When thinking about it....what would you guys rather....and these are of course pure speculation. A.) 15 year, 3mil year LSU contract B.) 5 year, 5 or 6 mil year NFL contract. Some of the pros/cons of "A" are that you have a long term job, you are a God (now at least), very little living expenses, no Egos, essentially FULL control over your team, great boosters, a stadium bigger than every NFL stadium (full every weekend). Cons- you have a long term job, baton rouge is WELL known for turning on its coachs OVERNIGHT!, you HAVE to win 90% of your games to get to the championship (for any hope), from now on a 3 loss season is a disaster, from now on not making SECCG is a disaster, recruiting is hard and exhausting, the comming headache of academic elligibility as NCAA reforms.... Pro's/cons of B: You have a well organized draft and fairly good parity in NFL (except for detroit!), you are allowed to lose games, lots in fact. For any football coach on any level, the ultimate goal would be to coach in the SUPER BOWL, you can WIN the superbowl and forever have your place in history, no eligibility hassels (only Substance abuse policy), lots more money (per year) and still with very low cost of living. Cons- crybaby NFL players, substance abuse hassels, training camp away from home in some cases, lots of road traveling, with parity new coachs (Mariuchi/spurrier) are expected to make even the worst teams (detroit/wash) win. Typicall MUCH MUCH less control over the management of the team....and you do have a DEFINATE/ABSOLUTE BOSS (be it the GM/owner/or both....whereas everyone at LSU knows that NICK IS THE BOSS!). Although he is now a god in BR, the NFL and the chance to coach in a super bowl have got to be appealing....FURTHER....he can always go BACK to being a college HC if the NFL does not work out! VERY appealing (in fact most ex-nfl coaches are GAURANTEED a great college HC job....carroll, erickson, spurrier (eventually, lol), and all the others within the last 10 years that i'm forgetting)...... Of course he will deny it until after the game, which is the right and the very classy thing to do, keep the players focused.
Coaching a major NCAA FB program may take more man-hours a year than an NFL team. For some coaches who hate or tire of the constant recruiting, I would think the NFL would be the place if they can get there. There is always the sullen, but hopefully not mutinous alumni to constantly mollify also. The trend today is not to give the NFL coach full control and to share it with the GM. Most GMs have the final word on draftees and free agent acquisitions. Saban has said that this LSU team has been exceptionally mature and trouble free, and that may have resulted in his remark about the immaturity of NFL players. I just hope he stays happy and more important, STAYS PERIOD at LSU. The Tigers could be the best program in the country if he does.
Why would Nick want to coach nowdays in the NFL? Why does everyone think thats such a good job? The players are less disciplined, make tons of money. You have players to deal with like Keyshawn Johnson, Terrell Owens, Darrell Gardner and other trouble makers. Our LSU players are more disciplined than some of the players in the NFL. I don't like watching the NFL as much as I use too. Theres more loyalty in college. There's no loyalty between employer and employee anymore in the NFL, just like the real world. The problem is Free Agency and the salary cap. The coaches aren't the problem in the NFL, they just get the blame. I don't know of any NFL team that has enough depth to lose more than 2 or 3 starters at any position and still be able to win. Let's take a look at a situation for instance: You see a good player and draft and teach him and then he decides to go play some place else, or you can't match the offer because of too many other key positions you have to sign. Let's look at college: You recruit and teach young kids, they stay normally for at least 3 years. and they have better character then some Pro WR that's making millions and have an attitude. College kids play for the love of the game and a dream to become a star. Pro players play for money and are full of themselves. They don't want anything to do with the average person for the most part. I know, I've experienced this part over again. I think Nick would be wise to stay in college no matter where he goes and not join the NFL coaching circus. Everyone was worried here about Mike Shanahan taking the Florida job a few years back and now he's starting to take the heat from the fans in Denver because the Broncos haven't done much in recent years. Any NFL coach is only as hot as thier last season.
I dont even watch pro ball. the super bowl? LMAO that's your opinion on it being the biggest accomplishment in football. Did Bear Bryant win a super bowl? I rest my case. Pro ball ain't all that. College ball is in fact more popular with a wider fan base. A large portion of the NFL fan base has migrated to NASCAR. the college football fan base remains intact. The financial drain on Pro ball is un real. There is little in the way of REAl team spirit. Imagine if you could one Pro team with ALL ex LSU players on it, or any good college team. They would win more games because EVERYONE playing together for a common goal creates an atmosphere to win. IT IS A TEAM SPORT. Pro ball has become to individualized with a bunch of Prima-donnas. Why would any coach want to coach under those circumstances other than more money?
almost all of what you wrote is simply your opinion and not based in fact. Pro football is multi-billion and it is the king. NASCAR does have the largest fan base (thanks to being able to pack a couple hundered thousand people into a race), but if you even begin to belive that NASCAR is a national sport then you must be a hillbilly (no offense). The ENTIRE bowl season generates about 200 million (100 for BCS bowls, 100 for all the others combined), the superbowl alone generates about 1 billion dollars. HMMMMMMMM
NASCAR was once a Southern regional sport but now its a big time national sport. NASCAR races are held at tracks in new Hampshire, Delaware, Michigan, Chicago, California, Indiana, New Hampshire, and New York State as well as the traditional venues like Daytona, Talledega, Bristol, Darlington, Charlotte and Atlanta. This years Winston Cup champion, Matt Kenseth is from Wisconsin. Is former Redskins coach and 3 time Super Bowl winner Joe Gibbs a hillbilly or a redneck? He has become one of the biggest team owners in motorsports and with driver Tony Stewart won last years Winston Cup. Besides America auto manufacturers Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge, now Toyota and Nissan are considering sponsoring NASCAR teams. How long will it be before Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, SAAB and others get involved with NASCAR? NASCAR is not only a national sport now with a billions of dollars budget rivaling the NFL, it is headed in an international direction. If NASCAR is not already bigger than pro football it soon will be. The last Saints game I attended I spent about $200 - Two game tickets, parking, a program. hot dogs and overpriced cups of lukewarm Dome Foam beer. I am going to Talledaga in April and I will probably end up spending at least $2000 and so will each of the other 7 people going with us.
From what I've read and heard the NFL has advantages over the college game if you want to focus only on football. You have a higher ratio of staff and coaches per player, there's no recruiting , there's no alumni and boosters to put up with. There's no worry about a booster doing things behind your back, like giving players extra benefits and so on. I disagree on the, "college players are more discipline and will do what you say aspect" The NFL is a pro job. If you don't perform you get cut or benched. Most NFL players won't put up with bad apples since it's there job and livliehood. There's less babysitting and more accountablity on NFL players. It's much more business. Players are employees not students. There is more locker-room accountability in the NFL with only 45 or so players on a roster. Ray Lewis may have problems, but if he does his job on the field has the respect of teammates and stays out of legal trouble, you really don't give a damn about his as a person. You just deal with him as a football player. When it doesn't work, he gets cut or leaves via free agency. Coach Saban has said he has enjoyed being a college coach so he must like or tolerate the extra non-football stuff you have in college. Nick has been successfull in all areas of football during his career, so he does not lack the confidence to be successful at the NFL.
The last pro game I went to was more fest than football. Somehow the game got lost in the "event" if that makes sense. There were a parade of commercial time-outs with endless fan-related activities and noisy hip-hop music. I found much of it distracting. If you consider the life style and attitude of many of the players and the non-stop media hype it's not what I believe really appeals to Saban. If football has a "tower of Babel" it would be pro football.
