Started By
Message

I really don’t want to be “that guy”, but this feels like when Saban took over.

Posted on 6/24/24 at 7:35 am
Posted by Gritz
Member since May 2024
241 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 7:35 am
This is COMPLETELY just my personal opinion. I may be high on the Koolaid, but the vibe with these recruits he’s bringing in is a good one.

I feel like a lot of top players have busted the last few years under Saban, and it’s not Saban’s fault as much as it was the culture of college football changed.

Saban just isn’t built for this current culture.
Posted by Sl0thstronautEsq
Antarctica
Member since Aug 2018
13045 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 8:17 am to
quote:

Saban just isn’t built for this current culture.


Won the SEC and made it to the CFP just last year, but yet iSn'T bUiLt FoR tHiS cUlTuRe.

There's more than one way to build a team and win games. Just because the vibe is different on these current recruiting visits doesn't mean it's any better or worse than when Saban was in charge.

I'm cautiously optimistic from what I've seen so far, but I'd like to see a DeBoer-led Bama team win a few games before I make sweeping declarations.
Posted by Section 80
Member since Apr 2013
862 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 8:36 am to
I understand what OP is saying, just because Saban won the SEC last year doesn't mean he was gonna keep winning this decade. The end was coming and Saban didn't wanna stick around for Father Time to beat him like Bear, Bowden and Joe Pa



The new coach does seem to have a very similar aura around him just like Saban did when he first got to Bama. They both hit the ground running on the recruiting trail, and both had big time success at their previous coaching stops
Posted by Robot Santa
Member since Oct 2009
45370 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 8:48 am to
quote:


Won the SEC and made it to the CFP just last year, but yet iSn'T bUiLt FoR tHiS cUlTuRe.


Being a great coach and being well suited for the current environment in the sport are two very different things. Saban was a fantastic coach up until the very end, but I also think that he wanted no part of continuing to deal with this bullshite of annual free agency, half your 2 deep threatening to leave if they don't get a raise, and the rest transferring because they aren't in the 2 deep after one season. KDB literally has a GM to handle that crap, but Saban was his own GM. So yeah, I don’t think it's an unreasonable take to say that he wasn't a great fit for the current culture around the sport. That's not even a criticism of him. If anything it's a compliment considering the culture around the sport fricking sucks right now.
Posted by Yaz 8
Member since Jun 2020
1253 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 8:55 am to
I don’t believe Coach Bryant should be mentioned with the other two at all. His last 4 years were a national championship, a 10-2 top 10 team, Sec Co-champ top 10 team, and then his last team actually fell of to 8-4. He then knew it was time to hang it up.
Posted by Pastor Mike
Florida
Member since Dec 2020
6036 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 10:59 am to
quote:

Being a great coach and being well suited for the current environment in the sport are two very different things. Saban was a fantastic coach up until the very end, but I also think that he wanted no part of continuing to deal with this bullshite of annual free agency, half your 2 deep threatening to leave if they don't get a raise, and the rest transferring because they aren't in the 2 deep after one season. KDB literally has a GM to handle that crap, but Saban was his own GM. So yeah, I don’t think it's an unreasonable take to say that he wasn't a great fit for the current culture around the sport. That's not even a criticism of him. If anything it's a compliment considering the culture around the sport fricking sucks right now.


I have no idea why this was downvoted.
Posted by Pastor Mike
Florida
Member since Dec 2020
6036 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:01 am to
quote:


I don’t believe Coach Bryant should be mentioned with the other two at all.


True, but the Liberty Bowl just doesn't have the same ring as the Orange or Rose Bowl
Posted by My2Bits
2500 mi from Tuscaloosa due west
Member since Jun 2012
5293 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:21 am to
Coach Bryant and Coach Saban would win in any era. Winners win under any circumstance.
“I ain’t nothing but a winner” - Coach Bryant
Posted by Gritz
Member since May 2024
241 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:30 am to
Saban won the SEC sure, but with the talent we had we should have won a national title.

All I’m saying is, I don’t think Saban has gotten out the best of these boys the past few seasons due to his hard arse nature in today’s culture.

We were 115th or something in sacks allowed, and dead last in disaster plays with one of the best OLs on paper.
Posted by HighTide_ATL
Member since Aug 2020
2159 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:33 am to
There's new energy, I don't think that's all that debatable.

That being said, I do think that Saban was still producing at a very high level. He's voiced that he felt like it was becoming more challenging to continue to bring the same standard/output at his age, and I think he did the right thing leaving before the program really started to slip.

I think a lot of what people are feeling can be attributed to having been under the same HC for 17 years, which is practically unheard of these days.
This post was edited on 6/24/24 at 11:35 am
Posted by TheNameIsDalton
Huntsville
Member since Mar 2021
1412 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 11:42 am to
quote:

I have no idea why this was downvoted.


People are way too defensive and they take any criticism as an attack against Alabama.

The writing was on the wall but it won't be for a while until we can have a healthy conversation about the topic.
Posted by Diego Ricardo
Alabama
Member since Dec 2020
8817 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 12:32 pm to
I think the vibes are positive from the Spring camp and Summer recruiting blitz. I want to see what the product looks like on the football field first or foremost. This will likely be DeBoer's most difficult team to manage if he's really nailing his recruiting targets that fit his system. These guys were not recruited to play in his offense or defense. There are going to be several positions where they're just trying to make it work this year before new guy can do the things they really need in 2025.

That was a big factor in 2007 down the stretch. Alabama just could not win the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball and it cost them a 9-3 or 8-4 type season. They were playing DEs at NT and smaller inside linebackers that were recruited to play in a more zone-heavy drop defense that needed those backers to cover space in the passing game.

What is the equivalent to that in 2024? Granted, DeBoer has a deeper quality depth chart than Saban in 2007 so maybe that is the answer. Still, I can't help but think we're going to have some occasional issues on both sides of the ball simply because we don't have the kind of player DeBoer really needs. For example, he seems to like tall, big body receivers and Alabama lacks for that so much that a TE prospect for Saban got moved to WR in the Summer by DeBoer. What if the lack of that archetype at WR - if Odom doesn't emerge - confounds some of his approach in the passing game?

I dunno...just something I've been chewing on since the Spring.
This post was edited on 6/24/24 at 12:33 pm
Posted by Silverback
Gumpin' ain't easy
Member since Aug 2011
4343 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 2:18 pm to
There should be a troll super thread
Posted by TomFromBama
Lower Alabama
Member since Jan 2024
49 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 5:10 pm to
quote:

I don’t believe Coach Bryant should be mentioned with the other two at all. His last 4 years were a national championship, a 10-2 top 10 team, Sec Co-champ top 10 team, and then his last team actually fell of to 8-4. He then knew it was time to hang it up.


In fairness - Saban's last 4 teams were -
- NC in 2020
- One blown Knee from a NC in 2021. (or 2 blown knees from ROUTING UGhey in the NC game)
- A "Crap" season when we "Only" went 11-2 (thanks to SEC officiating as much as our teams failings).
- And 2023 where we were LITERALLY only about Two First downs OR one more Mich Punt, from running out the clock to beat Mich, and almost certainly would have romped on Washington.

It was HARDLY a "JoePa" or Diddy Bowden situation!!!
Posted by PuertoRicanBlaze
Book Board Admin
Member since Apr 2024
4898 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 5:25 pm to
quote:

Saban just isn’t built for this current culture.


Yet he was a count hair away from playing for a national championship... not to mention continued the tradition of beating Georgia. Two years ago, he was two key injured receivers away from winning another national title. Guy can't control injuries.

Deboer will be a good coach but he'll never be Saban. Some of you guys are setting yourselves up for serious disappointment here.
This post was edited on 6/24/24 at 5:27 pm
Posted by CCTider
Member since Dec 2014
24804 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 5:34 pm to
quote:

Coach Bryant and Coach Saban would win in any era. Winners win under any circumstance.
“I ain’t nothing but a winner” - Coach Bryant


But it's a hell of a lot easier to have to enter this era in your 30s or 40s vs late 60s/70s. There's no doubt either could do well in it. Saban is just in an old dog/frick your shitty tricks point in his life. Go enjoy the hundreds of millions you've earned, spoil the hell out of Miss Terry, and enjoy a life with almost zero stress.
Posted by TTOWN RONMON
Member since Oct 2023
1152 posts
Posted on 6/24/24 at 9:06 pm to
All we need to know is when Saban left LSU Miles won 1 title, then went 13-0 in 2011 and lost the title to Bama, so LSU was on cruise control for about 10 years after Saban left his imprint.

There is now one small/maybe big difference, the NIL situation, Saban's old programs was run be the players self discipline as Jr's and Sr's showed the way, now with the NIL and money on demand transferring, those players do not care about discipline, they know they can just move the hell on if a coach crosses the or refuses to start them.
Posted by RiverCityTider
Jacksonville, Florida
Member since Oct 2008
6075 posts
Posted on 6/25/24 at 1:52 am to
Wow.

No one mentions the roster is twice as talented as any Deboer has ever had.

And how could one not expect a schematic advantage when we have a coach that wins at the highest level with a bunch of three stars?

I know we're all supposed to say that there is no way anyone can ever come close to replicating what Saban did. I get it. But the fact is I would not trade out current situation with any program out there.

We're gonna be really good.
Posted by HighTide_ATL
Member since Aug 2020
2159 posts
Posted on 6/25/24 at 6:16 am to
quote:

There is now one small/maybe big difference


Changes in specific rules that have allowed teams to shift to offensive schemes that can abuse even great defenses from the early 2010s would be a big difference as well imo
Posted by CrimsonCrusade
Member since Jan 2014
5537 posts
Posted on 6/25/24 at 9:32 am to
quote:

I don’t believe Coach Bryant should be mentioned with the other two at all. His last 4 years were a national championship, a 10-2 top 10 team, Sec Co-champ top 10 team, and then his last team actually fell of to 8-4. He then knew it was time to hang it up


Right. That last Bear team started 5-0 and reached #2 after blowing out Penn State, the eventual national champions. It was only once Bryant's health completely collapsed that the team did too. If not for the Bear's smoking and drinking, I think he would have been able to keep coaching and had several more championships.
This post was edited on 6/25/24 at 9:33 am
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 2Next pagelast page

Back to top
logoFollow SECRant for SEC Football News
Follow us on X and Facebook to get the latest updates on SEC Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitter