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re: How did we all know Saban was a sure thing?
Posted on 10/27/20 at 7:24 am to TexasTiger08
Posted on 10/27/20 at 7:24 am to TexasTiger08
I looked at the talent he’d recruited to LSU and wanted something like that. For everyone who said he’d only be at Bama for 2-3 years, I said that was fine as long as he recruited well for those 2 or 3 years.
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Posted on 10/27/20 at 7:56 am to BFANLC
quote:
I recall a certain intoxicated person who thought he was awesome the minute he got off the plane.
Collete passed away a few years ago. Hell of a Bama fan.
And yes. I wood have.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 8:01 am to TexasTiger08
Once he proved how he could build that shithole of a program that LSU had from the ground up, I think the going opinion was that he could do it anywhere.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 8:06 am to Defnot Altie
quote:
I first realized he was a big deal when I saw him strut out onto the field, with those tiny little strides, and just dominate Western Carolina. That's when I knew we had a good one; I love that little midget.
I recognize that bitter obsession at 2:21 am.
How many email addresses do you have now?
Posted on 10/27/20 at 8:19 am to r2d2
quote:
In recent years he hasn't just out talented very few teams, but those few with similar rosters have beaten him.
Like Georgia?
Posted on 10/27/20 at 8:42 am to rebelrouser
quote:
So he had to cheat to recruit well at Bama (after he already had a nat'l title and nfl hc stint)but not LSU (after he was a mediocre Big10 coach at MSU)?
Careful. LSU fans don't like logic as part of their breakfast.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 8:56 am to SummerOfGeorge
quote:LSU can't help themselves, bless their little hearts
Let's face it Alabama cheats like no one else
Posted on 10/27/20 at 9:20 am to BLG
quote:
I recognize that bitter obsession at 2:21 am.
How many email addresses do you have now?
I'm an Alabama fan, BLG. But, I see nothing wrong with a little lighthearted razzing concerning Saban's height.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 9:26 am to TexasTiger08
Bill King used to have an awesome afternoon call-in radio show in Nashville. I've never heard him so angry as the day in January of 2007 when Alabama hired Saban. Said Alabama had just pushed all their chips into the middle of the table and went on a three-hour rant against the UT administration for not doing what had to be done with Fulmer. No one could have foreseen 14 years, but King knew that it was all over in Knoxville and especially against Alabama. King knew what was coming.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 9:41 am to TexasTiger08
I don't think it's a slight to Saban to acknowledge that sports media gave him a huge boost and basically cut out the "prove it" stage of his Alabama tenure.
While he has lived up to and then some, you can certainly make the argument he was crowned as a conquering hero returning to bring Alabama back to life well before his resume deserved such treatment. Honestly, today, it's kind of hard to envision that. Wall to wall coverage of a coach with a mediocre/failed NFL experience and one national title coming back to CFB? It just seems so different than how the media handles stuff now.
While he has lived up to and then some, you can certainly make the argument he was crowned as a conquering hero returning to bring Alabama back to life well before his resume deserved such treatment. Honestly, today, it's kind of hard to envision that. Wall to wall coverage of a coach with a mediocre/failed NFL experience and one national title coming back to CFB? It just seems so different than how the media handles stuff now.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 10:16 am to Pettifogger
Another thing that had to happen when Saban was hired, according to some reports, is that there were snakes in the Alabama athletic department who had to be run off...old Ray Perkins and Mike Shula loyalists who gave Shula bad advice about how he could keep his job. Saban was able to successfully purge the department and make sure that every employee 100% bought into him and what he wanted to do. And while Mark Gottfried certainly did enough on his own to get fired, I remember watching a game in Coleman about a month after Saban was hired. I think we were playing Arkansas. I was sitting a few rows behind Saban and several football recruits. Poor play by Alabama, low energy team, low energy crowd, and I always wondered what Saban must have thought regarding that as an experience he was bringing football recruits to watch. I wouldn't have been surprised if Saban had a word or two with Mal Moore.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 11:39 am to TexasTiger08
I remember my dad telling me it was a done deal...
We both felt it was a great hire. Didn't necessarily like the way the Shula exit occurred but we both reconciled that it was a better 5 yr hire and that if anything ...there wouldnt be any of the skipping weight room sessions that Shula allowed
ETA....i remember also reading an article on Everyday should be Saturday ( or something like that) and the premise was that as soon as Nick started getting his recruits in place that Bama was going to run a buzzsaw through the SEC. ...pretty much right
We both felt it was a great hire. Didn't necessarily like the way the Shula exit occurred but we both reconciled that it was a better 5 yr hire and that if anything ...there wouldnt be any of the skipping weight room sessions that Shula allowed
ETA....i remember also reading an article on Everyday should be Saturday ( or something like that) and the premise was that as soon as Nick started getting his recruits in place that Bama was going to run a buzzsaw through the SEC. ...pretty much right
This post was edited on 10/27/20 at 11:47 am
Posted on 10/27/20 at 11:40 am to BamaGradinTn
quote:
Another thing that had to happen when Saban was hired, according to some reports, is that there were snakes in the Alabama athletic department who had to be run off...old Ray Perkins and Mike Shula loyalists
100% accurate. The athletic department pre-Saban was a real disaster. I am glad he purged so many of the leeches who contributed to the dismal state of UA athletics pre-2007.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 11:47 am to TexasTiger08
In December of 1999, no one knew who Saban was in the South.
I don't think a large part of the fan base became enthused until we heard him speak at functions and watched him recruit.
I think the turning point was after a loss to Ole Miss in Baton Rouge in '01 that dropped us to 4-3, he went on to win 7 in a row including the SECCG and Sugar Bowl. 2002 was a bit of a letdown but we were an Arky Hail Mary away from going to Atlanta 3 straight years.
Yes he helped the program. But most people don's remember that LSU was just 2 years removed from winning 27 games and 3 straight bowl victories in '95, '96, and '97.
Saban only had one year at LSU where he lost less than 3 games....
I don't think a large part of the fan base became enthused until we heard him speak at functions and watched him recruit.
I think the turning point was after a loss to Ole Miss in Baton Rouge in '01 that dropped us to 4-3, he went on to win 7 in a row including the SECCG and Sugar Bowl. 2002 was a bit of a letdown but we were an Arky Hail Mary away from going to Atlanta 3 straight years.
Yes he helped the program. But most people don's remember that LSU was just 2 years removed from winning 27 games and 3 straight bowl victories in '95, '96, and '97.
Saban only had one year at LSU where he lost less than 3 games....
This post was edited on 10/27/20 at 11:49 am
Posted on 10/27/20 at 11:54 am to TexasTiger08
Before his name was mentioned I was telling my son who lived in New York at the time about Saban. He had beaten I think Notre Dame, Penn St, Michigan all in the same year. I just saw the fire in his belly on the sidelines and the command he had over everyone. I always like a coach that was demonstrative on the sidelines.
Posted on 10/27/20 at 5:18 pm to BamaGradinTn
quote:
Saban was hired, according to some reports, is that there were snakes in the Alabama athletic department who had to be run off...
Absolutely. And once the DJ Halls were not longer in the program things took off.
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