If you were to stop an Alabama fan in the street outside Bryant Denny stadium 50 or 100 years from now and ask him who the greatest Head Coach of Alabama Football ever was, will the answer always be Coach Bryant?
In 1956 the greatest manager my club has ever seen passed away, 12 years before my birth. Yet today if you were to ask any fan old enough to have an appreciation of our history who the greatest manager our club ever had was, the answer will always be the same, Mr. Struth.
Managers since have went onto to achieve successes that Mr. Struth did not, mainly because these successes were not available to him, some of the records he set have since been broken although some others probably never will be due to the changing nature of the sport. However I am 100% confident that in 50, 100 or even 200yrs from now if the question was asked of any fan on the street outside Ibrox the question will always be answered with "Mr. Struth".
The club was already Scotland's most prestigious and successful by the time Mr. Struth arrived, but the total domination of the sport in our country he oversaw transformed the club into the entity we know it to be now. Therefore no matter what any future manager achieves they will always fall in his shadow.
I am relatively new to Alabama football, but already I can't help but see the similarities in how Coach Bryant is viewed by you 'real' Bama fans and how my own view Mr. Struth.
Am I correct in my assumption that no matter what Nik Saban or any future Alabama HC achieves they can only dream of being the 2nd greatest coach in your history, even if they were to go on to win more National Titles? Was he the man who took an already successful college football football team and imprinted his on DNA onto it transforming it into the most successful and prestigious program in the sport?
In 1956 the greatest manager my club has ever seen passed away, 12 years before my birth. Yet today if you were to ask any fan old enough to have an appreciation of our history who the greatest manager our club ever had was, the answer will always be the same, Mr. Struth.
Managers since have went onto to achieve successes that Mr. Struth did not, mainly because these successes were not available to him, some of the records he set have since been broken although some others probably never will be due to the changing nature of the sport. However I am 100% confident that in 50, 100 or even 200yrs from now if the question was asked of any fan on the street outside Ibrox the question will always be answered with "Mr. Struth".
The club was already Scotland's most prestigious and successful by the time Mr. Struth arrived, but the total domination of the sport in our country he oversaw transformed the club into the entity we know it to be now. Therefore no matter what any future manager achieves they will always fall in his shadow.
I am relatively new to Alabama football, but already I can't help but see the similarities in how Coach Bryant is viewed by you 'real' Bama fans and how my own view Mr. Struth.
Am I correct in my assumption that no matter what Nik Saban or any future Alabama HC achieves they can only dream of being the 2nd greatest coach in your history, even if they were to go on to win more National Titles? Was he the man who took an already successful college football football team and imprinted his on DNA onto it transforming it into the most successful and prestigious program in the sport?
Last edited:
