tru2thaduce said:

On that day in Orlando,Bama would have beaten any team put in front of them.one of the most dominate games in the Saban era.

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with all of the disappointment of the 2010 season, that bowl game was one of my favorites of all time

For the record, and big surprise here I'm sure, but I think Finebaum is spot on in terms of preferring Nick Saban over Urban Meyer.

In recent memory, there were three truly great college coaches in my mind. Pete Carroll, who I think really put an exclamation point on his college success by winning a Super Bowl, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer.

Those guys to me really put themselves on another level from their competitors. I suppose you can argue that coaching at USC, Alabama and Florida/Ohio State didn't hurt one bit but they all got results. The thing though, that will never leave Urban Meyer in my mind is that he ran away from Nick Saban and the SEC. There's just no question about that, he didn't handle adversity.

So, now we have a guy who is clearly a great coach, who is clearly great at keeping his QBs around even if it would be better for them if they left, but he hasn't shown the ability to go toe to toe with tough competition the way Nick Saban has. Urban Meyer has things easier now, and he might just run off a string of unprecedented success because he won't have to play Auburn late in the year, he won't have to play a string of tough SEC games, he won't have to do those types of things anymore. He went someplace that he could afford to have his team play mediocre football for nearly half a season and still win a championship, good for him but that in no way shows he's a better coach.

Nick Saban took 3 programs that were really down and turned them into contenders.

Say what you will about the brands he was coaching, but it had been several years since LSU, Alabama, or Michigan State had enjoyed any amount of success. Now, he didn't stay at Michigan State long enough, but at LSU he took them to unprecedented heights (I'm including his setting up the program for success under Les Miles just as I will setting up Alabama's next coach with a loaded cupboard), and he's taken Alabama to the level of its greatest historic success (the 70s).

Urban Meyer didn't inherent a bad program at Florida or Ohio State. And what separates him from CNS, IMO, is that he left Florida in shambles. In fact, that's why he ran away. His recruiting had cratered. I don't believe his coaching ability is what scared him away from the SEC. He can out coach Nick Saban - he did it just last year. But his recruiting was headed in the wrong direction and the writing was clearly painted on the wall by the 2010 season.

KrAzY3 said:

For the record, and big surprise here I'm sure, but I think Finebaum is spot on in terms of preferring Nick Saban over Urban Meyer.

In recent memory, there were three truly great college coaches in my mind. Pete Carroll, who I think really put an exclamation point on his college success by winning a Super Bowl, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer.

Those guys to me really put themselves on another level from their competitors. I suppose you can argue that coaching at USC, Alabama and Florida/Ohio State didn't hurt one bit but they all got results. The thing though, that will never leave Urban Meyer in my mind is that he ran away from Nick Saban and the SEC. There's just no question about that, he didn't handle adversity.

So, now we have a guy who is clearly a great coach, who is clearly great at keeping his QBs around even if it would be better for them if they left, but he hasn't shown the ability to go toe to toe with tough competition the way Nick Saban has. Urban Meyer has things easier now, and he might just run off a string of unprecedented success because he won't have to play Auburn late in the year, he won't have to play a string of tough SEC games, he won't have to do those types of things anymore. He went someplace that he could afford to have his team play mediocre football for nearly half a season and still win a championship, good for him but that in no way shows he's a better coach.

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Nicely said and couldn't agree more.

KrAzY3 said:

For the record, and big surprise here I'm sure, but I think Finebaum is spot on in terms of preferring Nick Saban over Urban Meyer.

In recent memory, there were three truly great college coaches in my mind. Pete Carroll, who I think really put an exclamation point on his college success by winning a Super Bowl, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer.

Those guys to me really put themselves on another level from their competitors. I suppose you can argue that coaching at USC, Alabama and Florida/Ohio State didn't hurt one bit but they all got results. The thing though, that will never leave Urban Meyer in my mind is that he ran away from Nick Saban and the SEC. There's just no question about that, he didn't handle adversity.

So, now we have a guy who is clearly a great coach, who is clearly great at keeping his QBs around even if it would be better for them if they left, but he hasn't shown the ability to go toe to toe with tough competition the way Nick Saban has. Urban Meyer has things easier now, and he might just run off a string of unprecedented success because he won't have to play Auburn late in the year, he won't have to play a string of tough SEC games, he won't have to do those types of things anymore. He went someplace that he could afford to have his team play mediocre football for nearly half a season and still win a championship, good for him but that in no way shows he's a better coach.

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I agree with Coolbreeze below. This is very well said and if people are honest about how it all went down, they know this to be the truth.

TideEngineer08 said:

Nick Saban took 3 programs that were really down and turned them into contenders.

Say what you will about the brands he was coaching, but it had been several years since LSU, Alabama, or Michigan State had enjoyed any amount of success. Now, he didn't stay at Michigan State long enough, but at LSU he took them to unprecedented heights (I'm including his setting up the program for success under Les Miles just as I will setting up Alabama's next coach with a loaded cupboard), and he's taken Alabama to the level of its greatest historic success (the 70s).

Urban Meyer didn't inherent a bad program at Florida or Ohio State. And what separates him from CNS, IMO, is that he left Florida in shambles. In fact, that's why he ran away. His recruiting had cratered. I don't believe his coaching ability is what scared him away from the SEC. He can out coach Nick Saban - he did it just last year. But his recruiting was headed in the wrong direction and the writing was clearly painted on the wall by the 2010 season.

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Saban badly out coached Meyer the 3 previous games, including the 2008 loss. I'm not even sure that Bama was the most talented team last year. And yes, I am a Saban homer .

TideEngineer08 said:

He can out coach Nick Saban - he did it just last year.

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I am not completely willing to accept that. For one, people just won't accept how beat up the Alabama team was last year. How beat up the entire SEC West was, but there's no question, none, that the SEC West was dominant at the start of the year and by the end they were mortal. Something caused that.

I remember having this debate a while back and people saying yeah Ohio State was beat up to or something, then a while after that someone posted a link showing Ohio State had some of the fewest missed starts of any FBS team. It as something like 4... think about that. They had their entire starting lineup out there, fairly healthy, for almost the entire season. That doesn't just mean it gave them a better chance for success in that game, but it let them go from what was clearly not that great a team early, to a championship contender. Do you know how much easier it is to develop those players, coach them, and prepare them when it's the same exact guys every single game?

You think for one second, that if Nick Saban only had 4 missed starts from his starters last year, that team doesn't beat Urban Meyer's? There are a lot of advantages to playing a soft schedule. One is that you can be mediocre, like Ohio State was early, and still play for a championship. The other is your team just won't get as beat up, which is demonstrated by the fact that their starters barely missed any games. How many people remember that one of Ohio State's biggest plays came after a true freshman linebacker had to come in because of injury (since one guy was already out and another got hurt) for instance? The play was run right at him, but that was just plain old out-coaching right? Running at a true freshman forced to play due to injuries?

Did Urban Meyer coach a good game? Yes, he did. Did Ohio State play a good game? Yes they did. But, when you put two very talented teams on the football field, the healthier one has a major advantage. That's all there is to it.

TideEngineer08 said:

Nick Saban took 3 programs that were really down and turned them into contenders.

Say what you will about the brands he was coaching, but it had been several years since LSU, Alabama, or Michigan State had enjoyed any amount of success. Now, he didn't stay at Michigan State long enough, but at LSU he took them to unprecedented heights (I'm including his setting up the program for success under Les Miles just as I will setting up Alabama's next coach with a loaded cupboard), and he's taken Alabama to the level of its greatest historic success (the 70s).

Urban Meyer didn't inherent a bad program at Florida or Ohio State. And what separates him from CNS, IMO, is that he left Florida in shambles. In fact, that's why he ran away. His recruiting had cratered. I don't believe his coaching ability is what scared him away from the SEC. He can out coach Nick Saban - he did it just last year. But his recruiting was headed in the wrong direction and the writing was clearly painted on the wall by the 2010 season.

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completely agree!! if anything, CNS left Michigan St. and LSU in better shape than when he arrived. CNS built Alabama and LSU from the ground up, period.
CUM inherited talent in Gainesville and Columbus without any sanctions to hinder his progress.

That article with PF made it sound like CNS had turned a corner in his life and found another reason to keep coaching.

It seems to me that he has indeed made Tuscaloosa his home simply by having his family close by. Basically realizing that his kids went through high school and college here thus it becoming their hometown. All that together may mean that CNS is coaching for his home school now and never having done that before. Once you truly make a commitment to something for the long term that in and of itself often reignites passion not out of challenge to conquer or rebuild but out of commitment and desire to be steward of what has been built.

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