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re: Nick Saban (2008-2014) vs Kirby Smart (2017-2023)
Posted on 11/21/23 at 5:45 pm to Colonel Flagg
Posted on 11/21/23 at 5:45 pm to Colonel Flagg
quote:
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.
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.
1
Posted on 11/21/23 at 5:49 pm to Govt Tide
quote:
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.
Yea that's not even close to true. Saban's first 18 months at Alabama were a combination of:
- "he's a liar and a scumbag, who would ever send their kid there"
- "he's going to bolt within 3 years for another job anyway"
- "LOL what a waste a money, the guy lost 6 games and lost to ULM"
- "Saban is going to lose 3 games a year most years, look at LSU"
Not until the #1 class, Clemson drubbing and the win in Athens did anybody in the national media start mentioning Alabama as possibly being in the same conversation with Florida and LSU in the near future. There were a whole lot of national media types - mainly those who weren't really college football people and looked at everything from a professional sports point of view - who despised him. And unlike today, those people were the main figures in sports media (pre-twitter, pre-streaming). Kornheiser, Wilbon, Plaschke, Lebatard, etc.
This post was edited on 11/21/23 at 5:52 pm
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