Question: Coach Saban vs Coach Meyer...Friendly Discussion

Urban Meyer is a very good coach that has walked into some great situations at UF and OSU. If he beats Oregon then IMO Meyer and Saban would be interchangeable as far as who is the best. I judge great coaches and great players by championships. If Saban doesn't win another NC or two then Meyer could very well end up with more than him because of the age discrepancy..

There is no doubt that Urban Meyer is a great coach, but as CrimsonForce pointed out, he has walked into 2 great situations at UF and OSU. This does not make him any less of a coach, but he hasn't had to totally rebuild a program like CNS has twice. That fact undoubtedly makes CNS' record worse than it would be otherwise. Meyer's record at Florida was great, but did have a 4 loss team and 5 loss team (that were highly disappointing seasons relative to their expectations) with teams absolutely loaded with talent. Folks around here want CNS to change his defense and make changes all over the place over 4 losses to 4 top 10 teams (3 of those teams won 11 games or more) over 2 seasons, so...

Meyer may end up winning more championships than CNS and go down as one of greatest coaches ever (he's young enough, and certainly has plenty of time), but at this point, he is still clearly behind CNS. Methinks Harbaugh is about cut into some of his BIG dominance, as well. He has been the only great coach in his league except for maybe Dantonio since he's been there.

I don't think it's so much Urban is a better HC of the two, it's pretty even, but, I do think Urban's approach & system is more "Player Friendly", as compared to "The Process", Coach Saban's system & style of play is more a Pro Style approach at Bama..And is more complicated to understand & get a feel for by college players..Especially on the D side of the ball..And is the reason why we have sooo many talented 4* & 5*' Players that hasn't seen the field their 1st 2-3yrs at Bama & some may not ever have the light to come on to even see the football field at Bama..

It suxs if they don's get the PT they want & thought they would get coming to Bama..You have to buckle down & truly learn the playbook & understand what's being taught at meetings & on the practice field..Positions & playing time is won on the practice field & in the film rooms..That decides if you play on Coach Saban's football team in the regular season & not just the accolades you have playing high school football before coming to Bama..JMHO

they are both great coaches.

saban's more accomplished.

Meyer left a mess at Florida. Saban left a monster at LSU.

TideFan in AU said:

There is no doubt that Urban Meyer is a great coach, but as CrimsonForce pointed out, he has walked into 2 great situations at UF and OSU. This does not make him any less of a coach, but he hasn't had to totally rebuild a program like CNS has twice. That fact undoubtedly makes CNS' record worse than it would be otherwise. Meyer's record at Florida was great, but did have a 4 loss team and 5 loss team (that were highly disappointing seasons relative to their expectations) with teams absolutely loaded with talent. Folks around here want CNS to change his defense and make changes all over the place over 4 losses to 4 top 10 teams (3 of those teams won 11 games or more) over 2 seasons, so...

Meyer may end up winning more championships than CNS and go down as one of greatest coaches ever (he's young enough, and certainly has plenty of time), but at this point, he is still clearly behind CNS. Methinks Harbaugh is about cut into some of his BIG dominance, as well. He has been the only great coach in his league except for maybe Dantonio since he's been there.

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Urban Meyer is a great HC no doubt but I agree though that Harbaugh (maybe not in year 1) will make it a lot more difficult for Meyer to dominate the B1G.

If we win it all this year Meyer would have to be considered at least the second best head coach in college football by any rational measure. To surpass Saban he will need to demonstrate that he can maintain success over an extended period of time at one place. That is actually harder to do than building a program.

B1GTide said:

If we win it all this year Meyer would have to be considered at least the second best head coach in college football by any rational measure. To surpass Saban he will need to demonstrate that he can maintain success over an extended period of time at one place. That is actually harder to do than building a program.

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Agree - motivation as an underdog is different than motivation going into every game as the favorite.

I already consider Meyer the 2nd best coach in college football but IMO there is a gulf between 1st and 2nd place. The only advantage Meyer has is youth. He has never dominated college football for an extended period of time.

Coach Saban is 2 or 3 levels above everyone else.

ask us again in a year.

B1GTide said:

If we win it all this year Meyer would have to be considered at least the second best head coach in college football by any rational measure. To surpass Saban he will need to demonstrate that he can maintain success over an extended period of time at one place. That is actually harder to do than building a program.

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B1G, win or lose, IMO Meyer is the second best coach in college football. At his age, if he remains healthy and doesn't burn out, then he has the opportunity to surpass CNS. I know he is an Ohio guy and tOSU is his dream job, but does he look at the next level and will Michigan under Harbaugh make the B1G east a more level playing field? Don't think anybody knows right now.

My biggest issue with Meyer is that historically he has been somewhat loose in his disciplinary policy. This is something that can end a successful career quickly, see Jim Tressel. I do believe his presence at tOSU has been good for college football as will Harbaugh's.

TideFan in AU said:

There is no doubt that Urban Meyer is a great coach, but as CrimsonForce pointed out, he has walked into 2 great situations at UF and OSU. This does not make him any less of a coach, but he hasn't had to totally rebuild a program like CNS has twice. That fact undoubtedly makes CNS' record worse than it would be otherwise. Meyer's record at Florida was great, but did have a 4 loss team and 5 loss team (that were highly disappointing seasons relative to their expectations) with teams absolutely loaded with talent. Folks around here want CNS to change his defense and make changes all over the place over 4 losses to 4 top 10 teams (3 of those teams won 11 games or more) over 2 seasons, so...

Meyer may end up winning more championships than CNS and go down as one of greatest coaches ever (he's young enough, and certainly has plenty of time), but at this point, he is still clearly behind CNS. Methinks Harbaugh is about cut into some of his BIG dominance, as well. He has been the only great coach in his league except for maybe Dantonio since he's been there.

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Unless he has learned how to sustain success the wheels will come off at OSU just like they did at Florida. If he is still doing this well after 8 years at OSU, then and only then will I consider him equal to CNS.

News flash, he did burn out. He chickened out when Tebow left and Saban handed him his lunch. He took the coward's way out and left when the competition got stiff. He took a year off at a cushy commentator's gig and then took the keys to the premiere program in the Big whatever it is. One day a hard nosed coach who preaches the running game and stout defense, who is a tireless recruiter, and has rebuilt a program will come along in the Big whatever and we will see how Urban fares. Oh wait...

AlexanderFan said:

News flash, he did burn out. He chickened out when Tebow left and Saban handed him his lunch. He took the coward's way out and left when the competition got stiff. He took a year off at a cushy commentator's gig and then took the keys to the premiere program in the Big whatever it is. One day a hard nosed coach who preaches the running game and stout defense, who is a tireless recruiter, and has rebuilt a program will come along in the Big whatever and we will see how Urban fares. Oh wait...

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Not sure what happened to him, but I have seen similar things happen to many people. They push themselves too hard an end up crashing. When Meyer crashed, the flames burned the entire Gator program.

I also don't know what he has changed in his life to keep this from happening again. For his sake, I hope that he has this resolved. But calling him a coward is just stupid. A coward would have stayed on the sidelines and continued to collect those huge paychecks from ESPN. He threw himself back into the fray, rose back to the top and beat the man/program that was involved in his burnout a few years ago. He said when he returned to coaching that he was going to have to build a program capable of competing with SEC teams like Alabama - he knew what was involved. I wouldn't say that he showed courage in returning because I don't measure courage in that way, but it certainly demonstrated a determination to prove to himself and the world that he is what we thought he was - a great head coach. The only question remaining is, how great?

One thing which gets no notice: when Coach Saban took over Michigan State THEY WERE ON PROBATION WITH REDUCED SCHOLLYS. Many people point to his no so awesome record there ~ but they don't mention having to deal with probation.

His burn out just happened to coincide with the greatest quarterback in Florida history leaving, and it becoming obvious that Saban had created a monster that would, at the very least, challenge Meyer for the SEC title every year. He was going to have to step up his recruiting effort, he had an unproven situation at quarterback, and all the bubble gum and bailing wire he used to hold the program together was coming undone. He left the program in shambles. He didn't try to fix it, he left.

Throwing deep against Alabama late in that game showed all anybody needed to see about Urban Meyer. Total lack of class, because I promise you if the shoe was on the other foot Saban would've ran the football.

I understand he's your coach and you're going to defend him, I respect that. There's far too much evidence that supports my claim for it not to be truly what happened.

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At this point it's pretty safe to say Coach Saban is still #1 in college football with a fairly large gap behind him.

I like Coach Meyer and think he's a great coach but he doesn't (yet) have the legacy which Coach Saban has already secured.

Give it a few more years and we'll see what happens.

I will say that I will not fault Coach Meyer for what happened when he left Florida. I can relate to being burned out myself and unless you have been there you cannot appreciate how it impacts your ability to function. It's called metal illness and is nothing to minimize as a significant health issue.`The fact that he had some time off to regroup and then returned to prominence says something about the man. Really and truly he should be commended for this rather than scorned.

Coach Meyer also walked into an Ohio State program on probation and somewhat in shambles. His first year there he went 12-0. His overall record since becoming head coach there is 37-3. And now he is at the doorstep of winning another natty. Say what you want but that is an accomplishment aside from what he did pre-Ohio State.