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Who would you turn to?
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:23 am
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:23 am
The consensus seems to be that the Dynasty is dead and the GOAT has lost his edge. I don’t disagree but who do you turn to? If Saban walked into Byrne’s office today and said “I’m done, I can’t do it anymore,” who would you look to to revitalize the program? Dabo? He’s well on his way to destroying his career and Clemson’s program with his high and mighty attitude.
Cristobal and Smart are at their alma maters and aren’t going anywhere voluntarily.
Sark is coaching the team that has more money and in-state talent than God.
Napier and Fischer look like disasters.
Kiffin? Probably the best choice left from the Saban tree but Lane hasn’t shown he can win any hardware in Oxford, doesn’t appear to love recruiting except from the portal, and would not last long in Tuscaloosa with his brashness and his propensity to do and say foolish things like constantly going for it on 4th down and short. He’s still a great play caller and offensive mind, but hasn’t shown the ability to look at the big picture and be the CEO of the program.
So who do you look to? Damned if I know. I don’t see any great football minds that I would feel comfortable with taking the reins in Tuscaloosa. Greg Byrne would have a monumental task on his hands if that were to happen today.
Cristobal and Smart are at their alma maters and aren’t going anywhere voluntarily.
Sark is coaching the team that has more money and in-state talent than God.
Napier and Fischer look like disasters.
Kiffin? Probably the best choice left from the Saban tree but Lane hasn’t shown he can win any hardware in Oxford, doesn’t appear to love recruiting except from the portal, and would not last long in Tuscaloosa with his brashness and his propensity to do and say foolish things like constantly going for it on 4th down and short. He’s still a great play caller and offensive mind, but hasn’t shown the ability to look at the big picture and be the CEO of the program.
So who do you look to? Damned if I know. I don’t see any great football minds that I would feel comfortable with taking the reins in Tuscaloosa. Greg Byrne would have a monumental task on his hands if that were to happen today.
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Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:27 am to phil4bama
Jim Leonhard
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:33 am to RollTide4Ever
Elko at Duke should get a look.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:39 am to Crimson K
Norvell might be one to consider if he keeps FSU rolling
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:43 am to TiderNAL
Lane and Sark, although Sark wont leave Texas.
After them its a crap shoot really.
After them its a crap shoot really.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:44 am to TiderNAL
I think this is a name to keep in mind
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:47 am to Lucky_Stryke
quote:
Sark wont leave Texas.
Correct, literally has zero incentive to leave Texas. More money, better talent base, gonna be in the SEC next season.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:56 am to TiderNAL
Saban isn’t retiring any time soon. He deserves to stay as long as he wants, but we all have to ride this slow escalator toward mediocrity together.
Inevitably, we all knew, or should have known, that any significant amount of success comes with a price. And this decline, with the disappointment and uncertainty is the inevitable price you have to pay for the unprecedented type of success he delivered. It sucks, but the bill has come due and now it’s time to pay up.
Inevitably, we all knew, or should have known, that any significant amount of success comes with a price. And this decline, with the disappointment and uncertainty is the inevitable price you have to pay for the unprecedented type of success he delivered. It sucks, but the bill has come due and now it’s time to pay up.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 7:56 am to phil4bama
It’s time for the Nick Saban clone program to unveil itself. We have built a better Saban out of his old hip. One that will never let the standard fall.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:01 am to Roll Tide Ravens
Small sample size so far but I would definitely keep an eye on Elko, maybe Norvell and wild card, DeBoer at Washington.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:08 am to Alfie Solomons
quote:
Saban isn’t retiring any time soon. He deserves to stay as long as he wants, but we all have to ride this slow escalator toward mediocrity together.
I appreciate Saban for all he's done but I'm getting off the bandwagon if the expectation is I need to golf clap him declining and running the machine into the ground. I'm an Alabama first and foremost, not a Nick Saban fan.
If he ain't got it then he needs to do us all a favor and bow out.
This post was edited on 9/10/23 at 8:09 am
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:08 am to Alfie Solomons
quote:
Saban isn’t retiring any time soon. He deserves to stay as long as he wants, but we all have to ride this slow escalator toward mediocrity together.
Saban has been paid more than a hundred million dollars and received unrivalled amounts of gratitude and respect in exchange for his services. They have a statue of him on the campus. If he actually is past his usefulness then the University would be entirely justified in asking him to step aside. Decades long employees are told to retire in every other career field. Yet for some reason when it comes to sports people act as though everyone who has success has the right to do it as long as their ego demands, no matter what impact it has on everyone around them.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:09 am to phil4bama
Honestly, in terms of coaching, you can find a lot of guys better than what Saban is doing now. Pick any top 25 coach and you’ll probably get a guy that can prepare a team better than Saban is capable of these days.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:12 am to JIB
quote:
Honestly, in terms of coaching, you can find a lot of guys better than what Saban is doing now. Pick any top 25 coach and you’ll probably get a guy that can prepare a team better than Saban is capable of these days.
I'm going to give it the 2023 season before I start considering this thought.
But what I saw in 2022 and seeing in 2023 does lend credence to the argument.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:35 am to Diego Ricardo
I think it's the lack of player development that's most concerning. The recruiting hasn't dropped off ranking wise. Evaluations? Maybe...but it'd be hard to miss on this many players at this many positions. So it's a development issue. Maybe we have recruiters as position coaches instead of real coaches. It started after 2020, but Bryce was talented enough to overcome a lot of team shortcomings, but not quite enough, hence no NC as a starting QB. Saban is the goat, but there is no doubt he's lost the fire, whether it's age, living off past success...who knows. But he puts up with more BS from the staff and players than he ever did in the past. That's undeniable.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:47 am to Diego Ricardo
Posted on 9/10/23 at 8:54 am to phil4bama
Saban does seem a bit like he’s lost his compass, and not sure which direction to go. He knew a change was needed after last year so he made changes, but most of the time (Coach Prime aside) changes take time to fully settle in. Last night, we were an above average QB away from beating a very good team and elite play caller on offense. The DL has to be able to get more pressure on QBs, and the OL needs to clean a couple things up. But if you have a QB that can read a blitz, go through 2-3 progressions, and not throw high school level INTs, we probably win that game against a very good team 75% of the time. Time to ride with Buchner, he’ll make some mistakes but at least give us a chance in every game.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 9:14 am to BamaBravesPackers
You make Sark say no. After that, I honestly don’t know. Elko is intriguing, but not a ton of head coach experience at this level.
Posted on 9/10/23 at 9:18 am to Chad4Bama
I think the decades of poaching from his staff has finally caught up to him. The coordinators get a lot of attention but the position coaches and S&C team are responsible for developing the talent. When you see a disparity between recruiting rankings and execution on the field, it is likely a sign of faltering quality/standards at that level of the staff.
My hunch is that Saban is just too old to find promising young coaches to mold into quality staff. Those guys want to go be off-field for Smart, Sark, Kiffin, or Cristobal and work their way up to on field. We're constantly having to find hot shots outside the program instead of growing our own position coach staff. When this program was a joyless murderball machine, guys like Pruitt worked their way up from off-field to position coach then making it to DC at another program and coming back in the same position here.
My hunch is that Saban is just too old to find promising young coaches to mold into quality staff. Those guys want to go be off-field for Smart, Sark, Kiffin, or Cristobal and work their way up to on field. We're constantly having to find hot shots outside the program instead of growing our own position coach staff. When this program was a joyless murderball machine, guys like Pruitt worked their way up from off-field to position coach then making it to DC at another program and coming back in the same position here.
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