Alabama fans have long suffered in past years as other schools and coaches tried to take the shine off of Coach Bryant's accomplishments.
It did not matter if the team played in an era prior to segregation, or when nearly all other schools saw their best and brightest leaving the country to fight against oppression in two parts of the globe far removed from home.
It did not matter if those coaches were plagued by scandals come to light that forced their departure, or resided in one of the weakest conferences in the history of college football.
Despite all this, we Alabama fans knew one insurmountable truth: Coach Bryant is the greatest coach of all time.
He did the unthinkable - took a middling Alabama team that had no reason to believe that victories of yesteryear under previous greats would ever be reclaimed. Yes, there were the terrible years under Coach Whitworth, it had been over a decade since a truly great season (with only a couple of good seasons dotting a long stretch of mediocrity). Then came "The Bear", and in just four years Alabama had a national championship and was on the road to greatness. Six national championships and more SEC titles than believed humanly possibly, Coach Bryant had completed an amazing career by coming home when "mama called".
A similar narrative follows suit here. Prior to Coach Saban, Alabama was far removed from the last, truly great season under Stallings, with 1994 being the last time the team truly competed for a national championship. Yes, there were a few good seasons dotting what was otherwise a stretch of mediocrity at Alabama. We, the fans, remembered earlier times fondly, and wondering if the next "wondercoach" would bring us to that stage - though doubters could hardly be blamed when miscue after miscue in coaching hires kept Alabama from reaching greatness.
Coach Saban did the unthinkable - took a middling Alabama team that was playing in the toughest era of SEC football and led them to four national titles in seven years, in a system that REQUIRED you be in the top 2 at the end of the season, or in this latest title, play in a playoff (unheard of in this division of college football until just last year) and beat not one, but two top four teams (as well as winning an SECCG). In this final season, Alabama and Saban won the toughest division in college football (the SEC West), took down a top 25 team to start the season (Wisconsin), beat the three best teams from the SEC East (Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida), then beat the #3 and #1 teams in the country in the playoffs. All this in what was supposed to be a "rebuilding year" for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
So, now Alabama fans are faced with the dilemma of having to debate who is the greatest coach of all time:
The guy who coached at Alabama
OR
The guy who coaches at Alabama
Such a terrible burden that we must overcome.
It did not matter if the team played in an era prior to segregation, or when nearly all other schools saw their best and brightest leaving the country to fight against oppression in two parts of the globe far removed from home.
It did not matter if those coaches were plagued by scandals come to light that forced their departure, or resided in one of the weakest conferences in the history of college football.
Despite all this, we Alabama fans knew one insurmountable truth: Coach Bryant is the greatest coach of all time.
He did the unthinkable - took a middling Alabama team that had no reason to believe that victories of yesteryear under previous greats would ever be reclaimed. Yes, there were the terrible years under Coach Whitworth, it had been over a decade since a truly great season (with only a couple of good seasons dotting a long stretch of mediocrity). Then came "The Bear", and in just four years Alabama had a national championship and was on the road to greatness. Six national championships and more SEC titles than believed humanly possibly, Coach Bryant had completed an amazing career by coming home when "mama called".
A similar narrative follows suit here. Prior to Coach Saban, Alabama was far removed from the last, truly great season under Stallings, with 1994 being the last time the team truly competed for a national championship. Yes, there were a few good seasons dotting what was otherwise a stretch of mediocrity at Alabama. We, the fans, remembered earlier times fondly, and wondering if the next "wondercoach" would bring us to that stage - though doubters could hardly be blamed when miscue after miscue in coaching hires kept Alabama from reaching greatness.
Coach Saban did the unthinkable - took a middling Alabama team that was playing in the toughest era of SEC football and led them to four national titles in seven years, in a system that REQUIRED you be in the top 2 at the end of the season, or in this latest title, play in a playoff (unheard of in this division of college football until just last year) and beat not one, but two top four teams (as well as winning an SECCG). In this final season, Alabama and Saban won the toughest division in college football (the SEC West), took down a top 25 team to start the season (Wisconsin), beat the three best teams from the SEC East (Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida), then beat the #3 and #1 teams in the country in the playoffs. All this in what was supposed to be a "rebuilding year" for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
So, now Alabama fans are faced with the dilemma of having to debate who is the greatest coach of all time:
The guy who coached at Alabama
OR
The guy who coaches at Alabama
Such a terrible burden that we must overcome.
