One slight thing I disagree about is that Saban was not anywhere near being fired from the Dolphins. Wayne Huizenga fought very, very hard to keep Saban from leaving, and Miami (the City) was B-I-T-T-E-R about him leaving.
Nick Saban retiring
- Thread starter BigJCy
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I just don't know how an NFL guy would want to go from a much more simple process in attaining and retaining a team and go into the mess that is college football.
Those two coaches coached for 42 combined years at Alabama. The Bryant and Saban Eras were defintiely both ELITE.
However, Alabama also has three other Hall of Fame Coaches who had Undefeated, Untied Bowl Championship Seasons (Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas and Gene Stallings being the other three) during the past 99 seasons. The combined Wade-Thomas-Stallings Eras are better than most programs (perhaps Top 20 or so).
Since Alabama had their first Undefeated, Untied Bowl Championship Team in 1925 (10-0 Rose Bowl Champions), the longest they have gone between Undefeated, Untied, Bowl Championship teams was 17 years (between 1992 and 2009):
1925: 10-0 Rose Bowl Champions under Wallace Wade
1930: 10-0 Rose Bowl Champions under Wallace Wade
1934: 10-0 Rose Bowl Champions under Frank Thomas
1945: 10-0 Rose Bowl Champions under Frank Thomas-*
1961: 11-0 Sugar Bowl Champions under Paul Bryant
1966: 11-0 Sugar Bowl Champions under Paul Bryant-*
1979: 12-0 Sugar Bowl Champions under Paul Brtant
1992: 13-0 Sugar Bowl Champions under Gene Stallings
2009: 14-0 BCS Champions @ Pasadena under Saban
2020: 13-0 Rose Bowl and CFB Playoff Championship @ Miami Gardens under Saban
So, in the past 99 seasons, they have had at least one Undefeated, Untied Bowl Championship season in 7 different decades with 5 different Head Coaches.
Time will tell how Alabama fairs in the post Saban Era, but I hardly believe they will fall completely off the map like Nebraska has.
*-Did not win National Championship that season, but that is not the metric I am using.
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Agreed. I think Coach K and Roy Williams were other examples of this.
People are quick to forget the struggles Bama had prior to Saban. That dude has been the secret ingredient.
Following a Legend at any school is often a risky career move. Typically the next coach falls way short. Some examples I can think of are coaches who followed Barry Switzer, Bobby Knight, Bear Bryant, Joe Paterno,
Pete Carroll (@USC), Lou Holtz (@Notre Dame), Mack Brown and Phil Fulmer. Jon Scheyer and Bill Self are outliers IMO.
Edit: Here are a few more I didn't think of : https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ng-college-football-coach-legend/72182800007/
Pete Carroll (@USC), Lou Holtz (@Notre Dame), Mack Brown and Phil Fulmer. Jon Scheyer and Bill Self are outliers IMO.
Edit: Here are a few more I didn't think of : https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ng-college-football-coach-legend/72182800007/
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My personal hunch is that Bama has known about Saban's intentions (roughly) for some time and have likely put word out amongst their significant boosters that if they wanted to make a run at Swinney they'd start having to assemble a war chest for his buyout. My guess is there is already a pile of money that's been earmarked for such an occasion, and that's without any new monies other donors would give now that Saban is officially gone.
Dabo is only 54, a Bama grad, coached there, and is from the area. He also appears to be unhappy with the direction the ACC, college football, and the NIL have went these last few years. I think he leaves Clemson IF Bama offers him. The question is will Alabama be willing to buy him out of his contract?
IMO, this is the only true homerun hire they can make and that the fanbase would universally get behind.
Dabo is only 54, a Bama grad, coached there, and is from the area. He also appears to be unhappy with the direction the ACC, college football, and the NIL have went these last few years. I think he leaves Clemson IF Bama offers him. The question is will Alabama be willing to buy him out of his contract?
IMO, this is the only true homerun hire they can make and that the fanbase would universally get behind.
Yep you’re right about that. Precipice of being fired was hyperbole on my end. The owner definitely wanted to retain Saban.
But, he wasn’t having success and long-term his job security was at risk. He was 15-17 and missed the playoffs his first two seasons. You miss the playoffs your first 3 years as an NFL coach and you’re usually fired.
If he was in the playoffs at Miami (like Ryans in Houston) I don’t see Bama being able to lure him.
Sounds like Lanning (Oregons coach) is already in Tuscaloosa interviewing. Which would mean they have known Saban was retiring for a while
Everything before Bear Bryant is largely irrelevant. Back in those days schedules were almost exclusively regional, making it nearly impossible to accurately compare programs. The majority of the people voting on those games rarely, if ever, saw multiple teams that were in the running for the (mythical) "title". That's why you saw as many as 4-5 crowned "champions" a year.
Alabama had ONE title in the 30 year stretch between Bryant's last and Saban's first (the Stallings title) and there were plenty of bad years mixed in there.
Given the combination of history, ability to recruit, recruiting grounds, place to live, quality of school, and money I just don't think Alabama is a top 5 destination. If anything you make my point that it was largely a two coach powerhouse that made the program what it was.
Give me Lanning over Dabo. Feel like this was 3 years too late for Dabo to get the job
I'm starting to get the "close to" end of Bobby Bowden's FSU vibe with Dabo.
Hell of a run. Top 5/10 teams for a while, and now creeping into the teens/twenties. I feel like Clemson could have a lot of 9ish win teams going forward but I'm not sure if that gets them into the 12 team playoffs.
I really think you should go back and at what you are calling struggling before Saban. Gene Stallings won a national championship in 1993 a decade after Bryant left. What you are calling struggling, most teams would sign up for in a heartbeat, and it's not like Michigan, Florida and others have not struggled worse after losing a long-time coach.
The problem with winning at a high level is the fans expect to continue to do so, look at Day at OSU, people want him out, and he is winning 12 games a season.
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You are correct that pre-Bryant is irrelevant for today, but it was very relevant for hiring Bryant in 1958. After Thomas retired, the program bottomed out in the mid 50s (1955-7) and Auburn won the AP National Championship to boot in 1957. So, Alabama went out and brought Bryant (who was already condidered a top tier coach after winning an SEC Championship @ Kentucky and a SWC Championship @ A&M) to come home. FYI: Bryant was a member of the 1934 Alabama Rose Bowl Championship team.
I totally agree about National Championships in the previous Eras, which is why I used Undefeated, Untied Bowl Championship teams (regardless of MNC claims) instead of National Championships as my metric.
You are correct that Bryant and Saban are responsible for much of Alabama's History (42 years anyway), that is true. However, to discount that as not relevant in the overall winning culture does not make sense. They had GREAT teams before Bryant, GREAT teams between Bryant and Saban and will have GREAT teams after Saban. The diference is that they will not be able to do it year after year after year like those two did.
FWIW, Wade (W), Thomas (T) and Stallings (S) had a combined 5 Undefeated, Untied Bowl Championship teams (1925-W, 1930-W, 1934-T, 1945-T and 1992-S) themselves - which has only been equalled by one program: Penn State (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986 and 1994).
They have been playing Championship level football for 99 years under 5 hall of Fame Coaches (with some stinkers in between) in totally different eras, and I do not see that just fading away. I suppose they could become irrelevant like Army, Minnesota or Nebraska, but I highly doubt it. Time will tell!
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Dude can go 10-2 every year and have a hell of a good shot at playoffs at Oregon.
I’d take all these rumors (Lanning in Tuscaloosa interviewing, Lanning already a done deal, etc.) and throw them in the trash
Saban has only been retired for 18 hours or so. Even with an internal hire waiting in the wings, it would take longer than a day to do due diligence. And all reports indicate this will be an outside hire. This will take probably 2-3 weeks (at least) to get ironed out
Plus, it sounds like he gave little early inclination to his AD, so it is probably scramble the jets time at Bama. Might take awhile. Lanning already indicated no, but we have all seen that story play out before.