What? Saban had no issues with him that I am aware of. Here's the facts:
Alabama put him in a head to head quarterback battle with a more experienced AJ. You don't do that with a QB that's a mess unless you are desperate, Phillip Sims was not the only option and Saban didn't have this sort of battle with McElroy for example. Basically, you can say anything bad you have to say about Phillip Sims plight at Alabama that you could say about Coker, if not more so...
Every action by Alabama indicated that Phillip Sims was being groomed to replace AJ when he left. They didn't recruit the position aggressively, they didn't have a lot of depth behind Phillip and why should they? They had the guy they wanted waiting in the wings. His transfer was clearly not what Nick Saban or Alabama wanted.
If that isn't enough to convince you, on top of that Nick Saban wanted Phillip back! Went out of his way to try to get him back, and even after the fact he's also put in a good word for Sims in terms of his potential in the NFL. Why in the heck would you do that with someone that "couldn't get it together"? You're darn near calling Saban a liar.
The only issue, the only problem I am aware of with Phillip Sims at Alabama is that Alabama happened to have AJ, who turned out to be a two time national champion quarterback and NFL draft pick. That doesn't say one single bad thing about Phillip Sims. I'm not sure why you seem to view Sims negatively, but the big mistake by all accounts was Phillip listening to his father who apparently wanted him to move to Virginia/get immediate playing time.
The biggest problem with Phillip Sims career was that he went to Virginia, it was a bad choice but as you allude to, also not good for Sims development. What you seem reluctant to acknowledge is if he got worse when he went to Virginia, logically he'd get better if he went back to Alabama.
you are simply adding more meat to my argument.
he knew he was being groomed to replace AJ, but instead of being disciplined and biding his time, chose to transfer to another school where there's basically zero pressure and hardly any competition compared to alabama.
he went to the new school, got blobbed out fat, couldn't beat out competition that wouldn't even get a walk-on offer at alabama, and was such a bad student that he flunked out of school.
as for calling saban a liar...i don't know where that nonsense comes from and isn't germane to the discussion anyways.
as for saban so desperately wanting him back, that could say as much about how we've handled (or mishandled) recruiting and developing quarterbacks as it does about simms being the man.
blake sims became the starter because he was loyal to the program, worked his butt off and waited his turn.
simms chose to get disgruntled and leave. if his father is the one calling the shots, why would be believe that has changed since he left? moreover, if his dad is all about playing time and becoming a pro, wouldn't he have steered him back to the nation's most prominent football program that was pining for him to return and be the starter rather than directing him to division 2 school to finish out his career?
lastly, why would he necessarily get better once back at alabama when he couldn't cut it the first time and regressed elsewhere?
