re: A former college and NFL coach for 40 years was asked who the 5 greatest

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But Devaney took a team that had been down for a decade or more (and was just decent to pretty good at best in the past), and turned them into a blueblood.

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Couldn't the same be said of Spurrier,Schenelenburger and Bowden?

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Problem is the SEC wasn't as strong back when bear coached as it is now

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It's a pretty stupid hypothetical to begin with and Saban he's proved he d be successful under almost any rules or limitations.

AU and LSU are certainly better,
UT definitely isn't and UF and UGA (CMR) are comparable.

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I said it before, Saban would not have as many NCs under the System that Bear Bryant played under.


What's your argument here? Most people say that the main component in Saban's success is his ability to recruit more talented players than everyone else. With no scholarship limitations wouldn't his talent differential be even more insane?

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I don't think that was his point. Take Saban's teams with identical records and rankings, and most of them wouldn't have had a path to a championship in a bowl game.

Under the postseason system Bryant operated under, we would not have won in 2011. The undefeated SEC champion LSU would have played in the Sugar Bowl against a much lower ranked opponent...probably #7 Boise. Maybe we would have played Oklahoma State in the Orange Bowl. LSU probably doesn't lose.

In 2012 we win if Notre Dame agrees to go to the Sugar Bowl to play Alabama, or if they get beat by a lesser ranked bowl opponent in the Orange or Cotton.

In 2015 we probably don't win because #1 Clemson goes to the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma...who they pummeled anyway. We get stuck in the Sugar Bowl, against either #6 Stanford or #7 Ohio State.

In 2017 #1 Clemson gets either Alabama or Oklahoma...probably Oklahoma, since Oklahoma was higher ranked and had the Heisman winner. #3 Georgia probably gets Wisconsin in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama gets stuck probably in the Cotton or Fiesta Bowl with no path to the championship.

In 2008, without an SECCG, we would have gone to the Sugar Bowl as conference champions...but we would have probably played #4 Florida, and if the results had been the same, either Florida, Texas, or Oklahoma would have been champions.

So under the same system, Saban wins in 2009, and maybe 2012. That's it.

If Bryant had an opportunity in 1966 and 1977 to play in a 4 team playoff, maybe he wins championships those years. But he also loses any credit for 1973.

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“The old lessons (work, self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve) aren’t being taught by many people other than football coaches these days. The football coach has a captive audience and can teach these lessons because the communication lines between himself and his players are more wide open than between kids and parents. We better teach these lessons or else the country’s future population will be made up of a majority of crooks, drug addicts, or people on relief.”

Coach Bryant......man was he correct

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lol ... there are certainly an equal number of people who learned hard work/self discipline/fighting to achieve from something other than sports ... i'd be willing to bet most of the nobel prize winners for science/medicine didn't learn those traits from sports ...

Bud Wilkinson

u must be young as none of your coaches coached back when General Neyland, Bud Wilkerson and the like coached. some on those lists never won a natty and some on that list only won 1 or 2

You have friends??

Suppose it was just the BCS. Does Bear get to play Texas after the 1977 season? Does Alabama win?

1978- Would Bama still get to play PSU or would it be USC who had beaten Bama in Birmingham against Penn St.?

1979 instead of Arkansas Bama would have played #1 OSU. Again does Bama win?


In 2016 Saban would have played OSU. With the officiating in that game who knows what the outcome would have been.

Personally, I think both coaches geared the style/philosophy to the Era they coached in. And both would have been successful in any era.

I heard Paul Bryant was a decent coach. Glad this thread was created as confirmation.

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I said it before, Saban would not have as many NCs under the System that Bear Bryant played under.

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The system where Bama claims everything remotely close to a NC?

Pretty sure Saban would have all the championships