If Bama beats Auburn then all is forgiven and Bama fans are delusional again for Saban. The players will carry Saban off the field to the chants of "Process". If Bama loses badly he might just leave depending on how hot his seat gets. Coach Miles, are you listening? There are no guarantees you can recreate the success you have here at LSU. Even if it is your dream job. You have a great job here at a premier school and program. Embrace it!
I don't think saban will go anywhere (just like I didn't think he was going to leave Miami after 2 seasons, so you can tell how good my opinion is!). This is on Shula's players, nick will say. But he's making 4 mil (really 3.5 this season, plus the use of 2 cars), and he'll give it another go next year. I don't think anyone would take a chance on him right now. He looks beaten down in his press conferences. His results have be mediocre to poor (Miss. St. and ULM). His relations with the press are poor. He'll be back. Sounds like he is prepared to cut loose kids that don't get with the program and lose more games next year if he has to. That may extend the time to produce a winner. In one presser, he reminded that he'd told the fans this would not happen over night, to be patient. Well, this is where that "patience" thing comes in. I remember someone digging up the thread on here from the UAB loss while saban was here, and it sounded a lot like the Bama, ULM loss threads; saban does not look like a 1.2 mil a year coach. I remember someone pulling it up in the 03 season, and folks saying "well, I must have been an idiot". Its pretty interesting how it plays out sometimes. But I'll say saban seemed to have more fire in his belly back in 2000-2004.
'Delusional' is the best word yet to describe how Bama fans are looking at Saban at this point. This is a quote from a local Georgia board: "I work with a bunch of Tide fans, and it's like suicide watch around here. I'm expecting someone to grab a rifle and climb up in a tower before long. They can't believe this is happening."
There are several misconceptions here. One, thinking the media and the fans are somehow weighing on Saban. If you go back to the beginning of the year you'll find people here talking about how Saban doesn't care for the media or what they spout. Now, all of a sudden he does? On the same note, there was a lot of talk about how Saban isolated himself from the outside world and worked tirelessly through the football season but that has somehow changed as well? Two, there was a misconception in some of the Bama fans and their expectations. After spring camp Saban made the comment that it would likely get worse before it improved. I know of several people who thought that was "coach speak" but found themselves recalling it in the middle of this season. Three, I see people talking about Shula's players and there is truth in that statement. When Saban mentioned a "pattern of personality" he was talking about the mental approach some of the players had in practice and workouts. While I appreciate some of the on-field successes some of the players have had, by no means will I be disappointed when they graduate or run out of eligibility. You've seen Bama forums asking why isn't this player, or that player, getting more playing time. There is reason and it falls into the category I've just mentioned. Four, Saban instituted his Peer Leadership council with the goal of those players leading the team with their added roles and responsibilities. With some, it worked. With others, it was akin to allowing paroles make institutional judgements and decisions. (1$ to Cecil for that analogy) Five. In the fall of '08 over half of the players on the team will be Saban's recruits. At the end of this season, several of the key members that have been problems in attitudes and leadership roles will no longer be on the team. I firmly expect to see more attrition this off season besides graduation and loss of eligibility. Six. Just because you see people on different forums upset with the loss to MSU and ULM, it's a small fraction of the entire fan base and 99.9% of them have no bearing, no weight, and not a lot of insight into the program. Last, but not least, the chaos you wish to see simply doesn't exist. It's a misconception of things being shaken up and defined as chaos because very few understand why. More and more I'm seeing people finally begin to figure it out. What you don't see are people that understand what has been going on but they aren't jumping into different threads in an attempt to correct the perceptions. They've found over the years that the majority of the time their attempts have been futile. Much like this post in this thread very well may be.
Please. Bama fans are not known for their patience. I expect to hear some serious grumblings from TTown if Saban goes to Auburn and chits the bed. I also laugh out loud when I hear this delusional fan base talk about "Saban's Recruits." What the hell, do you all think he knows of some magic place to find players that no one else knows about? Bama has had a top 20 recruiting class each year for the past five years so I am so tired of hearing the excuse that Bama has no talent. Also, you must remember that LSU was losing all of its in-state talent to other schools before Saban came here. I do not think that is the case in Bama. Alabama has two problems compared to Louisiana when comparing football talent. First, Louisiana has better athletes. I am not being a homer but the proof is in the fact that Louisiana produces more NFL players per captia than any other state. Second, Louisiana players only have one real choice for an in-state D-I school. I think Bama nation needs to realize that Saban is not the second coming of the Bear. Your 4 million a year would have been better off trying to find a way to clone Bear Bryant than to pay Saban for a 6-6 record.
That's a purty dress you put on that pig. Bama, right now, is suffering from the same ailment that the Tigers put on Miami, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Kentucky. When you get beaten up by LSU, you cannot recover.:thumb:
You are looking at this completely wrong. The term Saban's vs Shula's recruits has to do with the mentality, the desire to work hard for a common goal. I'm not putting that out there as some refection on rankings or talent. I see this comment about the second coming of Coach Bryant a lot...from rivals, from print media, etc. I don't see it or hear of it around the program. I don't hear it or see it from our Alumni. The only references I've seen to Bryant lately are in regard to spring camp and having a "Junction Boys" type camp. Which, goes directly towards what I mentioned in the earlier post about a change in mentality. And, once again, I see a reference to a perceived in-state battle for recruits in the state of Alabama. Just using this year as an example, the last time I checked (about a month ago) out of the top 30 in state Auburn had 3, UF had 1, Arkansas had 1, Georgia had 1 and Alabama had over a 1/3rd with over a 1/3rd still uncommitted.
In a sense, I agree with that. I don't see it as LSU being the reason, but the loss having an influence. Spurrier mentioned that he's still dealing with players mentality and trying to influence them into fighting to the end. I mentioned this to tiga just the other day that the attitude problems Saban has been dealing with are a lot like USCe's. I'd suspect, if you were to ask Miami's coach, he'd say the same thing as well.
Call me crazy but when you fire your head coach and sign another one four $4 million, you expect to see some improvement...I don't buy that thing that just wait till he gets his recruits....If that's the case, he's not a good coach, just a good recruiter...As a coach you need to bring out the best in your players...If you can't do that, then you're just as bad as the guy you succeeded.
For $3.5MM I imagine most Bama fans would expect Saban to have the answer to that dilemma. Anybody can motivate superior talent on a team with something to play for. For that kind of money, there are no excuses. Git 'er done, BOY!
