re: Is Bama all Saban or would they win without him?

The ONLY reason Bama had that lull in the early 2000s was because of sanctions, which they are designed to do.
Remember, Mike shula isn't the coach without sanctions. Hell neither is Fran. Butch Davis was leaving the canes for Bama. He got someone's ear at the NCAA, I believe, as most others do, it was David swank who told butch they were gonna hammer Bama. We had to hire shula because no one else wanted it, for good reason. Our 3 finalists when shula took the job was shula, Richard Williamson and croom.

Anyway, without sanctions those years don't happen. Bama has always been, Will always be a force in sec football.

When Bama beat auburn in 08 36-0, it was apparent to auburn brass that probation had beaten Bama 6 straight and not really tubs. They saw what was gonna happen to tubs when Bama had 85 legit sec players and showed him the door.