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Right time for Nick Saban to move on, leave Alabama and coaching greatness behind
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Posts: 10,460 admin
Right time for Nick Saban to move on, leave Alabama and coaching greatness behind
ATHENS — The statue has already been built, the championships flaunted and the greatness acknowledged at every turn.
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Great article Mike. Yes, I think the reasons for Saban retiring are pretty obvious, and I'd agree with his decision. Now is a perfect time to walk away.
I'll get a lot of flak for this, but my only animus with Nick Saban was his ability to beat us in games and in the recruiting arena. He gave us KS. I don't know a better compliment a Dawg fan could have than that. On the flak front, I grew up a Gator fan in Florida and witnessed the game at Florida Field in 1966 that won Steve Spurrier the Heisman Trophy. That was against a .500 Auburn team which played well that day. It was so tight that UF had to bring in their long field goal specialist to try a FG from beyond 40 yards (no soccer kickers in use then). Spurrier was that specialist, won the game with his kick, and was the difference maker in voting him the Heisman over Bob Greasy of Purdue. Back then, I was bitter that Florida's only loss that year was 27-10 by UGA with sophomore Bill Stanfill and senior George Patton among others. Little did I know that 6 months later, my family would move to Athens, GA where I enrolled at UGA. Subsequently I was employed by UGA for 34 years and played a part in handling game day support in Sanford Stadium. Here come the real flak. To this day I have also found the Head Ball Coach tartly amusing as well as one of the geniuses in the evolution of the college game. He was by the way the first UF coach to ever win the SEC, and doing it 4 times in a row was great for Gator enthusiasts who became undeniably the most insufferable fan base in the history of the game. My problems with Spurrier only applied when he beat us badly (thank God for the game I believe in 1997). Both of these men will be remembered as giants to be added to on my imagined Mt. Rushmore by Kirby Smart.
He was losing relevance at being the top dog(pardon the pun) in coaching, especially in the new pay to play, but now he goes out(on top) or close enough to it, and now he gets to be relevant again on ESPN where everyone will kiss his.... well. How many times will he get to hear, "let's check in with the GOAT?" Music to his ears!
C'YA!
Saban just won an SEC Championship by beating a team that won 29 straight games and back to back national championships. He turned around an AL team that was searching for a QB in October and took it to the CFP. He was very relevant!
Only if you are a true UGA dawg to you realize we are sitting on the next greatest coach in college football history.
@87Dawg_11
Perhaps I should have said, he was "in danger" of losing his relevance, would that suffice? I think I expressed that he was going out on top, even though technically he hasn't been on top since 2020. Maybe you need to read Mike's article above. NS was in danger of becoming a relic of the past . Any amount of not winning anything next season( a NC) would put him even further away from being on top.
This is just my opinion you are welcome to yours, but I believe from all accounts Nick is a control freak. You don't accomplish what he has accomplished without paying every attention to detail. WIthout being anal about everything. Without getting players to buy into the "process." THe only problem is with the new changes in College football, the players have more power/control over their careers than the coaches. WHere does trusting the "process" fit into this new paradigm shift? Well., it doesn't. Nick's process was about a player being under his tuteledge for 3-4 years. Pay for play makes that a near impossibility. Nick Saban's edge(the process) has been taken away from him."Players no longer respond to tyrannical sideline rants, and the best coaches no longer were flocking to work at Saban’s side."
I think Nick said to College football, as they say on the Shark Tank, "and for that reason, I'm out!"
When I'm 73 I hope I have 80 million in the bank and can say I'm the best at what I do. At some point, especially if rumors about his wife are true, you understand that personal goals are not what life is about. As a driven person I can only imagine the kind of success he has had and how driven he must be. I applaud him for a great job (even though it hurt my Dawgs) and wish him the best in retirement.
Go catch a fish or just watch the waves crash on your beach. Bring the grandkids down and teach them how to look for sea shells. Life should be enjoyed.
The UGA team that Nick beat had just run the gauntlet of beating Ole MIss, Missouri, Tennessee, and the instate rivaly game with a resurgent Ga Tech. All of those teams won their bowl games. We were pretty battered and bruised by the time we got to the SECC game.
We didn't play our best and we lost by 3. No Amarius Mims, a hurt but determined BB, and a LM who was gimpy and no RaRa Thomas. Not to mention 2 freshmen starting at LB. So, credit to BAMA and Saban, but sometimes there are reasons that are beyond your control.
Michigan and Harbaugh kicked BAMA's butt.
All good points but Michigan had to go for it on 4th and 2 on their own side of the field to convert and stay in the game. It was very very close. Bama didn't get their butt's kicked they were a 4th and 2 stop away from being national champs.
Saban could see the mayhem on the horizon. Conference upheaval; portal and NIL. Under the previous status he created a highly stable system of player and coach development that provided the stability that encouraged and made growth and progress possible. The recent changes undermine the system Saban had used so well towards success. At 72 yrs why expend and invest in a retool that would require great personal investment of resources with time working against you? In his prime he had developed a highly successful formula for success. GOAT to date is a legitimate designation. Maybe someone else will come up with a way to do the same in the changing context.
@BigDawg888
Butt kicked? THat's what people, even former UGA playerswere saying BAMA did to us and we lost by 3. So, I think what that means is one team dominated the other in the trenches, even though the score was close. So, yes and no, maybe?
Most sports pundits I have listened to say BAMA got their butt kicked by Michigan. Not just me embellishing it.
Not sure how to pull just a part of what a person says in their post instead of having to go back in time and find the post? Anyways, my brain has moved on from whatever I posted back then but if you can refresh my memory I will certainly address my thoughts at that time. I reserve the right to change my mind if someone has a convincing argument and it appears you might.