re: Could Saban win a national championship at South Carolina?

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I think the talent would follow him to some extent. Not from Bama, but you can bet the house that every high school football player in america who is serious about playing in college knows who Saban is and what he is capable of.

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Now yes. My point was that when Saban came to Bama, the media (probably unjustifiably to some extent) started talking about him like he was simply unbeatable. Of course, he is now, after years of using Bama's reputation and the media's help, but at the time, coming from MSU/LSU/Miami, he hadn't really shown that. He'd shown himself to be a championship caliber coach, but there are plenty of those. The drama of the move to Bama and the media attention that followed paid huge dividends to Saban.

So if he'd gone to USC instead, I don't think the same thing would have happened. He would certainly get talent, but USC doesn't have the Bama-factor, nor would Saban have as much Saban-factor becoming the head coach of USC.

I think if he went from Bama to USC today under favorable circumstances, the recruiting would follow and there would be a pretty good chance he could get it done in 5 years.