Nick Saban retires

What a difference 17 years makes. Mal Moore was sitting on a tailgate with a truck loaded with cash waiting for the right candidate.

It took almost to spring ball for Saban to bite. Look at Bama now.

 

The ESPN story says Saban was interviewing assistant coach candidates an hour before he told his team he was retiring. Whoever interviewed today will have a helluva story to tell.

 

Seriously, any coach who doesn't plan to retire in the next five years should stay away. I don't have any Bama friends on FB or in real life (not a personal choice, just geography) - but I imagine whomever it ends up being won't be good enough. The money will be better in five years. It wasn't even the money for Saban, he wanted absolute authority over the program, he wanted to be walled off from boosters - and he was. By comparison, look at the crapfest at USC with Lincoln Riley.
It's even hard to think of someone who qualifies as the "dean of CFB coaches" at this point. Harbaugh has a foot out the door, people don't know who Kirby Smart is, and I don't think people respect Dabo at Clemson. There are coaches who have been around for 20 years, but they haven't come close to winning like Saban. Those who have won a lot are too new.
Crazy to think about growing up watching Bo and Woody and Bear, John Robinson, Don James, Bobby Bowden, JoePa etc. Saban was better than all of them, and the current crew in the sport doesn't even come close to any of them.

I will enjoy Oregon Duck fans stressing about losing Lanning - this year, or next or whenever. He'll be gone soon enough. He has no ties to the state. And it will just feed into Duck fans insecurities about "why aren't we good enough?" Kelly, Taggart Cristobal, They've had five HCs in the last 11 years. Bellotti and Rich Brooks alone stayed a combined 31 years.

 

Are you implying TV news isn't to be trusted?

 

I'm implying some yahoo at the Sinclair station in Eugene who says he has friends in Tuscaloosa is not to be trusted, yes.

 

Even if Lanning was or is to be the next Bama coach - a) you don't bring him in to Tuscaloosa on the day Saban steps down - you meet at some fishing resort on the Gulf or an airport sheraton while he's on a recruiting trip to Texas or Florida (something on the down low). And B) (fixed) You absolutely don't try and overshadow Saban's exit.

And when it comes to "scoops" - there is no one I trust less than local (or former local) TV sports anchor. It seems the only time they "break" any news it is flat out wrong. They just don't spend time building relationships with people on teams. They don't "hang out" - they get their video and sound bite and leave.

 

There are five FBS coaches who were hired at their current school before 2013 — Kirk Ferentz, Kyle Whittingham, Mike Gundy, Dabo and Troy Calhoun (Air Force).
The longest-tenured SEC coach is now Mark Stoops, who was hired at Kentucky in 2013. Kirby Smart came to Georgia in 2016, and every other SEC school has had a change since 2020.
The business has changed. Whether by their own choice or someone else's, nobody sticks around very long anymore. It's hard to be the "dean of CFB coaches" when the average life expectancy is shorter than a fruit fly.

 

------> b)

 

So, Senate campaign next?

 

Oh sweet mercy……just imagine the cries and screams if Norvell goes to Tuscaloosa.

 

I’ve heard rumblings that NIL drove him out, but, if he was a smart man, which he probably is, he’s seen that old coaches have a hard time bringing in players.

Every high school kid and parent will wonder who the coach will be in 2, 3 or 4 years if the guy recruiting you is in their 70s. Sure, Bama would have been good, but they would not be dragging opponents to the woodshed every Saturday.

 

This is on some of the fan sites -- nothing attributable yet on any of the established outlets:

Nick Saban cited age, health concerns in stunning meeting with Alabama players, sources tell 247Sports