coaches, he could probably turn that into a bigger P5 coaching job in a couple of years - which would probably align with whatever retirement thoughts Saban is entertaining.

But, for now, Bama's problems on offense are more about players than coaches. Gibbs is a beast, and will be for a year or two more I think. For QB, however, you have Cam Newton's less talented nephew. The only way he'd be good in a Bama offense is if you paid the Mannings for a full-time summer camp before next year.

Defense is where Bama is really suffering. Yeah, one field goal away from undefeated and all. But truth is that the other games were much more competitive than we're used to seeing out of the Red Horde.

If the defensive coaching situation isn't addressed, then it doesn't matter how many 5 stars you have riding the pine - they won't stay there. Bama's big draw has always been "come here, sit for a year or two, then blow up and go to the pros". Right now, with that coaching staff, I'm not sure that's quite the draw it used to be.

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So you are saying Saban is equally as stubborn for not making a change.


He is being stubborn but Saban has proven that he is willing to adapt to changes in college football.

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I agree with you, but I also remember that it took a couple of years of declining offensive performance for him to finally make that move on offense.

I don't know that Bama has a few years left with Saban for him to come to that realization. If he doesn't flip the switch at the end of this season, you may be looking at what Bama's defense will be for the remainder of Saban's tenure.

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Think about it. Bama was very close to being 4-3 right now.

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They're also a missed FG away from being undefeated. If BoB had run the ball at all at the end we're all probably having different conversations right now.

Talent is not the issue at Bama, they still have the #1 team in talent composite and the #1 class last I checked. The issue is discipline. They're 131/131 in number of penalties called this year. I think NIL being their downfall is being overblown.

Well if coaching truly matters now, LSU is beyond fricked for the next several years

Baja might have a coaching issue but it’s because Saban loses his assistants and they become head coaches and some of them win NCs . He has made a lot of money for his former assistants and I hope Kelly won’t have that problem but if he’s successful he will. Saban is a great coach but he’s only as good as who he is surrounded by. NIL has leveled the playing field for the upper echelons just like always the rich get richer but money will only get you so far…let’s say jumbo's paying 5 mil. to a future recruit, Saban or Kelly have 1-2 mil. after a while if Jimbo keeps losing, that recruit will go somewhere else or take the money and transfer out. NIL SUCKS especially from the standpoint of let’s say player A is a diehard LSU fan but team B (bama ) offers 5 mil. So throw in the fact player A and his family have nothing and are in serious financial str8s. Moms ill ? He might still love us but… what would you do ? I liked it much better when they could just shake hands and give a few hundred bucks.

NIL and Portal has definitely messed with the way Saban likes to coach, it is highly effective if the players are fully into it. They don’t have to be anymore though, shite gets hard the Saban way, boom go somewhere else. The incentive to do it the Saban way with the gifts isn’t enough when there is better opportunities out there now where you don’t have to follow short man and his attitude. Saban needs to find a way to control the team without losing the team, he may be too old for that at this point though.

The "Saban Way" has always been to go to Bama, ride the pine for a year or two (usually), come in as a seasoned soph or junior and blow up.

Wait your turn and then get paid.

NIL and the portal damaged that, but what killed it was the decline in defensive coaching staff. You might convince the majority of blue-chip recruits to come to Bama and sit/play in the Saban process - despite getting better NIL offers or seeing more immediate opportunities in the portal.

But when that process advantage fails and Saban's defenses start looking (and performing) at the level of other top-tier teams, then that advantage disappears.

I'll state the obvious that Saban's "wait, learn and then play" process is by far the best for defensive player development. But in today's environment, that process has to deliver a top tier defense in spite of NIL and the portal for it to work.

If Bama's defenses are no longer the absolute best there's no incentive for talented young players to come in and sit, or pass up more lucrative NIL deals.

Just my opinion, y'all....