JessN: Sources say Saban, Bama are close on contract

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Just Win

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One last comment and I'm outta here for tonight with hopeful thoughts!

If Coach were to leave, the Barners would be bragging that the Gus Bus had sent him packing to texas to get far away from the Gus Bus lead Barners!

They'd say he left because he had a vision that he would never win against the Gus Bus Barners!

No matter what happens!

RTR!!!!!!!
I hope you're mature enough though to not be affected by what those idiots say.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I can't recall an instance when Earle has had a shorter fuse. Very troubling.

Hopefully Coach was able to spend the evening recognizing all the hard work and commitment given by those young men this year.
If I came across that way, I apologize. It's not what I intended. I've spent years building cred as someone who doesn't post anything but solid stuff. I would have preferred to sit on it a bit longer, but the Texas side of this equation is leaky as a sieve and it was spreading on other Bama boards. At a certain point, if our staff knows enough, we can't play ostrich and pretend that the story is not out there...
 

Displaced Bama Fan

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I was meaning to do a blog post after the Auburn game, and never published what I actually wrote. So, I decided to put my anxiety to a slightly more constructive use and wrote with the topic of this thread in mind.

Obviously, Nick Saban is never going to read what I wrote, and that's a good thing because I'm not much of a writer. But, I just decided to go with that angle (yes, of course it is long, I wrote it): http://www.ibleedcrimsonred.com/2013/12/an-open-letter-to-nick-saban.html
I enjoyed the read. Thanks for posting.
 

Just Win

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The thing that worried me during the Auburn game was his lack of emotion. I didn't see him really jump butts the way he normally does. That's what got me thinking he had other things on his mind...and Auburn wasn't one of them.
I agree. HOWEVER, being basically emotionless and unfocused for a hugely important game with your rival, with an SEC Championship berth and a 3rd in a row Natty at stake, is not a good way to show a future employer that you're the guy for the job.
 

jps1983

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If I came across that way, I apologize. It's not what I intended. I've spent years building cred as someone who doesn't post anything but solid stuff. I would have preferred to sit on it a bit longer, but the Texas side of this equation is leaky as a sieve and it was spreading on other Bama boards. At a certain point, if our staff knows enough, we can't play ostrich and pretend that the story is not out there...
You bring up another reasonTexas and CNS are a bad fit. They can't keep a secret and gossip like crazy; they are an extremely impatient fan base. If he thinks we are a bad fan base, i live in TX and UT fans are absurd; i guarantee i would hear how they stole CNS from us, even if he wins nothing there. I really thought the NFL or retirement was our only real competitor. I wouldn't blame him for trying to take on the NFL one more time, but UT is a step down in terms of prestige and current talent levels.

As I mentioned before, this development is just perplexing.
 

Ole Man Dan

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WOW...
I stepped away from the board for a week,(got too intense), and it seems like someone has set fire to the lower 40.

Let me offer a slightly different perspective.
I retired at age 60. Things went from 'Things are going pretty well', to 'Not sure I can work for that man another day'.
This slipped up on me and suddenly my time had came. It came up quickly... I pulled the pin.
I walked away, and never looked back. (It is what it is) No regrets.
I don't know what pushed me over the edge, but something did.
NOT SAYING THIS IS WHAT COACH SABAN IS FEELING... but...

He might think about stepping away from our intensity, or he may have been asked, one too many fool questions by DA reporters.
Who knows? Coach Saban may not know either.
I'd say he's trying to make a decision, and we probably aren't helping much.
If Coach Saban elects to stay at Alabama... He will go down as being as good or maybe better than Coach Bryant. (Maybe...)
If Coach Saban elects to retire to Lake Burton. I'm proud of the job he's done at Alabama.
If Coach Saban elects to go elsewhere, I'd hate to see him go, but wish him the best, unless he played us.

Thinking back on the dark days when we couldn't get top coaches to even show an interest in Alabama...
(Thank goodness we missed Rich Rod...)

Now we are once again a top tier program, in a top tier conference... Thanks Coach.
 

M-TownTider

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There's a possibility that Coach Saban doesn't want an extension. Maybe he's just looking for a raise and to finish out the remainder of his current contract at Alabama. The contract expires after the 2019 season, if I recall correctly. Is this a realistic scenario, Earle? I would be ecstatic if this is the case. I won't argue with 6 more years of beating down our opponents (especially the cow turds).
 

NationalTitles18

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Most people who spend their lives influencing young people spend their whole lives underappreciated. You'd think for a few million a year plus a few million more this year in paying off debts would be appreciation, but I guess it depends on your perspective...
The Saban's have practically been worshipped like gods by Bama fans. Unless the administration is completely screwing the pooch, I just don't get it.
 

Andy

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Reading the tea leaves so to speak, it appears that there are many factors in play in this decision. Is health a concern? What kind of debts are we talking about? Bad investments? Who do the Sabans feel under appreciated by? Fans? Administration? Not to mention the tendency for Coach Saban to really love rebuilding a program. Earl has kind of touched on some of those things. All I can say is, I do not post on here to often, but I read it more than I probably should, and if Earl posts something I read it and I take it to heart. I think maybe the clock is ticking and Coach is in the process of deciding what to do, and we are watching and listening for the game to end, and hoping for a better ending than the puke ending to the game on Nov. 30th.
 

NationalTitles18

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I am hoping Coach Saban still has the fire in his gut. I am hoping he is in good health and will remain so or will be quickly restored fully. I am hoping he sees he still has unfinished business at Alabama (namely he has not consistently dominated his in-state rival). I am hoping he wants to build a legacy and become a legend of a coach. I don't mean to diminish the outstanding accomplishments of Coach Saban so far. I just don't want to see it end. Not like this. Not now. Not yet.

If Coach is looking for a change then maybe the needed change is something within him and not with outside circumstances. That said, I don't really know. We have a different president and AD at the University. I hope they are not the problem. If they are, then hopefully they are gone well before Coach Saban. Again, I don't know. I have no information that the administration is a problem. I just don't understand otherwise why Coach would want to leave now or why the Saban's might feel "unappreciated".

I hope he stays and would hate to see him go, but if he does Alabama will still be Alabama. Our University will be better for having had him for the time he has been here. Just look at LSU nearly 10 years after his departure compared to before he arrived. The sky will not fall. I would be sad. But we will be fine either way. Hopefully, that doesn't have to be confirmed for a number of years in the future.
 

KrAzY3

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To reiterate, I still see Sexton's fingerprints all over this. Remember, he's not only Nick's agent, he's Gus' agent, and Kirby Smart's agent, but I don't believe he's Mack Brown's agent. So, it is in his interest to do things that might not be in Nick's interests. If he could somehow get one of his coaches the Texas job, and at the same time get one of his coaches promoted to HC, that's a lot of money and power that he gains. I wonder how much leave-way Nick has given him, and what exactly his "end game" is.

As far as Alabama/Battle goes, they had plenty of time to draw up something that should have had everything Nick asked for and then some. Battle's job is to basically give Nick what ever he asks for, and if he's not doing that, he's not doing his job. The #1 priority throughout the entire University of Alabama system right now, should be insuring that Nick Saban has absolutely no reason whatsoever to leave.

As far as Nick goes, I hope he understands how tarnished his reputation would become if he left Alabama. He's a great coach, but what he's doing at Alabama was cementing his legacy as the greatest coach of his era. The odds are dramatically against him recreating what he did at Alabama, at Texas. Three BCS titles? I know he's a great coach, but I don't see him getting three more anywhere, much less if he has to start over in any respect, and remember they're running off a coach that went to the BCS title game twice. Sadly, it's not yet a forgone conclusion that history will view him as a better coach than Urban Meyer for example, and if he leaves Alabama now, he'll insure his legacy is not viewed as fondly as Bear Bryant's. The national impact would be huge. He'd be viewed as everything that's wrong with college football, a coach leaving for millions of dollars at a time in which the players are not paid, he'd be viewed as unloyal, and a liar. He's good enough at his job that he'd recruit well at Texas, and he'd have them in the title hunt at some point, I'm sure. He won't have the chance to retire a Texas legend though, but he can retire a legend at Alabama.

I think the greatest fear is that we Alabama fans are left in a bad position after a gut wrenching loss. Instead of hoping to get revenge against Auburn, we instead are left questioning Nick Saban's motivations during his final games at Alabama. It seemed unthinkable a few weeks ago, but if Alabama really does have an AD that is inept, the future would be uncertain. One bad hire could wipe out most of what Nick Saban has built here at Alabama. Furthermore, there is the ever-present threat of the NCAA lurking, as one never knows what they might do, and if they could conveniently punish Alabama after Nick left town.

I also have to dispel any notions that he can just go to Texas to rebuild there. In order to do that, he'd have to do some demo at Alabama and leave for Texas with some of the rubble. There's simply no way for him to be effective quickly at Texas without bringing at least some of the Alabama players, coaches, and recruits with him. With LSU and even Michigan St. there was enough distance that he didn't have to take a wrecking ball to those programs, but Texas is too close to Alabama, both in stature and proximity. If he really is that guy, if he really enjoys that sort of thing, of course it has to radically alter how I view him because I simply never have viewed him as that sort of guy.

The key to all of that is that Nick can show so very much by staying, and I hope he and everyone else appreciates that. Staying might not be the easiest thing to do, but it's hard to argue that it's not the best thing to do.
 
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CajunCrimson

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We knew the ride was eventually going to end......

....let's just hope Kirby can keep it going, and keep loving what he's doing for the next 20 years
 

KrAzY3

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We knew the ride was eventually going to end......

....let's just hope Kirby can keep it going, and keep loving what he's doing for the next 20 years
That's presuming a whole lot...

All we really know is that Nick hasn't signed the extension, we certainly have no idea who'd replace him if he was to leave.
 

BamaFlum

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That's presuming a whole lot...

All we really know is that Nick hasn't signed the extension, we certainly have no idea who'd replace him if he was to leave.
Yup. Right now, coach is at a cross road. I just hope he chooses a crimson path to glory and not a burnt orange road paved to destruction. ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, so my fat fingers cause misspellings and autocorrect makes my ships into...
 

bamabelle1991

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We knew the ride was eventually going to end......

....let's just hope Kirby can keep it going, and keep loving what he's doing for the next 20 years
Dang, your new avatar is really affecting you! Why would you concede THIS early?

I'm really developing a strong hate for Jimmy Sexton and a strong dislike for Bill Battle. :mad:
 

BamaFlum

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Dang, your new avatar is really affecting you! Why would you concede THIS early?

I'm really developing a strong hate for Jimmy Sexton and a strong dislike for Bill Battle. :mad:
Sexton YES! Battle yet to be determined.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, so my fat fingers cause misspellings and autocorrect makes my ships into...
 

bamadws56

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Dang, your new avatar is really affecting you! Why would you concede THIS early?

I'm really developing a strong hate for Jimmy Sexton and a strong dislike for Bill Battle. :mad:
Why Bill Battle? I haven't seen anything on here yet that points to Bill Battle being the problem. That doesn't mean he isn't, do you know or have you heard something to the contrary? To me it sounds like a Sexton/Saban issue.
 
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