I'm just superstitious enough that I'm going to hold off on some of my comments until after Texas decides what they're going to do about their coaching situation. However, I read the Texas report linked to this board and I'll address the substance of it.
1) No one can guarantee you that any coach will or won't stay at their current school for any length of time -- or that they'll be asked to stay at a particular place. It's a business. Larry Coker learned that, Mack Brown is learning it now and Alabama learned it when Dennis Franchione bolted for Texas A&M.
2) Having said that, Texas-based writers make some fundamental errors when it comes down to comparing the size of bank accounts. The notion that The University of Alabama can be outbid for a football coach, no matter who the team is who Alabama is bidding against, is wishful thinking. If Nick Saban were to leave Alabama for another job, the factors leading to his departure would likely have very little to do with financial matters. Without knowing the mindset of either writer, Shoff or Shuttleworth, I'm going to guess most of the juice behind this story has to do with someone on the booster/admin side thinking they've got more money than anyone else (and thus, have the ability to affect anything they wish).
3) The "shady real estate dealings in Alabama" probably refers to the Sabans losing money on spec real estate that they purchased just before the real estate bubble burst. Another person who got caught up in that same bubble? Me. There was nothing shady about the purchase of my home or the person that sold it to me, it was just ill-timed. That's why they call it a "bubble."
4) Finally, what many people have long said about Nick Saban, I'll reiterate. If he leaves on his own accord, it will be because his family tells him to. Unfortunately for Saban, he will never be able to make people believe what he says about these things because of the way he handled himself in Miami in 2006. He could say right now that he's leaving or staying, and writers will just continue to speculate and throw in a YouTube link to his Dolphins press conference for good measure.
Do I think he's going anywhere? No. Do I think his agent contacted other schools as a way to gain leverage? Yeah, I'll buy that. Jimmy Sexton is a popular agent because he gets results for his clients, which are the coaches themselves, not the schools and not the fans. But one additional thing I didn't see much mention made of in the Texas story was that it seemed to assume Texas is unified behind ANY decision at this point. Mack Brown wants to stay, and if he's forced out, not only is there a fracture point over his dismissal, but TideFans.com's contacts within the industry suggest the people who are behind ousting Brown aren't unified behind Nick Saban anyway.
1) No one can guarantee you that any coach will or won't stay at their current school for any length of time -- or that they'll be asked to stay at a particular place. It's a business. Larry Coker learned that, Mack Brown is learning it now and Alabama learned it when Dennis Franchione bolted for Texas A&M.
2) Having said that, Texas-based writers make some fundamental errors when it comes down to comparing the size of bank accounts. The notion that The University of Alabama can be outbid for a football coach, no matter who the team is who Alabama is bidding against, is wishful thinking. If Nick Saban were to leave Alabama for another job, the factors leading to his departure would likely have very little to do with financial matters. Without knowing the mindset of either writer, Shoff or Shuttleworth, I'm going to guess most of the juice behind this story has to do with someone on the booster/admin side thinking they've got more money than anyone else (and thus, have the ability to affect anything they wish).
3) The "shady real estate dealings in Alabama" probably refers to the Sabans losing money on spec real estate that they purchased just before the real estate bubble burst. Another person who got caught up in that same bubble? Me. There was nothing shady about the purchase of my home or the person that sold it to me, it was just ill-timed. That's why they call it a "bubble."
4) Finally, what many people have long said about Nick Saban, I'll reiterate. If he leaves on his own accord, it will be because his family tells him to. Unfortunately for Saban, he will never be able to make people believe what he says about these things because of the way he handled himself in Miami in 2006. He could say right now that he's leaving or staying, and writers will just continue to speculate and throw in a YouTube link to his Dolphins press conference for good measure.
Do I think he's going anywhere? No. Do I think his agent contacted other schools as a way to gain leverage? Yeah, I'll buy that. Jimmy Sexton is a popular agent because he gets results for his clients, which are the coaches themselves, not the schools and not the fans. But one additional thing I didn't see much mention made of in the Texas story was that it seemed to assume Texas is unified behind ANY decision at this point. Mack Brown wants to stay, and if he's forced out, not only is there a fracture point over his dismissal, but TideFans.com's contacts within the industry suggest the people who are behind ousting Brown aren't unified behind Nick Saban anyway.