Saban agrees with Alabama

[DB15]

totally ***** the fins with this move... oh well

 

[patchick]

"Nomad"? "Unsure of himself"? "Only" 5 years in one place? Honestly, I'm not seeing that. Here's his coaching career:

1990 Toledo 9-2
(1991-94 asst. w/Cleveland Browns)
1995 Michigan St. 6-5-1
1996 Michigan St. 6-6
1997 Michigan St. 7-5
1998 Michigan St. 6-6
1999 Michigan St. 9-2
2000 LSU 8-4
2001 LSU 10-3
2002 LSU 8-5
2003 LSU 13-1
2004 LSU 9-3
2005 Miami 9-7
2006 Miami 6-10

That looks like a totally reasonably storyline to me. Has a good year at little Toledo then gets a shot at the NFL as a coordinator. First big-time HC job comes from Michigan St., where he does a strong job with a traditionally weak-sister Big 10 school for five years. That gives him a shot at SEC powerhouse LSU, a clear step up, and he hits it out of the park. Five strong seasons and a national championship. Which in turn sets him up for the most coveted NFL job of 2005. Who questioned Saban's choice to take the Miami job?

But after two miserable years, he realizes that football isn't necessarily a ladder to climb. He was happier in the college game. He was effective in the college game. He was the king of the hill and had a chance to become a legend. Life is too short, and jobs like Alabama aren't out there every day. Time to do right by yourself and your family, and to heck with public opinion.

Sounds like the right choice to me -- just as I think Pete Carroll would be making a huge mistake by jumping back into the NFL to "prove something."

And if it helps the Patriots, so much the better!

 

[BelichickFan]

This even made Belichick smile, per Reiss :

Belichick smiled when asked if his friendship with Nick Saban would be revived now that he's no longer the Dolphins coach. "It will certainly put it on different footing," he said.

 

[Gumby]

this is really a 2-fer.

1. Wish confusion on the enemy. miami as someone else said between cap hell and leadership vacuum has got to be looking at another off year which might likely drive some of those FAs away.

2. Increased college tips for BB: I think we got some good guys from Saban when he was a LSU coach and he can provide another BB feeder school down there in Bama. Maybe a future LT (left tackle) can come from there in a few years.

 

[BelichickFan]

d%#*!@t. This blows. First he was playing in SEC West against Auburn every year as LSU head coach, then he goes to Dolphins and play against the Pats twice a year, now he's going to Alabama (Auburn's archrival).

What a sick joke.

Roll Tide Roll

 

[MoLewisrocks]

This was all about ego trumping genius. Much like Spurrier. When they find that unlike in college where their poop doesn't smell, the NFL is all about accountability - they bail. Nick's problems weren't with ownership or the fan base or his players. The problem was within Nick. Condescending little egomaniac couldn't take the minimal heat of a rebuild in a city ready to support him as he led them back to contention. Couldn't stand dealing with media unless he felt he could establish the upper hand, and he took shortcuts to maintain a winning record (absent the annual ability to recruit talent by the sheer force of his personality) so he could continue to be condescenting. Wasted two years of their lives in the process, and created a bigger mess than Wanstadt left.

He and Belichick may be schematic soul mates, but Nick apparently never read the chapter in the Belichick system football book about team building in the NFL - without which all the x's and o's genius in the world isn't worth squat. That and he wouldn't recognize what constitutes a good NFL QB if he tripped over him - which he actually did last spring.

Poor Aqua4ever must be distraught.... Wayne is on now saying the Dolphins are determined to be a winning franchise sooner rather than later. OMG he is asking the Miami media and fans for their input because the organization values it...

He is also waxing poetic about how he remains a Nick Saban fan and how he wishes him well and what a process this decision was :blahblah: That's just a cop out so he won't have to acknowledge he made a huge mistake, and will likely make another. He sounds like a well meaning guy who should sell while he has a buyer. He lucked out with his baseball venture, I don't think this NFL experience is gonna fly.

 

[PromisedLand]

Blessings come in many packages, they say.

I really wanted Saban to stick it out so we could prove that the teacher is still the teacher, at least in this case. But, hey, a win is a win! Even the ugly ones!

We'll just have to be satisfied with the teacher schooling Mangina this Sunday.

Bye bye, Little Nicky! We hardly knew you, but it was fun! You'll always have your 21-0 victory over the Pats to keep in your NFL highlights scrap book.

PS The back door that brought us Kevin Faulk and Jarvis Green (but also Rohan Davey and Marquise Hill) is now once again open for business!

 

[belichickaholic]

Good news for Belichick and the pats. Maybe we can get that special teams coach (I forget his name, he was previously with Carolina), he's terrific.

 

[BelichickFan]

PS The back door that brought us Kevin Faulk and Jarvis Green (but also Rohan Davey and Marquise Hill) is now once again open for business!

I think Faulk was pre-Saban.

Regardless, Belichick has quite the network of pals in college now with Saban, Weis and Meyer. Doubling up in the SEC too.

 

[mikiemo83]

he picked the wrong QB and messed the cap up

I think it is a fitting end to Sabans career

 

[DaBruinz]

I look at everything through the eyes of a Patriot fan, and I think this is great news. I think he's a good coach, and hated that we lost the line to the LSU players. Now we'll have a line, I assume, to the Alabama players.

One of the things that irked me about when Saban was hired to Miami was all the Miami fans who went GA-GA over the fact that the Pats no longer had that "line" to LSU. Well, I did some research. From 2000 until 2004 the Pats drafted 44 players. Of the 44 players, there were 14 players that Saban could have had input on. A pretty high number, all things considered. Those 14 players are: Tom Brady, David Nugent, Greg Robinson-Randall, Matt Light, Jabari Holloway, Brock Williams, TJ Turner, Rohan Davey, Jarvis Green, David Givens, Ben Watson, Marquis Hill, Cedric Cobbs, and Guss Scott. Now, we all know that Tom Brady was chosen by the Pats, but that it was **** Rehbein who convinced Belichick that he was the one. Out of the others, only Matt Light, Jarvis Green, David Givens, and Ben Watson have done anything. So, Saban is shooting at less than 25%. Yes, he did give us information on Eric Alexander and Randall Gay, but they were UDFA.

So, I am one to believe that its more myth than reality that the "line" to LSU was anything magical.

Oh, one of the Patriots most productive drafts was in 2003. That year the Patriots didn't pick anyone that a Saban led team could have coached against.

 

[PromisedLand]

I think Faulk was pre-Saban.

Regardless, Belichick has quite the network of pals in college now with Saban, Weis and Meyer. Doubling up in the SEC too.

And Kirk Ferentz.

edit: And Pat Hill, Fresno State - Logan Mankins has worked out pretty well!

 

[BelichickFan]

And Kirk Ferentz.

edit: And Pat Hill, Fresno State - Logan Mankins has worked out pretty well!

Yep. And James Sanders doesn't look too shabby for a #4 pick. The college network is in stronger shape than ever

 

[PromisedLand]

Yep. And James Sanders doesn't look too shabby for a #4 pick. The college network is in stronger shape than ever

Yup. Saban going back to college is good for the Pats in more ways than one! Even if he only did a so-so job with the Dolphins, chances are whoever replaces him will either do no better, or will need a couple of years to get the program back on track.

 

[BelichickFan]

So, I am one to believe that its more myth than reality that the "line" to LSU was anything magical.

I'm with you there although extra insight never hurts.

I'm just happy because I like Saban - a lot - and it killed me to have to root against him.

YAHOO. Roll Tide Roll

 

[DaBruinz]

"Nomad"? "Unsure of himself"? "Only" 5 years in one place? Honestly, I'm not seeing that. Here's his coaching career:

1990 Toledo 9-2
(1991-94 asst. w/Cleveland Browns)
1995 Michigan St. 6-5-1
1996 Michigan St. 6-6
1997 Michigan St. 7-5
1998 Michigan St. 6-6
1999 Michigan St. 9-2
2000 LSU 8-4
2001 LSU 10-3
2002 LSU 8-5
2003 LSU 13-1
2004 LSU 9-3
2005 Miami 9-7
2006 Miami 6-10

Thank you for proving my point for me. Saban hasn't stayed in one place for more than 5 years. At 5 years, he gets the itch to move on. And, in his last 2 coaching positions, he's quit before his contract was up. Saban signed a contract extension in 2003 to stay at LSU only to have him change his story and leave after the 2004 season. And, now, look what he did with Miami. Walked out on his contract.

That looks like a totally reasonably storyline to me. Has a good year at little Toledo then gets a shot at the NFL as a coordinator. First big-time HC job comes from Michigan St., where he does a strong job with a traditionally weak-sister Big 10 school for five years. That gives him a shot at SEC powerhouse LSU, a clear step up, and he hits it out of the park. Five strong seasons and a national championship. Which in turn sets him up for the most coveted NFL job of 2005. Who questioned Saban's choice to take the Miami job?

I totally questioned him taking the Miami job after he had agreed to a huge contract extension with LSU. It felt like he was stabbing them in the back.

But after two miserable years, he realizes that football isn't necessarily a ladder to climb. He was happier in the college game. He was effective in the college game. He was the king of the hill and had a chance to become a legend. Life is too short, and jobs like Alabama aren't out there every day. Time to do right by yourself and your family, and to heck with public opinion.

Sounds like the right choice to me -- just as I think Pete Carroll would be making a huge mistake by jumping back into the NFL to "prove something."

And if it helps the Patriots, so much the better!

Yes, it should help the Patriots because Miami will probably take 2-5 years to get back to where they are since they are probably going to have to go the way of the Titans and start over with a LOT of young players. I wouldn't be surprised if Jason Taylor ans Zach Thomas both decided to call it quits.

 

[BelichickFan]

Thank you for proving my point for me. Saban hasn't stayed in one place for more than 5 years. At 5 years, he gets the itch to move on. And, in his last 2 coaching positions, he's quit before his contract was up. Saban signed a contract extension in 2003 to stay at LSU only to have him change his story and leave after the 2004 season. And, now, look what he did with Miami. Walked out on his contract.

In defense of Saban, all his moves until this one were clearly considered steps up. This one's a little different although I think it's because he found that he preferred the college environment (and the Dolphins are in a bad situation with most of their good players being old).

But Michigan St. to LSU to the Dolphins, it's tough to look down on him for those moves.

 

[feelthepain]

This is great news for the Pats, it will demoralize veterans like Thomas and Taylor and with their terrible cap position they should be a couple of years away from being competitive (I said the same thing about the Jets). He also finished with enough wins that they don't get a top 5 pick.

Hopefully he and BB and still cool and we have our SEC pipeline back.

Terrible cap position??? Do you even know what you're talking about??

 

[richpats]

"Better a year early than a year late."

Saban made the right move- if he had stayed in Miami he would have eventually been fired and not gotten such a sweet gig w/ Alabama.

He never actually improved the franchise either. I know the 9-7 in '05 was a boost from 4-12, but the Fins imploded when Ricky Williams quit on them. They were good for 9 or 10 wins each year for a decade. 2006 was a sign that the franchise is moving in the wrong (right for NE) direction.

I'm not sure if Miami is a 'dream job' anymore. In this age of parity, only Buffalo, Detroit, Arizona, Houston and Miami have not made the playoffs in the last 5 years - not so great company to be in.

 

[feelthepain]

Yup. Saban going back to college is good for the Pats in more ways than one! Even if he only did a so-so job with the Dolphins, chances are whoever replaces him will either do no better, or will need a couple of years to get the program back on track.

Why cause thats what you hope will happen??