I'm not going to lie, I really never liked Shula from the get-go. I was hoping for a fiery young coach, and the first press conference showed that he was anything but. He seemed aloof, over his head, and just about every negative thing you could say about a coach. He seemed like a guy who was unexpectedly picked in a backyard football game, asked to be the quarterback, but had never thrown a pass in his life. I guess that analogy pretty much sums up the Shula error. It was a trying time for Bama, but we made a major mis-measure about Shula's ability to grow as a coach. Some things are just innate like the ability to lead. I guess you can learn a little about how to be a better leader, but for the most part people who can lead are just born with it. Shula just didn't have the intangibles needed to lead young men and manage such a large operation as a college football team. He's not a horrible football mind, but not terrifically gifted either. Shula is well qualified to be an NFL positions coach, but simply doesn't have the complete package to take on the whole operation even at the college level.
Anyway, back to Saban. To contrast from Shula, well...he's a complete contrast. He's fiery, there is no doubt that he wants to win and wants to do it every time he runs onto the field. There is no doubt that he knows what it takes to win. The way he stresses the commitment to good teaching and S&C demonstrates that perfectly. Shula probably understood what it took to win, but Saban knows how to do it and will except nothing less than trying to achieve those goals. Basically - at the risk of being overly harsh to Shula - Shula could talk the talk but Saban can walk the walk too.
