Saban's coattails have been a pretty nice ride for him so far. I'd think about that were I him. On the other hand, he's got to know that old big ears can pull just so many horseshoes out of his asz and there might be a future at Auburn.
Dolphins DC leaves, with Capers coming in. Who gets the title, Capers or assistant head coach for defense Muschamp? Does Muschamp get passed over and leave.... www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/football/13767833.htm Dolphins lose defensive coordinatorBy JASON [email protected] week after coming up just short of cleaning out his office, Dolphins defensive coordinator Richard Smith left the team to take the same job with the Houston Texans. The Houston Chronicle reported that Smith will take that post under new coach Gary Kubiak. Smith had been talking with the Texans for more than week after the Dolphins hired former Houston coach Dom Capers to be a special assistant to coach Nick Saban. Saban declined to comment on the report about Smith leaving. Capers has an extensive background in the 3-4 defense that the Dolphins run much of the time and is a close friend of Saban for more than 30 years. Smith spent one year with the Dolphins after being hired from Detroit. He shared responsibility of the defense with assistant head coach for defense Will Muschamp. Smith spent much of the time designing the defensive game plan, and Muschamp called most of the plays, although Saban had tremendous input on the defense. Under the new coaching staff, Saban has not said how the responsibilities for the defense will be divided.
Hmm...my first impulse is to discredit this rumor. Why? Well, I seriously doubt WM woulda made the jump to join Nick in Miami unless Saban offered---and WM agreed to---a long-term, mutually-agreeable understanding of how he'd fit in and contribute in Miami (being "assistant head coach for defense" of an NFL team, working closely w/ a freaking coaching stud, is a pretty nice gig for, what, a 35 year old...but I digress). In other words, I seriously doubt NS offered WM a certain level of access and responsibility...only to yank it away in just one year without WM already knowing this was a possibility/knowing this was part of the longer-term plan. On the other hand, Saban has assistants leave him in droves historically, so it's not too much of a stretch that NS promised one thing to WM and ultimately delivered another, and WM has decided to pull up stakes as a result.
I think Muschamp went to the NFL for one reason: to build his resume. Everybody likes to see that you've worked in the NFL, & gotten experience with how things are on the next level. Head coaches want coordinators with it, schools want head coaches with it, and high school kids want to play for coaches with it.
Exactly, little is known just how much or how little Muschamp should be credited with the success of the D. I think everyone will agree that Saban was the defensive coordinator.
I don't disagree, but if this is the reason he went with Nick to the pros, then it makes zero sense for him to voluntarily leave now and take the same exact type of job he left two years ago. It's like working third shift at a store, leaving to attend and graduate law school, then hitting the local Wal-Mart with JD in hand to get your old job back. Makes no sense. If he was fired by the Dolphins, yes, but in this case it makes no sense...unless he thinks he's in over his head in the pros. Unlikely, because if that was the case I imagine NS woulda given him a push out of the door.
I would have to disagree here. As everyone else alluded to already, WM was only the DC here in title. We all know it was Saban who was the real DC. The Aubarn job isnt anywhere near the exact job he had at LSU.
