News Article: Nick Saban Better than Coach Bryant with win?

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
It's interesting that in these types of threads no one ever even mentions Coach Wade or Coach Thomas, they were pretty danged good too you know.
With all due respect to those for whom this doesn't apply... But, I'd imagine much of the reason is that very few people on this board were really alive to have seen them. In fact, probably many of our parents weren't even around to really remember the Wade and Thomas eras.
 

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
18,734
9,918
187
Saban could hold a candle, but Bryant would blow it out.

My name is my birth year, so I missed the 1960s and early 1980s. I do remember the dominance of the late 1970s. I agree Bryant had the "it factor" that you really can't explain and can't understand if you weren't there. But old timers in the 1960s probably said the same thing comparing Bryant to Wade and Thomas.
 

bamabryan

Hall of Fame
Jan 1, 2006
5,085
9
57
57
Alabaster, AL.
CPB built the foundation that CNS has built his success off of. Alabama has the resources because of CPB and CNS makes good use of them.
No disrepect intended, but I have to disagree with you on this. IMHO I think Wade and Thomas built the foundation at Alabama. CPB took it to another level and had a very long period of success.
 

GrayTide

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 2005
18,810
6,245
187
Greenbow, Alabama
Great thread, but I have always believed it is not possible to compare coaches, players, and teams across generations. It is easier to say that Alabama made Bryant the coach he was and Alabama has made Saban the coach he is. Both will go down in college football history as the best in their eras.
 

BigGunn

1st Team
Dec 5, 2004
810
10
37
Pace, Florida
Clay Travis = guy not getting me to click.


An argument can be made either way. Bryant didn't coach MOST of his career during scholarship limitations, full integration, freshmen playing, or an SEC that kept swapping the national title among its members. Saban didn't coach during a time when the players pretty much all played BOTH WAYS or were limited to three TV appearances per year.


Here's how I look at it: if Bryant coached now, he'd succeed; if Saban coached then, same thing.
If memory serves me correctly, of the championship teams, only the '61 team played both ways. The rule changed between then and Namath's team.
 

bamapuppy

1st Team
Mar 28, 2008
976
55
52
Hillsborough, NC
A few unorganized thoughts....

-They are different coaches. CNS excels in the tactical aspect of the game is also a very good motivator. CPB excelled at knowing people...his players, surrounding himself with great coaches...and was very good at overall strategy.

-CPB built the foundation that CNS has built his success off of. Alabama has the resources because of CPB and CNS makes good use of them.

-CNS will never have the opportunity to affect the bigger picture (The university itself as a whole, the state, and the south in general) the way CPB did.

In short...CNS could never be CPB nor should he try to be(nor do I think he does). It was a different era...and CPb had such a social effect that was so much bigger than football. I wish people would simply see this as I believe both men do/would and that is that they both did their best to win games, conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively on the university, and do everything they can to positively influence young men both on and off the field.
Coach Bryant did as much for integration in the State of Alabama as MLK did. But, I do believe that MLK, and CPB were both exceptionally great men. Just my opinion of course.
 

CrimSonami

All-American
Jul 17, 2011
3,041
1,941
187
Ardmore, AL; too close to 10erC
Another CPB vs CNS comparison?

Not gonna read through the "ARTICLE" and all posts but I'll say this, again.

Having been born the year CPB came to Bama I've seen both and it's an Apples and Oranges scenario. Different era's and circumstances. I'm grateful for both but which one is greater than the other is debatable and largely opinionated.

RTR!!!
 

Ole Man Dan

Hall of Fame
Apr 21, 2008
8,982
3,421
187
Gadsden, Al.
There is no way to make a valid comparison between CPB and CNS.
They represent the best of the best in different era's.


They coached/coach under different rules, and limitations.
Both coaches were/are innovators, and motivators.
Both coaches believed/believe that Defense wins games.

I don't have to argue who was/is best.
We have been and are currently blessed with the very best coaches.
That's enough for me.
 

CapstoneTider

Suspended
Dec 6, 2000
7,453
6
0
Coach Bryant did it through 2 decades with a lull in between. Coach Saban could do this if he had started coaching at Bama in his 40's. He could match coach Bryant's 1st decade if he continues. As far as SEC Championships, he has a ways to go.
 
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Florida Tom

All-American
Aug 15, 2011
4,449
0
0
Tampa, FL
There will only be One Coach Bryant and that is it.

Coach Saban is the Best coach in all of football today in my oopinion & thank goodness he chose Alabama.

Some of us have some reading to do you need to understand what CPB meant to the state not just the University. He offered dignity & class where it was hard to find sometimes.

Talk to people like Wibur Jackson, Sylevster Croom what Coach Bryant meant to them.

CNS thankfully will never get the same situations as Coach had to deal with, buthe has restored respect to the University. No one will try the stuff 10rc did after Bryant as long as CNS is here.
 
Another CPB vs CNS comparison?

Not gonna read through the "ARTICLE" and all posts but I'll say this, again.

Having been born the year CPB came to Bama I've seen both and it's an Apples and Oranges scenario. Different era's and circumstances. I'm grateful for both but which one is greater than the other is debatable and largely opinionated.

RTR!!!
I like apples and oranges!
 

4Q Basket Case

FB|BB Moderator
Staff member
Nov 8, 2004
9,568
12,865
237
Tuscaloosa
Some random thoughts:
I never thought of Bryant as that much of an innovator. I thought of him as a perfector of other people's innovation, particularly on offense.

He was also a great at adapting his approach to the times, winning big with single wing, pro style passing, and wishbone. He may have even run the Notre Dame box, though I can't say that for sure.

As others have already stated, Saban won't have the time to go through a lull, then a rebirth with a decade of success on the other end.

Bryant did have an effect on the whole state separate and apart from football. But a lot of that was the times in which he coached. Thrust into the same social upheaval, I think Saban would shine as well. But for all our sakes, I hope that isn't necessary.

Because of scholarship limitations and their fallout, I think Saban's golden era is more impressive than either of Bryant's, taken individually. Bryant, however, did it twice, over a period of time that Saban probably won't have. Plus, he covered years where there were huge changes to the game, brought on primarily by the emergence of the black athlete.

This is another aspect of his ability to adapt, yet stay true to his core philosophies of running, stopping the run, and sound special teams.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have seen both in their prime, and been old enough to appreciate what we were seeing are lucky indeed.
 
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RammerJammer15

All-American
Sep 9, 2012
3,380
1,936
187
I mean you could never replace the Bear! He help build the tradition and established Alabama as a National power. But, I will go as far to say that Saban is this generation's Bear, for people like me that wasn't alive in the 70s.
 

Jref

1st Team
Oct 3, 2001
551
0
0
Tuscaloosa, AL
OK, I'm older than many on this board, so I'm biased toward Coach Bryant. I can say one thing with certainty: Coach Saban had MUCH more to work with when he came to Alabama than Coach Bryant did.

That said, I believe Coach Saban to be every bit as good a coach of football as Coach Bryant was. He probably won't ever be as good a molder of men. I just wish he would let a little more of his off-field personality show through.
 

AgentAntiOrange

1st Team
Dec 30, 2009
888
0
0
Norman, OK
No disrepect intended, but I have to disagree with you on this. IMHO I think Wade and Thomas built the foundation at Alabama. CPB took it to another level and had a very long period of success.
None taken and, to an extent, I agree with you. However, since CPB was in his prime just as sports media was really moving from local to national I consider him to be the one who really built modern day Alabama football. Most fans knew him in a way that they never knew previous coaches via books, radio shows, his Sunday show, commercials, etc. This allowed him to be not only our coach but also a spokesperson on behalf of many southern cultural values such as hard work, integrity, humility and the 'how' in terms of being first class on and off the field.

CNS talk of the process sounds like an extension of the very principle that CPB often spoke of.
 

texasaggie84

BamaNation Citizen
Dec 28, 2012
49
0
0
Danville, CA
The top three coaches in the history of college football are (not in any certain order) Bear Bryant, Knute Rockne and Nick Saban. Different eras for all three with different accomplishments. BAMA has two of the three! Glad A&M had Bear even for a short time.
 

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