Question: Who do Tide Fans want after Saban?

[CoolBreeze]

First post on the site. Have been following Bama football and recruiting for many, many years. We live in Greenville, SC about 45 minutes from Clemson. Been here for about 6 years now after living in Charleston, SC for 8 years.

I would say that whoever follows Nick Saban has to be incredibly self confident. Will not be for someone without thick skin.

My two cents is 1. Dabo Swinney (Don't think he ever leaves Clemson)
2. Jeremy Pruitt (Assuming can turn around Tennessee and recruits well there)
3. Lincoln Riley (Don't like him but his offensive mind is second to none. He would get better defensive recruits at Bama and would just need a better D coordinator)

Welcome to TideFans! Pull up a chair and stay awhile. We don't always agree around here but it is the best place to be if your love all that is Crimson. Roll Tide friend!

 

[BamaMoon]

Shadiness?!? :conf3:

Please elaborate (or at least PM me).

HUH! Never heard that before and I thought I had some inside connections...:blush:

It's been all over this message board for over a decade. It comes up on every single thread about this topic, and many others.

It comes alot in discussion about Dabo. I don't know specifics but apparently some here do. But I think it's silly to hold something against a person that they did when they were young and stupid.

How many of us would want some of our past dragged up everytime our name was mentioned???

And context matters too. What he did was done under the supervision of one of the worst coaches Alabama ever had. Also, Dabo has gone on to become a great coach (and I personally believe he's a genuine person who's constantly misunderstood because he's open about his faith). So, the context is he's now a solid, mature, aged coach who is quirky and much different than CNS but he's winning NCs at the same clip CNS is in the last 4 years.

If we were hiring now, what more could you want???

 

[Atl Joe]

Have you ever seen the movie "The Boys from Brazil"....?
Hopefully, someone in bioengineering is working on this RIGHT NOW!

 

[12Namath12]

In 1982 Stallings was an assistant coach for the Cowboys. Perkins was the NY Giants head coach.

I believe Bear wanted Stallings, but had to choose Perk. JMHO.

 

[raoul mitgong]

Dabo is the obvious choice and I think there is a good chance he would jump at it. If Saban coaches another 5-6 years the odds go down. Eventually, SC is going to start feeling like home.

Second choice is hard. Kirby wouldn't come and I don't like him any way. I don't feel good about Petersen or Patterson, best to avoid the P's. I would nervously prefer Kiffin over either of them. There are several NFL guys that might be good, and as a last choice, if nobody wants to follow a legend, I would ignore the P and hire Jeremy assuming he hasn't looked like a clown at ut.

Dadgumit, Kiffin really makes me nervous, but for some reason I just like the guy. Anyway, Dabo will come home.

 

[raoul mitgong]

I read somewhere that Coach Bryant had it in his mind to hire Steve Sloan to take his place. It was all set in Bryant's mind until Sloan took the Ole Miss job after Bryant told him not to do it. Turned out it was a bad decision for Sloan in more ways than one. He was never in Bryant's good graces after that.

 

[colbysullivan]

Dabo is the obvious choice and I think there is a good chance he would jump at it. If Saban coaches another 5-6 years the odds go down. Eventually, SC is going to start feeling like home.

Second choice is hard. Kirby wouldn't come and I don't like him any way. I don't feel good about Petersen or Patterson, best to avoid the P's. I would nervously prefer Kiffin over either of them. There are several NFL guys that might be good, and as a last choice, if nobody wants to follow a legend, I would ignore the P and hire Jeremy assuming he hasn't looked like a clown at ut.

Dadgumit, Kiffin really makes me nervous, but for some reason I just like the guy. Anyway, Dabo will come home.

No


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[TIDE24]

What's important is that we not botch it.


I know Ray Perkins was Bryant's choice but for the life of me I don't understand why. No, I don't know as much as football as Bryant did but....jeez!

Bill Curry over Bobby Bowden still gives me nightmares.

Gene Stallings was the best of what I thought were some mediocre choices below Bowden.

Whoever said, "Let's hire a head coach who has ONE YEAR of HS head coaching experience" (DuBose) needs to be slipped an overdose and shot out of a canon

Hiring Franchione was falling into the second tier - the Means story hitting the newsstands on Thanksgiving Day that year was a double whammy

Price could supposedly "do more with less"...........his trip to the strip club showed he could do less with more.....

Shula? Mike DuBose without a zipper problem



We've gone to bat eight times since Coach left in 1982.


We're - AT BEST - batting .250.

Pruitt is my first choice, by then we will know if he is ready and if he is we get the bonus of screwing fat phil

to be fair on some of these hires they need to be taken into context of when they were made.

Dubose was an awful hire, but the one the fans wanted. It was the popular choice but never should have been made. Every hire from Dubose through Shula had NCAA sanction issues associated with it.

The Dubose situation put us in a downward spiral after that.

Fran was not horrible, if not for the sanctions, we would have been western division champs his second year, then he turned tail and left. Which put us in a bind. Which left us "holding the rope", but he got his.

When Shula was hired we were desperate. He gets a bad rap, but he deserves credit for taking the job when a lot of people did not want it. The chances of success for whoever that coach was at that time were very slim. He came in after spring practice when we needed somebody and did a good job. He just was not a great coach.

Tough times, but it ultimately landed us CNS and the greatest run in college football history.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Respectfully - this has been hashed out on the board for years and person after person here says this. This notion came up after Bryant Jr - at Stallings's introductory PC - said, "This is what Papa wanted."

Bryant was the AD for Pete's sake. I realize it's debated and to a degree we'll never know. But if Bryant wanted Stallings in 1982, there's no reason to think he couldn't have gotten him. Yeah, he said he was removing himself from the search but does anyone actually believe that?

I'll have to go back and read it again to get the details straight, but Keith Dunnavant wrote in COACH: The Life of Paul Bear Bryant that Coach Bryant lamented to one of his assistants (John David Crow, I think) that "they" had taken it away from him. "It" being the decision on his replacement hire. In the book, Dunnavant states that Perkins was not Coach Bryant's first choice. I can't remember if it explicitly stated that Gene Stallings was, however.

 

[B1GTide]

Who do Tide fans want? A winner. Really, even those listed as unattractive in this thread would be embraced if they came here and won a few championships.

Hate Meyer or Kiffin? Let them come here and win 2-3 national championships and they will be celebrated.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

It's a whole lot easier to throw rocks at the weaknesses in all candidates' resumes than it is to make a choice.

Face it...there is not a perfect candidates out there. Not even Dabo or Urban. Just for the record, for different reasons, I don't think either is realistic option.

Pruitt is unproven. Petersen is west coast. Patterson is inconsistent in a weak league. Fuente is struggling in a league where #2 just isn't that high a bar. Kirby is at his dream job and anyway he didn't just burn bridges in Tuscaloosa. He nuked them, then plowed up the glass and salted the earth below it. Mullen's an egotistical jerk (like most successful coaches aren't), Franklin's legacy at Vandy is a nasty stain, Lincoln Riley isn't leaving Norman except for the NFL, D'Antonio is both inconsistent and old, Tom Herman is still questionable even in a weak league, and Brian Kelley runs an offense that would never win championships in the SEC.

OK, so none of those guys work. Who will?

My personal solution: You have to offer Dabo. I know there's about a 90% chance he'll say no. But you have to make him do that. His indiscretions in Tuscaloosa were a product of the regime he was working for, and he has matured at least a bit out of the Golden Retriever puppy antics of his early years in Clemson.

Assuming he continues to improve UTe, Pruitt is the next stop.

If Pruitt's performance at UTe doesn't justify an offer, I'd go with Mullen. He does a lot with a little.

My point is this: Once you get past the obvious, and understand that the obvious probably won't come, it isn't easy. It's real easy to point out flaws. It's a lot harder to make the decision among a set of options, none of which are perfect or riskless.

 

[Tideflyer]

Pruitt is my first choice, by then we will know if he is ready and if he is we get the bonus of screwing fat phil

to be fair on some of these hires they need to be taken into context of when they were made.

Dubose was an awful hire, but the one the fans wanted. It was the popular choice but never should have been made. Every hire from Dubose through Shula had NCAA sanction issues associated with it.

The Dubose situation put us in a downward spiral after that.

Fran was not horrible, if not for the sanctions, we would have been western division champs his second year, then he turned tail and left. Which put us in a bind. Which left us "holding the rope", but he got his.

When Shula was hired we were desperate. He gets a bad rap, but he deserves credit for taking the job when a lot of people did not want it. The chances of success for whoever that coach was at that time were very slim. He came in after spring practice when we needed somebody and did a good job. He just was not a great coach.

Tough times, but it ultimately landed us CNS and the greatest run in college football history.

Just my own very personal opinion, but I think that`s how the Shula years are best characterized. Mike Shula served UA both as player and coach and, as far as I know, did so with integrity.

 

[Tideflyer]

Wouldn`t you like to know who, if he were put into the decision making position, CNS would go after as his successor? I know I would. The answer(s) to the question, " Why him ?" would be equally fascinating.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

All I know is that CNS is getting his hip fixed to coach “a LOT of more years”.

For all we know he might keep going for another 8-10 years or longer if possible.

As long as he has the desire and good health I’m good with him being the HC for however long he wants. He’s more than earned it.

I definitely think he’ll be here another 5-6 years and win 1-2 more NC’s at least..... and by that time the coaching landscape could look completely different than right now.

I’m just too busy enjoying the present to worry about future unknown scenarios.

 

[BamaMoon]

My personal solution: You have to offer Dabo. I know there's about a 90% chance he'll say no. But you have to make him do that. His indiscretions in Tuscaloosa were a product of the regime he was working for, and he has matured at least a bit out of the Golden Retriever puppy antics of his early years in Clemson.

I agree with most of your post...but I think the perception Dabo would say no at a such a high percentage is unfounded.

As far as I know, Dabo has never tipped his hat publicly about the possiblity of ever coaching at Bama if ever offered.

I KNOW NOTHING, but I'm pretty sure the possibility of him turning down the job is not 90%. Shoot, I don't see how anyone could say it's not at least a 50/50 scenario. JMO.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

I agree with most of your post...but I think the perception Dabo would say no at a such a high percentage is unfounded.

As far as I know, Dabo has never tipped his hat publicly about the possiblity of ever coaching at Bama if ever offered.

I KNOW NOTHING, but I'm pretty sure the possibility of him turning down the job is not 90%. Shoot, I don't see how anyone could say it's not at least a 50/50 scenario. JMO.

I agree with this. Since Dabo has already won 2 NC's at Clemson and may win more one has to think that he may start thinking about a new challenge somewhere else. There are some coaches that are constantly looking for new challenges. Coach Saban was like that and who knows, maybe Saban would have left Bama a few years ago looking for a new challenge if not for the fact that Miss Terry seems to love Tuscaloosa. If "Mama calls" Dabo I think he might very well answer.

 

[GrayTide]

It's a whole lot easier to throw rocks at the weaknesses in all candidates' resumes than it is to make a choice.

Face it...there is not a perfect candidates out there. Not even Dabo or Urban. Just for the record, for different reasons, I don't think either is realistic option.

Pruitt is unproven. Petersen is west coast. Patterson is inconsistent in a weak league. Fuente is struggling in a league where #2 just isn't that high a bar. Kirby is at his dream job and anyway he didn't just burn bridges in Tuscaloosa. He nuked them, then plowed up the glass and salted the earth below it. Mullen's an egotistical jerk (like most successful coaches aren't), Franklin's legacy at Vandy is a nasty stain, Lincoln Riley isn't leaving Norman except for the NFL, D'Antonio is both inconsistent and old, Tom Herman is still questionable even in a weak league, and Brian Kelley runs an offense that would never win championships in the SEC.

OK, so none of those guys work. Who will?

My personal solution: You have to offer Dabo. I know there's about a 90% chance he'll say no. But you have to make him do that. His indiscretions in Tuscaloosa were a product of the regime he was working for, and he has matured at least a bit out of the Golden Retriever puppy antics of his early years in Clemson.

Assuming he continues to improve UTe, Pruitt is the next stop.

If Pruitt's performance at UTe doesn't justify an offer, I'd go with Mullen. He does a lot with a little.

My point is this: Once you get past the obvious, and understand that the obvious probably won't come, it isn't easy. It's real easy to point out flaws. It's a lot harder to make the decision among a set of options, none of which are perfect or riskless.

Agree that there is no perfect coach. If I were Greg Byrne today, and as always a lot can change when the time actually comes, but IMO Jimbo Fisher is the best proven coach of all those mentioned, with the possible exception of Dabo. My first choice at this time would be Fisher.

ETA: I know all the comments about crab legs, Jameis Winston and discipline issues, but this is Alabama, not FSU. I would also think that CNS would have some input on those coaches who have worked for him.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Who do Tide fans want? A winner. Really, even those listed as unattractive in this thread would be embraced if they came here and won a few championships.

Hate Meyer or Kiffin? Let them come here and win 2-3 national championships and they will be celebrated.

Kiffin will never get the chance. A coach with his history of predatory narcissism should not have access to any student. Meyer offers a different situation in that he appears willing and able to bend his transactional brand of ethics to meet any of his program's needs.

Serious question, BIG: Knowing what you know now, would you take Urban back?

 

[TideEngineer08]

I think Dabo would jump at the chance to come here. And I'm not sure how I feel about that as he is sure to be asked if the timing works out right. I know he's been at Clemson for a long time and I realize there is less pressure there than in Tuscaloosa. But nothing replaces your alma mater.

Pruitt is intriguing as he seems to fit the Nick Saban style better than any of his disciples out there, but we ultimately have to wait and see if he can put it together at Tennessee. I'll say this though: IMO he is not required to win a championship at Tennessee to prove he's got what it takes. Tennessee is a different animal than it was in 1998, and the college football world has changed greatly since then as well. If he can put together some 10 win seasons there, then he's proven a lot.

Ultimately, I'd like to see Coach Saban have 5-10 more years (or more) and then let's cross that bridge. There is no way to know what the landscape will look like in 2 years, much less 10.

 

[BamaMoon]

I think Dabo would jump at the chance to come here. And I'm not sure how I feel about that as he is sure to be asked if the timing works out right. I know he's been at Clemson for a long time and I realize there is less pressure there than in Tuscaloosa. But nothing replaces your alma mater.

Pruitt is intriguing as he seems to fit the Nick Saban style better than any of his disciples out there, but we ultimately have to wait and see if he can put it together at Tennessee. I'll say this though: IMO he is not required to win a championship at Tennessee to prove he's got what it takes. Tennessee is a different animal than it was in 1998, and the college football world has changed greatly since then as well. If he can put together some 10 win seasons there, then he's proven a lot.

Ultimately, I'd like to see Coach Saban have 5-10 more years (or more) and then let's cross that bridge. There is no way to know what the landscape will look like in 2 years, much less 10.

Agree on Pruit. He would fit the CNS personality mode the closest of anybody I can think of. But again, do we want a coach with a certain personality or a proven track record? I think I know what matters most. Having said that, if JP turns UT around and gets them competing at a high SEC level again, it will prove he knows what he's doing. To expect him to win a NC there, considering where they are right now, would be a stretch. But if he did in the next 5-7 years, he'd skyrocket to the top of potential CNS replacements.