Have been consistent reports from trainers, donors, friends of coaches, family of players, and coaches themselves who have said if Saban would have stayed, we would have lost many many more players. There were lots of players who were fed up with how Nick was treating them. Whether they were justified or not, it seems a given we would have lost a large part of the team, but none would have been big contributors (except RN and AW, who many said were going).
It's easy to say that now that Saban is gone. The actual quotes we hear from real LSU players flies in the face of those "reports" and I give no credence whatsoever to them. Especially this one.
Yep, it's hard to understand how Saban was so disliked and players were going to leave the program when LSU had such a low attrition rate under Saban. Hell, we couldn't even sign a full recruiting class this year b/c players didn't leave the program. I have little doubts that Saban was a hardass and probably not an easy coach to play for. He demanded perfection and he would let you know when you weren't performing up to his expectations. Some players may not have liked him, but given our success, it was obvious the majority of players bought into his system and respected him as a coach. There is more to coaching than just being a likeable coach...
You guys can believe what you want, but it is the truth according to players, players' families, and none other than Jimbo Fisher if you believe the posters on TB. I do because many of them are known to work for/with LSU AD and are players' families. For what it's worth, these reports didn't surface after he left, they have been talked about since midway through the season...but certainly once a guy who can fire you or bench you leaves, your mouth moves more freely.
