I was doing some research on Michigan State after watching a replay of their 99' bowl game against Florida and was shocked to find out how poorly Saban's teams did under him. I was aware that he didn't set the world on fire while at State, but I had no idea he got blown out so often and that his records were that bad. 1995: 6-5 1996: 6-6 1997: 7-5 1998: 6-6 Blowout losses: 1995: lost to Nebraska 50-10 lost to Wisconsin 45-14 lost to LSU 45-26 1996: lost to Nebraska 55-14 lost to Michigan 45-29 lost to Stanford 38-0 1997: lost to Ohio State 37-13 lost to Washington 51-23 1998: lost to Oregon 48-14 lost to Penn State 51-28 1999: lost to Purdue 52-28 lost to Wisconsin 40-10 Those game weren't even competitive. A bit shocking considering how he thought of as a coach.
Are you referring to the Nick Saban who used to coach at LSU? I didn't know for sure, because he's hardly ever mentioned on Tigerforums.
Nick who?....... Saban you say?......... Saban.......saban.......SAAAAAbbbbaaaan.........hmmmmmm NOPE never heard of em.
The interesting stat is going to be Saban v. Miles records in year three and four for Saban. If Miles keeps winning big and Bama does not rise to some form of near-dominance, the mantra will be that Saban did not make LSU a great team, LSU made Saban (and Miles) into great coaches. And the corresponding idea might be that it is damn risky to leave LSU if you are a coach riding high here. Remember how "bad" a coach Charlie Mac was and how many times he had really good seasons even though he supposedly could not coach. Saban could easily fall into a category of a lousy coach (Mich St, Dolphins, Bama) who was "lucky" LSU had him and not vice versa.
Like I'v always told people when we get into the "winning with his recruits" argument. LSU recruits itself, almost every kid in the state grows up wanting to play for LSU. If I remember correctly we had a pretty loaded team (talentwise) when Nick rolled into town. Dinardo just couldn't do much with it. As for being a better coach? We would have punted in the Florida game and they would have run out the clock if ol Nicky was at the helm. What does that say? I know for a fact when asked what I thought about Les coming here? I quote myself here, "WOW, I can't wait to see our offense open up."
I said the same thing. Many of my friends were unsure about losing Saban, but I saw an exciting LSU team to watch with Les at the helm. I could never understand,with the speed of LSU recievers , why Saban let Fisher through east and west. He should have continually stretched the field and make the defense chase us. I am glad Jimbo "bubble screen" Fisher is gone.:tigerhead
Me too. Perfect timing as well. Now Florida State can continue with their new tradition of offensive mediocrity.:lol:
