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re: ESPN Article: Now We Know Why Saban Retired...
Posted on 3/7/24 at 8:01 am to AUCom96
Posted on 3/7/24 at 8:01 am to AUCom96
quote:
He played the game with a loaded deck and now that's been taken away.
I see this a lot...how exactly does that work?? Was it loaded at Bama before he got there?? Wouldn't the people loading it still be thre and matter more than any one coach??
Or, did he load it himself? If so, why was that option not available to other coaches?
Nobody ever answers those questions because it's easier to say Saban cheated than Saban was better
1
Posted on 3/7/24 at 8:25 am to PurpleandGold Motown
No doubt college football has been ruined. The last 4 years the sport has been a shell of it’s former self. In started in 2020 with that weird half @ss covid season, then the rise of the barely regulated transfer portal and NIL completely changed everything.
2019 was the last true college football season in the eyes of most fans.
2019 was the last true college football season in the eyes of most fans.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 8:42 am to captdalton
quote:
But at 72 I think he just said “frick it, I don’t have it in me”. I can’t blame him.
I dunno if he said “I don’t have it in me”, but I’d be willing to wager a couple of “frick This” and “I don’t HAVE to put up with this shite” comments were made!
Thanks Coach. Enjoy whatever you want to do.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 8:52 am to GBJs
I’m glad Saban got out. There will be others
Posted on 3/7/24 at 10:32 am to PurpleandGold Motown
"I want to be clear that wasn't the reason, but some of those events certainly contributed," Saban said of his decision to retire. "I was really disappointed in the way that the players acted after the game. You gotta win with class. You gotta lose with class. We had our opportunities to win the game and we didn't do it, and then showing your arse and being frustrated and throwing helmets and doing that stuff ... that's not who we are and what we've promoted in our program."
Once back in Tuscaloosa, as Saban began meeting with players, it became even more apparent to him that his message wasn't resonating like it once did.
"I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I'm going to play because they're thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?" Saban recounted. "Our program here was always built on how much value can we create for your future and your personal development, academic success in graduating and developing an NFL career on the field.
"So I'm saying to myself, 'Maybe this doesn't work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it's all about how much money can I make as a college player?' I'm not saying that's bad. I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that's never been what we were all about, and it's not why we had success through the years."
Many, many, many, many fans might be done as well.
Many.
Many. A large number.
Once back in Tuscaloosa, as Saban began meeting with players, it became even more apparent to him that his message wasn't resonating like it once did.
"I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I'm going to play because they're thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?" Saban recounted. "Our program here was always built on how much value can we create for your future and your personal development, academic success in graduating and developing an NFL career on the field.
"So I'm saying to myself, 'Maybe this doesn't work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it's all about how much money can I make as a college player?' I'm not saying that's bad. I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that's never been what we were all about, and it's not why we had success through the years."
Many, many, many, many fans might be done as well.
Many.
Many. A large number.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 1:18 pm to captdalton
quote:If you're going to try and discredit my opinions, at least target them accurately.
So Saban came in and in four years he completely turned around a forgotten LSU program with no national recognition into a national championship program. He did it with sound coaching. He didn’t cheat or pay players.
But three years later at Alabama he started cheating and paying players and that is the only reason Alabama won.
I did NOT say that Nick (and/or LSU) didn't pay players. I said that I don't believe they did during his initial few years. I believe that because, again, he wasn't a tier-1 coaching candidate that we stole away from another powerhouse program. He hadn't established his bona fides as the GOAT yet.
I also didn't say that the only reason Alabama won was because Nick cheated and was paying players.
Given that Bama was a historically strong football school, it was inevitable that team would flourish with him at the helm. With or without the REC and their well-greased bagman network, Bama with Nick would have been a tough competitor in the SEC.
That's completely different than saying the only reason Bama won was because they bought players (which they did). It's not the only reason they won; but it IS the reason why they won so damn much during the 15 years of Saban's heyday as coach of the Tide.
And let's be clear about how this whole mud-slinging fest got started: an interview with the now-retired Saban bemoaning how NIL and the portal have changed CFB for the worse (his opinion). That's what I took offense to. He happily played that dirty game for 15 years to give his team that extra edge - and never uttered so much as a silent fart about it as long as it gave his team an advantage.
He didn't care until NIL and the portal put every other team on the same level playing field as Bama. So now, an area Bama had dominated under Saban and the REC's fleet of barbers and bagmen was was equally available to all teams.
And that makes him sad. Boo Hoo.
FWIW, I won't take a single thing from Nick's record, both at LSU and Bama. He's an outstanding coach, and he's proved it beyond doubt.
I just think it's disingenuous of him to piss and moan that something Bama consistently and blatantly did during his tenure is now poisoning the game.
That's a pretty pissy attitude to hold, given Bama's history with those practices since the time of the Bear.
So do better, friend, with your comments.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 1:24 pm to Dotarian
Posted on 3/7/24 at 1:30 pm to Bigdawgb
quote: He played the game with a loaded deck and now that's been taken away.
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.
quote:YES. It started at Bama under Bear (and maybe at a few other blue-blood schools in the same period).
I see this a lot...how exactly does that work?? Was it loaded at Bama before he got there??
quote: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.
Wouldn't the people loading it still be there and matter more than any one coach??
quote:See above.
Or, did he load it himself? If so, why was that option not available to other coaches?
quote:
Nobody ever answers those questions because it's easier to say Saban cheated than Saban was better
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.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 1:32 pm to Hback
Posted on 3/7/24 at 1:36 pm to Dotarian
quote:
So do better, friend, with your comments.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 1:47 pm to Harry Rex Vonner
quote:
"So I'm saying to myself, 'Maybe this doesn't work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it's all about how much money can I make as a college player?' I'm not saying that's bad. I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that's never been what we were all about, and it's not why we had success through the years."
I call shenanigans.
Here, I'll correct his statements for you...
Instead of ' Maybe this doesn't work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it's all about how much money can I make as a college player?'
How about' This doesn't work for me anymore because the money we used to pay for good players can now be offered by every other team in the league - legally. So now it's a bidding war for the good players we used to sign without any competition, and I'm just not down for that.'
Instead of ' I'm not saying that's bad. I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that's never been what we were all about, and it's not why we had success through the years."
How about ' I'm not saying that's bad. I'm not saying it's wrong - it's neither, because we were doing it for nearly my entire career at Bama. It's why we had such overwhelming success through the years of my tenure there. And now that that advantage is gone, I think I might like to live in my villa and drive my Ferrari around a bit...."
Posted on 3/7/24 at 2:02 pm to Dotarian
Look on the bright side. LSU went undefeated against Alabama in the 1890’s.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 2:21 pm to Dotarian
quote:
I did NOT say that Nick (and/or LSU) didn't pay players. I said that I don't believe they did during his initial few years. I believe that because, again, he wasn't a tier-1 coaching candidate that we stole away from another powerhouse program. He hadn't established his bona fides as the GOAT yet.
I also didn't say that the only reason Alabama won was because Nick cheated and was paying players.
This is the very definition of self-deluded thinking. "When Nick Saban was the coach of my team, he was able to build it into a winner without cheating, because nobody knew who he was at the time so he didn't have to pay them to come play for him. When he went to Alabama, though, everybody knew who he was and that he was going to win big, so he started paying for players to come play for him then." Now please explain how that makes any kind of sense, and please try to do so without sounding like a bitter fan of a second-rate team.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 2:26 pm to Dotarian
quote:
I didn't say that Nick didn't pay players at LSU. I said I didn't think he did, given where the LSU football program was when he was hired.
That, and the fact that the Saban hired away from MSU wasn't the same Saban that coached at Bama. When he was hired, nobody I knew or heard of would have thought "Oh, damn, if we just buy a bunch of blue-chip players for this stupendous coach we'll be in good shape!"
Nope. When he was hired, Saban wasn't viewed as the GOAT he would become. And my personal opinion is that he didn't have the resume to justify LSU sinking that type of money into shady recruiting, just so they could get good players to play for a relatively unknown coach (at that time).
Two completely different things.
Nick Saban has never bought a player in his life. If you think he has, then you don't know how shite works. A HC buying a player is about the dumbest thing a coach could ever do and is a recipe for disaster on and off the field.
Maybe some boosters do some shite and what not, but a HC would never undermine their entire position like that unless they are just plain stupid. You've given over your entire career to the whims of an 18 year old kid who can at any point spill the beans. And you think now a HC is going to have authority over such a kid?
And I don't mean just authority over the kid. I mean the control and what not that a player must endure as an Alabama football player.
There is no fricking way. Anytime something happens, it's always a booster doing it.
Saban offered players the best path to the NFL. Alabama built a support staff and geared everything towards the players NFL future. They would get some of the best coaching available, and be mentored by the best in the business.
The fact of the matter is fans like you need to make up fantasies about shite like this because you don't have the balls or fortitude to live with the reality. In my book, you're basically like a tranny. Living in your own fantasy world trying to convince others it's real.
This post was edited on 3/7/24 at 2:28 pm
Posted on 3/7/24 at 2:55 pm to 3down10
quote:
A HC buying a player is about the dumbest thing a coach could ever do
LSU fans should know that well, it's called the "Will Wade."
Posted on 3/7/24 at 3:21 pm to PurpleandGold Motown
Translation: I hate coaching in the NFL with professionals, I sure wasn't hanging around for this pseudo-pro bullshite.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 3:25 pm to PurpleandGold Motown
Says the guy who is worth probably $100,000,000. Complaining about a shift in power.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 3:33 pm to jamespatterson
Nick Saban’s net worth is estimated to be between $70 million and $93 million depending on what source you use. Not bad for a football coach.
But James Patterson is the second richest author in the world with a net worth estimated to be $800 million. That is a LOT of books sold. So it surprises me that your posts here aren’t more intriguing.
But James Patterson is the second richest author in the world with a net worth estimated to be $800 million. That is a LOT of books sold. So it surprises me that your posts here aren’t more intriguing.
Posted on 3/7/24 at 5:30 pm to Dotarian
quote:
Truth hurts, doesn't it? Bear was known for two things:
1 - Recruiting an enormous number of players - more than he could ever play. This was more to keep good players away from other teams than anything else. It's also the reason that the scholarship limits were enacted to prevent "player hoarding".
2 - He was also known for paying players to get them (and keep them) at Bama - and away from other teams.
So, yeah, the Bear started this mess. To be fair, I'm an LSU/SEC wonk, so I don't know much of anything about other conferences. So I wouldn't be surprised if teams in the former Big 10 had the same complaints about Michigan or tOSU, or Big 12 and Nebraska/Oklahoma.
But, as for the SEC, the Bear and his "team management" practices are definitely the reason for most of the mess we're now seeing.
Bryant didn’t invent paying players. While Bryant was still at TA&M or his first year at Bama I can’t recall, Auburn was banned from postseason in 1957 for, you guessed it, paying players. Auburn’s first national championship was tainted. That’s just one SEC-related example.
This narrative that Bama or Bryant were the only “cheaters” makes you look stupid.
This post was edited on 3/7/24 at 5:32 pm
Posted on 3/7/24 at 6:07 pm to PurpleandGold Motown
If every sane person would stay away from the games, turn off the television. Then things would change. But, that will never happen.
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