JessN: With Mack Brown retiring, coaching sweepstakes will accelerate

I am not sure what CNS's thinking is but ysually when I contemplates a job change I have done a simple pro/con sheet. In trying to place mysrlf in his shoes and the same its pretty overwhelming the pros in staying outweigh the pros in leaving.

He has built the legacy, has a dominant program in place jn the most domimant conference and has a recruiting base in the SE that would compare or eve surpass the TX recruiting base.

For the financial resources of UT, I think it is only marginally better than what bama is capable of providing.

However the biggest difference I see is in the conferences themselves. Not only will he be tasked with building the UT program but indirectly the conference as a whole and I am not sure he can do that. Within 3 years he will have Stoops run out of OU. So the conference will likely get weaker as whole. Whereas the SEC has gotten stronger. Who can get excited playing week in week out a Baylor, TCU, TxTech? If I am him I am looking at the situation Meyer has found himself I'm at OSU won 30 consecutive games and still can't get any national credibility for the NC. The Big 12 is only marginally better as conference compared to the Big Ten. But would only likely get weaker because other than OU there are no other programs that would be attractive to elite coaches providing competition to UT.

So in this line of thinking its a no brainer to stay. If he does decide to leave it will be purely for financial reasons. And with the upcoming playoff I am not completely certain that his success will be as recognized as it has been or will continue to be in the SEC.

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JDCrimson said:

I am not sure what CNS's thinking is but ysually when I contemplates a job change I have done a simple pro/con sheet. In trying to place mysrlf in his shoes and the same its pretty overwhelming the pros in staying outweigh the pros in leaving.

He has built the legacy, has a dominant program in place jn the most domimant conference and has a recruiting base in the SE that would compare or eve surpass the TX recruiting base.

For the financial resources of UT, I think it is only marginally better than what bama is capable of providing.

However the biggest difference I see is in the conferences themselves. Not only will he be tasked with building the UT program but indirectly the conference as a whole and I am not sure he can do that. Within 3 years he will have Stoops run out of OU. So the conference will likely get weaker as whole. Whereas the SEC has gotten stronger. Who can get excited playing week in week out a Baylor, TCU, TxTech? If I am him I am looking at the situation Meyer has found himself I'm at OSU won 30 consecutive games and still can't get any national credibility for the NC. The Big 12 is only marginally better as conference compared to the Big Ten. But would only likely get weaker because other than OU there are no other programs that would be attractive to elite coaches providing competition to UT.

So in this line of thinking its a no brainer to stay. If he does decide to leave it will be purely for financial reasons. And with the upcoming playoff I am not completely certain that his success will be as recognized as it has been or will continue to be in the SEC.

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Coupled with the reality that he has finally recovered his reputation from the Miami situation - I don't think his reputation would ever recover from what most will perceive to be purely a financial move after over a year of repeating that this is his last stop.

If he leaves it would be even tougher for him to rebuild. His integrity would be killed. I don't think he would leave because of that.


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In replying to this thread, and in a way to some of the posts in the previous thread, I am amazed that some of those posts sadly remind me so much of those on long ago threads by LSU fans.
IMO, regardless of whether CNS stays at UA moves to TX or wherever, we have to accept the fact that the HC job at UA, like ALL others, is simply a job. Nothing less, but certainly nothing more. Coaches leave one school for another every single year and if CNS decides it is time to move on then so be it.
The only thing we can and imo should do is to thank him for restoring our University, and the Crimson Tide football team, to it's rightful place among the elite teams of college football.
Thank you, Coach Saban, and good luck in whatever, and wherever, you decide is best for you, your family and career.

I am becoming numb to this clutter. Love Coach Saban and don't think he will leave but if he wants to go join that mess in Texas I wish him well. They will get along just like oil and water.

OreBama said:

Jess, you are smarter than me and I hope you're right. I cannot help but feel that if Saban doesn't accept this job, he will be a target for another great college football program or (god forbid) pro team. He may never take another job, but it will hover among our heads like the Sword of Damocles.

No matter what happens, it has been worth it. I liken it to marrying a truly beautiful woman. You may think that you have it sewn up, but somebody richer and better looking will always be trying to steal her away. It's better than marrying an ugly woman. That's life, I guess, nothing worth having is easy to keep.

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What school other than Texas is there that could possibly lure coach Saban away from Alabama? Personally I just don't understand, with all the success he has had here, how even Texas could lure him away especially in light of the recruiting class he is building this year. All that work would be shot to hell!

Like Jess said the best thing we can hope for is that Texas cuts ties with Brown this year and hires a young up and comer and end the speculation that every single Bama opponent likes to bring up to get the Bama nation (fans) in a tizzy. I'm sure we may hear them bring up the pro openings every year but why would he leave the pros on his own, remember he was not fired, just to go back there. He has already explained why he didn't like the pro's and his actions proved that to me. He left before he had any real time to build a pro team.

I guess anything is possible, Steve Spurrier could decide to go back to the pro's, but I wouldn't lose a winks sleep over it happening. In my lifetime we have lost Ray Perkins to the pro's, understandable since he came to us from the pro's. We lost Bill Curry to Kentucky, enough said. Dennis Franchoine to Texas A&M, with looming NCAA sanctions, and Mike Price to a stripper! None of which had what we here at Alabama remotely call successful coaching tenures.

Of the three successful coaches in my lifetime, two of them retired from coaching while at Bama. The other is still employed and indicated as firmly as he should even have to that he is here till retirement. All this worry warting to me seems like wasted energy. No doubt any school in the nation outside Lee county Alabama would love to have coach Saban coaching their team. Thats a lot of wishful thinking if you ask me but that is all it is till we hear something different coming straight from the horses mouth.

In terms of everything but money, Alabama clearly comes out ahead. Leaving for Texas would be taking a sledgehammer to what he's done at Alabama, and not just in terms of damaging his legacy (by having lied to recruits, the media, etc... and permanently marking himself as a mercenary), but in terms of actual damage to the University of Alabama's football program. Some here would like to think Alabama football is above all of this, but it's not. Bear Bryant departed, and there was over a decade of wandering in the wilderness. Gene Stallings departed, and the same thing happened again. Nick Saban has to know that he can't leave Alabama without doing meaningful harm to what he's built at Alabama. It would hurt recruiting, it would throw the program into turmoil, and leaving for Texas wouldn't be like leaving for the NFL, or going California or the Big 10, Texas is SEC territory now.

So, the only logical reason to leave would be that Texas is able to give him such a boatload of money, that staying at Alabama doesn't make sense any more. Part of the reason that is a bit unrealistic, is that not everyone at Texas actually wants Mack Brown gone (he is their second best coach all time), and politics are so linked to Texas football, that there's a lot of watching eyes if anyone tried to do anything too fancy. Beyond that, someone at Alabama would have had to really have to make him unhappy, and while that's possible, it doesn't seem to have been the case.

I think it's understandable that Nick is dragging his feet on signing the deal. It's the most negotiating power he's ever likely to have, and I'm sure he'd like to at least hear what Texas has to offer. Having said that, I'm with the majority in thinking that he stays. He has too much to lose by leaving, and unless Alabama completely drops the ball he shouldn't have much to gain.

Just a reminder for people who may have missed it in the other thread - CNS will be in Texas today recruiting, so don't freak out when you hear "Saban is in Texas!". He scheduled to be visiting Zack Whitley from near the Houston area today, and this is a known deal. People will surely be trolling when he gets there, so be prepared to hear it most likely.

So, the only logical reason to leave would be that Texas is able to give him such a boatload of money, that staying at Alabama doesn't make sense any more.


One other possible reason: he may feel the walls are closing in. The Sabans, by their standards, have been in Tuscaloosa for a lifetime. Despite all the money being thrown at them, "Should we stay or should we blow" may be the hardest decision of their personal and professional partnership.

CrimsonEyeshade said:

So, the only logical reason to leave would be that Texas is able to give him such a boatload of money, that staying at Alabama doesn't make sense any more.


One other possible reason: he may feel the walls are closing in. The Sabans, by their standards, have been in Tuscaloosa for a lifetime. Despite all the money being thrown at them, "Should we stay or should we blow" may be the hardest decision of their personal and professional partnership.

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If he leaves he will most certainly try to sell that - I just don't think the general public (not just Bama fans) will ever buy it.

When I went to bed last night, you guys were having a bit of fun with the subject. No new information has come out in the interim. All reliable information still points to Saban staying at Alabama, but the tenor of the discussion has gone dark again.

You guys are torturing yourselves. You have the keys to the torture chamber and are free to walk out the door at any time, but you choose to stay and just keep asking for more.

JDCrimson said:

I am not sure what CNS's thinking is but ysually when I contemplates a job change I have done a simple pro/con sheet. In trying to place mysrlf in his shoes and the same its pretty overwhelming the pros in staying outweigh the pros in leaving.

He has built the legacy, has a dominant program in place jn the most domimant conference and has a recruiting base in the SE that would compare or eve surpass the TX recruiting base.

For the financial resources of UT, I think it is only marginally better than what bama is capable of providing.

However the biggest difference I see is in the conferences themselves. Not only will he be tasked with building the UT program but indirectly the conference as a whole and I am not sure he can do that. Within 3 years he will have Stoops run out of OU. So the conference will likely get weaker as whole. Whereas the SEC has gotten stronger. Who can get excited playing week in week out a Baylor, TCU, TxTech? If I am him I am looking at the situation Meyer has found himself I'm at OSU won 30 consecutive games and still can't get any national credibility for the NC. The Big 12 is only marginally better as conference compared to the Big Ten. But would only likely get weaker because other than OU there are no other programs that would be attractive to elite coaches providing competition to UT.

So in this line of thinking its a no brainer to stay. If he does decide to leave it will be purely for financial reasons. And with the upcoming playoff I am not completely certain that his success will be as recognized as it has been or will continue to be in the SEC.

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Urban was a game away from the NC in the BCS format, so that doesn't hold water. Texas has been to two NCs in recent years and has plenty of respect nationally. Mack didn't get excited about playing Baylor and look what's happening to him. Is Mississippi State, UT, Arky, etc really more exciting? To recruit at Texas, all you have to do is have a couple of camps and offer the top kids from that state. With what CNS has built at Alabama, I sure wouldn't leave, though.

257WBY said:

Is Mississippi State, UT, Arky, etc really more exciting?

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Yes. Arkansas beat the second best Big 12 team a few years ago. When's the last time the Big 12 knocked off an SEC elite? Didn't Ole Miss dominate Texas? The Big 12 is way behind the SEC.

KrAzY3 said:

Yes. Arkansas beat the second best Big 12 team a few years ago. When's the last time the Big 12 knocked off an SEC elite? Didn't Ole Miss dominate Texas? The Big 12 is way behind the SEC.

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As Arky goes winless....

257WBY said:

As Arky goes winless....

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That's because they didn't play any Big 12 teams. Oklahoma got murdered by A&M last year in the bowl game, just like they are going to get murdered by Alabama. Go ahead and give me the results that show how the Big 12 is a comparable product, you can't do it because the SEC is dominating.

The fact is Arkansas vs Ole Miss was much more exciting than Texas vs. Ole Miss, and yes I watched the Texas vs. Ole Miss game on that orange network.

KrAzY3 said:

That's because they didn't play any Big 12 teams. Oklahoma got murdered by A&M last year in the bowl game, just like they are going to get murdered by Alabama. Go ahead and give me the results that show how the Big 12 is a comparable product, you can't do it because the SEC is dominating.

The fact is Arkansas vs Ole Miss was much more exciting than Texas vs. Ole Miss, and yes I watched the Texas vs. Ole Miss game on that orange network.

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I certainly agree with you. Texas gained 53 yards on 28 second half plays vs Baylor. It is over for Texas under the current regime. There is no better game in college football right now than LSU vs Alabama.

Two Words.... Dennis Franchione... Lets leave Alabama for the great State of Texas and A&M... well that didn't work out to well..did it. You are at the top, a move now would have to a lateral or even downward, except maybe for the money. You Stay at Alabama, retire as one of the greatest coaches ever, or gamble you take Texas to the level of Alabama, or fail and be remembered as a jumper and your last job tanked..

The only "reputable" sources with any information have reported that saban is close to an extension with Alabama. Every other single piece of information linking him to Texas has not held up. Do I think he may consider it? Yes. Personally I believe he got the contract extension and wasnt as pleased with the amount as he would have liked to be. Chose to sit on it. Why does he need to rush? Texas comes and offers big money and hes inclined to consider it. His agent uses it as leverage to get a better extension. I have found myself waking up in the middle of the night checking this thread....LOL I hope this ends soon!

I of course don't know who will be coaching where next season but I think we all need to remember that the amount of detail in a story does not make it more valid. I remember in years past we had the vast Auburn Cam Newton investigation that was going to get them the death penalty. The detail went all the way back to the Pat Dye era. The NCAA spent a freakin year there and found nothing, nada. Then some of the previous coaching searches yielded similarly detailed reports containing the words "done deal" only to be forgotten about weeks later when it all ended up just internet chatter. Now we add twitter to the game and it's really just impossible to know the truth until all the press conferences are over.

I've tried to stay out of these type of threads and just read them but there is one thing I've barely seen mentioned. The fact that CNS has denied this time after time is one thing but the amount of effort he put into apologizing for the way he left Miami and the fact that it hurt his credibility plus Ms Terry stating they weren't going anywhere, I'll take their word over any so called reporter looking for hits on his article. You can't read anything without runnning into one or two articles on CNS leaving.

***In case of emergency please call J. Harbough**** :biggrin2: