Once again you and I disagree. If I was a parent, and I was sending my kid to a coach, either 4th string or a kicker, a kicker that was an all-american and one of the more visable players on your squad. I would be dissapointed that my coach was so disinterested in my son that he would make a comment like "I did not know him very well" I look at Saban and see what his players say about him. But when it comes to you and I agreement has never been a part of this board.
Usually kickers are your leading scorers. Saying that he didn't know him well is just a CYA lie. He is distancing himself from an embarassment.
Let me get this straight. The Auburn kicker Damon Duval was arrested, in a trailer park, for beating on his live-in girlfriend? And Auburn people have the audacity to refer to us as the tank-topped trailer trash of the SEC? I can only shake my head and laugh at this one. Sooner or later, we all get what's coming to us. Duval is getting his now.
Do you guys really think that Saban has a close personal relationship with every player on his team, or even every starter?? I'll bet he is close with a lot of the defensive players, and a lot of his recruits, but not much more than that. Saban probably does not spend a whole heck of a lot of time with the offense, and I would be if he were honest, he would say "I didn't know him too well." about a certain percentage of his team. I don't think Duval was a tuberville recruit, was he?? Even if he was, I doubt Tubby, or any other head coach would get very involved in the recruitment of a kicker. I can't find anything at fault with the head coach of a college football team not knowing the starting kicker very well on a personal basis, a lot of head coaches do a lot less actual coaching than most people think. I'm no Auburn or Tubby fan, but I think you guys are letting your "anti anything other than LSU bias" shine through a little too much.
Auburn has a lot of nice places in it. I too lived there for some time and don't remember seeing any trailer parks. I know where I lived was nice and there were lots of other nice areas around town.
Maybe if Tubby had spent more time getting to know him he would have done better the last 2 years he was at Auburn.
I disagree with you J_Oats. I don't know if Tuberville recruited Duval or not but Tuberville's first year at AU was 1999 and Duval was a freshman. Are you going to tell me that in 4 years a coach doesn't know anything about an All-American kicker? And if you don't think coaches spend much effort recruiting kickers, you're wrong there also. Look at recent history in the LSU program and tell me how much difference a great place kicker could have made, i.e. Wade Richey et al. Unless you are an LSU football player or a friend of Saban's or a coach, I think it is very presumptuous to state what type of relationship Saban has with his players. Tuberville's statement sounds like him trying to distance himself from the situation. But hey, if your coach is a thug, players will be too.
dplsu, as far as recruiting, I guarantee you that most head coaches do not take an active roll in recruiting kickers. College's break up different regions to different coaches, the head coach probably talks to all the recruits, but the regional recruiter is the real meat & potatoes guy, at most places, the head coach is not the main recruiter of many players, especially the kicker. You are right, it is presumptuous of me to assume the type of relationship Saban has with his players, but isn't it equally presumptuous of you to do the same thing?? From what I have heard over the years, just general tidbits from interviews and articles and all the other things I have picked up over the years, players are ussually very close to their position coaches, and maybe their coordinators and recruiters. I'm sure the head coach is close to a lot of players, Is all I'm saying is that I don't find it unnusual or wrong that Tubberville didn't know his kicker that well. I think it is more likely than not that if Saban were honest, he would say the same thing about at least a few of the players that have played for him, I truly believe that
Thing is Oats, I'm not being presumptuous one way or another, I'm not pretending to know how close a coach I don't know personally is to players I don't know personally. And then basing that assessment on "bits and pieces" I've picked up over the years through articles. You in fact accused posters on this board of letting their purple and gold shine through for having an opinion about an article and yet you base your opinion about recruiting on articles you've read. And your condescending attitude in trying to explain how recruiting works is a little insulting. My brother was a first team all state linebacker and second team fullback for the state of Nevada in the eighties and was recruited by several DII schools....too short for DI...and my best friend was a highly recruited power forward by Stanford among others. I attended two unofficial visits with him. Not that this makes me an expert in any regard but I also didn't just fall off the turnip truck. That's the problem with these forums, you don't know if the person talking down to you is some wet-behind-the-ears kid or someone who actually has some knowledge.
Ok...Terrific. I don't why you have to get angry with me. I'm not trying to act like I'm an expert or anything, I'm not proclaiming my resume as a recruiting expert from my vast experience of having friends and relatives recruited by small schools back in the 80's(I'm just busting your balls, don't take offense) I'm just talking as a fan. While I don't know more than the average fan, I do know enough about recruiting to know that head coaches don't get heavily involved in the recruitment of kickers on a regular basis. Don't ask me how I know, it is just one of the things a person knows. Arabs hate Jews, big time head coaches don't recruit kickers, and I need to replace the back rotors on my car. I also don't expect a head coach of more than 100 football players, a recruiter, an alumni stroker, and a boss to 10 other coaches to be close to every single player on his team. It is just impractical. I doubt very seriously that everyone on the LSU football team is close to Saban, thats not a knock on him, it is just the practicalities of life. That is why I don't think Tubby is a bad guy for not being close with his kicker
