re: Nick Saban (2008-2014) vs Kirby Smart (2017-2023)

quote:

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I am a little more impressed with Kirby’s quick build and success at UGA.

Saban had the ESPN hype machine marketing his team before he even got on campus. I really feel ESPN and the Saban hype helped generate buzz and make it easy for him to turn it around.

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With all due respect, that's not the way I remember it at all. When Alabama hired Saban all ESPN and a lot of talking heads could talk about was what a coward and scumbag Saban was for ditching the Miami Dolphins for leaving them high and dry and how insane Alabama was for giving Saban an 8 year, $32 million dollar fully guaranteed contract. I even remember some talking heads doubting if Saban would ever win a national championship at Alabama. Granted, the narrative changed and the hype train certainly took off after Saban won 3 national titles in a 4 year span but prior to that 4 year run of dominance there were a lot of Saban doubters at ESPN and other reporters covering the sport at the time. Alabama won 6 games the year prior to Saban taking over so it was easily as big if not more of a rebuild for Saban as it was for Smart at Georgia. There was no ESPN hype for Saban in 2007.