If Miles wins six national championships in this day and age he deserves to be called the greatest ever. The landscape of college football has changed so much just winning your conference has become a mega feat.
The whole point of that email is to show that although Saban won the NC, he did not walk on water. Many people, including myself to a point, were worried that Miles would pull a DiNardo and run this program into the ground. Many people thought that our glory days of winning were over once Saban stepped on that Miami bound plan. However, having time to reflect on Saban's tenure we see that he was not holier than thou and that the program has excelled under Miles' control. Yes, there is a valid argument that Saban had a bare cubbard when he first arrived but that does not explain the meltdown in 2004. It is also a BS argument to say that Saban had his mind on moving to the NFL because a great coach would not let such distractions deter him from the job at hand. Saban is gone and is no longer welcomed back. Miles is the coach, for better or for worse. I will move over to give everyone room on the wagon. :geauxtige
You got that right! You may very well be the only Bama fan that does get it. We really shouldn't care what happens with Saban's Bama, but for some reason, the way it happened gets under our skin. That being said, I have to admit that it gets under my skin to see that most Bama fans (or at least most that post on any boards) seem to think that it will be an instant turnaround there with Saban, and NC's will start coming in 2 or 3 years by the boatload! I guess it stings because these people seem to think it'll be easy for him to dominate because he's at Bama, as opposed to when he was here. That's probably way off base, but that's what bugs me. Like the opening post on this thread, I too have many memories of Saban's tenure here that I'm not fond of. The UAB fiasco is one thing, although it was in his first year. But the meltdowns and beatdowns that occurred under his leadership stick with me. That's what is so funny, for lack of a better word, about the expectations of Saban at Bama. Most of them probably wouldn't believe it if we told them that he got beat down when he played elite teams, and that every now and then, he lost to teams that he should've beaten easily, even well after HIS recruits were in place. Most of them don't know that in the same year that we beat UF, (2004), we VERY NEARLY lost to TROY!...AT HOME! Comparing this to Miles very nearly losing to Ole Miss at home is to compare apples to oranges. We've been blown out in one game so far since Miles has been here, against UGA in last years SECCG. Other than that, we haven't lost to any team that we absolutely should've beaten, and the only other blowouts we've been involved in, we were on the right end of the blowout. One can say all they want that it's the players that have made the difference, but I say it's the coaching. I attribute this to the fact that Miles is not busy thinking about where he'll be coaching next. He's not looking for a new challenge. Miles may never win a championship, but we like our coach, as unbelievable as it sounds, even better than Saban. Yes, Saban is to be praised for turning our program around, and developing it into one of the elite programs in the country. Yes, Saban is to be praised for bringing us the MNC. He is a great coach and recruiter, WHEN his mind is on the job. But if he keeps his mind on the job at Bama, it's no guarantee that he wins any championship of any kind. Like BamaBuzzard said, the landscape of college football is entirely different, as is the landscape of the SEC, and specifically the SECWest.
I agree. To be fair, Saban DID bring up the program with many improvements at LSU that got the ball rolling with successful recruiting. By no means he is invincible, and for the teams' success in 2003 he didn't do it alone. I see that year as a phenomenon when the players finally gel and play together, and the stars lining up perfectly at the end. The success also pretty much depended on the individual players' performance and maturity: 2002 season was a good example with the inconsistency of the rotating QBs. I suspect that the Tiger fans negative reaction to Saban would not have been so strong had he gone to a non SEC team. No doubt LSU fans are disappointed at the character flaw of someone they revered so much because of what he did to turn around the LSU program; the way he dropped Miami while lying had certainly opened up some old wounds. The first round when he left LSU, fans are forgiving because they understand his personal desire to be an NFL HC. The second round, fans are less forgiving when they have a better understanding of his flaw, with the character issue finally sinking in. I think deep down the fans also see him as a threat both in competing on the field, particularly against his type of defense ,and with recruiting. I love saying: "Beauty is only skin deep". Miles may look a bit "clumsy" (I am not sure if that is the right word?)or not as articulate at press conferences. However I think his virtues of being able to hold the team together and producie two very successful seasons, as well as ability to recruit and making good assistant coach hiring decisions are finally seeping through. Not to mention his solid character is rather a refreshing contrast to that of Saban's.:thumb: I have to say that I am very happy that LSU got Miles and the Tiger nation is finally settling in and supporting him.
I agree with everything is this post, except the highlighted portion. Personally, and I mean just me here, it wouldn't have made a difference to me if he had gone back to Mich State. I still would feel this way. The reason for this is exactly what you said, that I underlined in my quote. It's that his character has been revealed. Personally, if he's gonna do this, I would RATHER he do it at a team that we get to play EVERY year. More incentive for us.
