Any truth to this? From an Aubie site.

That is the problem with having an excellent coach. You know that he can go just about anywhere he wants just about any time he wants. You just have to count your blessings while he is here. Hopefully, the next Saban to come along will see LSU as the place to be.

 

Have you ever seen Saban's house on Highland Road? Its a freakin' palace. There was an article about the house in the real estate section when it was for sale even before Nick came to Baton Rouge. On 20 acres with pool tennis court, a guest house, 4 car airconditioned and heated garage with an airconditioned and heated walkway between the house and garage. The asking price at the time was $6 million. I don't know if Saban bought it or is leasing it or is being "loaned" to him by the owner but if I lived there I wouldn't be too anxious to move out.

 

I would think he has generated $6 million worth of favorable publicity for LSU since he arrived. My son enrolled at Tennessee while Peyton Manning was there. His freshman class was the largest ever and the class followng his was larger still. The academic standards of those classes also was much higher. Will LSU flourish as a university in a similar way while Saban is on campus?

 

I don't think a football coach or the coach of any other sport has any affect on the overall academic preformance of the non playing students but Nick has definately inproved the academic standing of the football players.

 

I think the words to describe this situation are, "Athletics are the window through which a university is viewed by the rest of the country."

Now I can't take credit for that, someone else (can't remember who) said that. But I think it aptly describes the college sports phenomenon.

When LSU is winning, the school gets favorable press, and gets talked about more in the national media. It also gets our commercials on TV during timeouts and halftime and gets prospective students thinking about going to LSU. Yes folks, that's right. Some high school seniors out there are shallow enough or non-committal enough to base their college choice on whether or not that school has a winning football team.

Hey, I don't care. Whatever gets them through the door.

Coach Saban certainly has played a huge role in that. But in the end, the school's reputation among entrenched academia will only get better if the academics get better. Credit for that goes to Chancellor Emmert. He definitely has LSU moving in the right direction.

The PR of a winning football team certainly helps though, and Emmert is smart enough to know that.

ARE YOU LISTENING VANDERBILT!!!??! THAT'S RIGHT, I SAID A WINNING FOOTBALL PROGRAM WILL HELP, NOT HURT, A UNIVERSITY'S ACADEMICS!!!!!! LISTEN AND LEARN! :angry: :cuss: :angry: :cuss: :cry: :cry: :dis: :dis: :dis:

 

Overall, you are correct. But where there is a difference is in the population of people showing interest in the school while still in high school.

The success of the football and other teams brings more media attention, so you hear LSU on the news and see it on TV.

Even people who aren't going to be athletes in college see and hear that and it gets them looking. At that point, it's up to the academic side to get them to campus, but the athletics can certainly help and does help to build interest....