re: ESPN Article: Now We Know Why Saban Retired...

quote: He played the game with a loaded deck and now that's been taken away.

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I see this a lot...how exactly does that work?? Was it loaded at Bama before he got there??

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YES. It started at Bama under Bear (and maybe at a few other blue-blood schools in the same period).

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Wouldn't the people loading it still be there and matter more than any one coach??

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NO Give an idiot coach a team of 5 stars and he's still an idiot with a (likely) sub-.500 team. Give Saban a team of 5 stars and you have a self-perpetuating death machine.

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Or, did he load it himself? If so, why was that option not available to other coaches?

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See above.

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Nobody ever answers those questions because it's easier to say Saban cheated than Saban was better

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I'll say it - Saban was better for most of his career at Bama. But I'll also say that he and the REC cheated to further, uh, "enhance" an already formidable team into a juggernaut.

Both can be true at the same time. In this case, they are.