Attitude Shifts About Dabo?

CoreGroup

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I was totally surprised they hired Dabo as their HC. Good for him, but I wouldn't hire him if I was an AD. And based on the Dubose years, most everyone on that staff was dysfunctional and had personal and professional issues. Very questionable staff at best. Lots of rumors that are more fact than rumor and things I don't care to rehash just enough to know I wouldn't hire him.

He has done an ok job at Clemson, and his recruiting is pretty good, but I am willing to bet his recruiting is not very clean based on his history and past. But once again good for him.

Hard for me to believe some of these guys using God in religion in winning football games and recruiting. Dabs is not as bad as some, but too over the top for me. That is just overly weird to me. God does not care about football games and which team wins, he leaves that up to Coach Bryant. Lol
Reminds me of the joke about lsu Miles praying to God before the 2011 NCG vs Bama asking who his starting QB should be...and then after the game he looks up and ask God "why, why did you tell me to use JJ the whole game???!!!" And God looks to his left and says " I don't know...Bear why did we tell him that?"
 

RedStar

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The people that know Dabo best seem to have nothing but good things to say about him. I know several who grew up with him, went to school with him and coached with him. They all tell me for better or worse, he's a very genuine guy. Again, take that for what it's worth, but people I trust have been very vocal about that.

Now, would I want him as Saban's successor? I'm not so sure. He's done a great job at Clemson, but he's done it in a very different way than Saban or even our other past coaches, have done. We seem to do best when we have a coach that treats the fans and the media like kids. Bryant/Saban/Stallings all went into dad mode when they needed to and our program reaped major benefits from it. There's a formula that works at Alabama, and I'm not so sure it would work everywhere. We need a control freak who isn't afraid to tell it like it is. We need a workaholic who is never satisfied. Dabo doesn't seem to be any of those. (FWIW, Pruitt seems to be EXACTLY that type of coach. I'm hoping he eventually gets a HC job, is successful, and comes back home once CNS rides into the sunset.)
 

bamabelle1991

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Jan 1, 2009
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How could he afford to be in a fraternity with the financial problems the media likes to tell?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I can't answer that, but he was a member of a fraternity as were lots of walk-on football players back in the day.

Like RedStar said above, everyone who knows him likes him. He had a ton of great friends when we were in college, he just wasn't my type. haha
 

B1GTide

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Let me see what he does when Watson leaves before rendering judgement. He clearly isn't a bad coach, but remember how good Manziel made Sumlin look.
 

Intl.Aperture

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I've always thought Bible thumping is often done to distract from other, less-Godly behavior. :rolleyes:
I'm really not about to speculate or comment on the state of another man's relationship with the Lord. I don't know him. I don't know his past. If he says he is, I'll take his word.

As far as Dabo the COACH of a football team goes - I just think we have fundamentally different philosophies of how to handle a football team. HOWEVER! He does have that singular indispensable trait that ALL great coaches (including Saban & Bryant) had: he can convince his players to play for him and to play above their talent level. His players live and die by his opinion of them...they want to give their all for their head coach, and I can respect that. I just don't identify with all the rah-rah high emotion stuff because I don't think it's as sustainable. That's the brilliance of Saban's system. But Dabo's a great coach. I don't think anyone will deny that. Let's just see if he can sustain it. If he can, I'll gladly eat crow.
 

Bamaro

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Anyone who has any sources at all understands that, when you reveal a source, you lose it forever, aside from betraying a confidence or friendship. You can question other members, but it's pretty useless to query staff members about their sources...
I never asked for any sources from you or anyone else. I was simply trying to learn what it was about Dabo that you didn't like. I wasn't asking about 'specifics' on sources. It was 'specifics' on what about Dabo did that you didn't like. I had no idea what role he played in the Dubose regime. Whatever, its not worth going around and around on.
 

irNate

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Nov 19, 2010
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I have no problem with him personally. I did however laugh out loud when he screamed at the ref "We didn't touch the ball!" after the onside kick. If you want to be a respected coach at this level, you should know the rules.
Nick Saban has to get clarification of rules on the field all the time...
 

TIDE-HSV

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Nick Saban has to get clarification of rules on the field all the time...
I think what was troubling about it was that something very similar, involving the same rule, happened to him last year. Speaking as a lawyer, if I run across something new or unfamiliar, I beat it to death until I understand every nuance of it. Swinney didn't do that, and, therefore, thought that what happened last season had reoccurred, when it hadn't. IMO, there's no excuse for that for a coach. (And then wouldn't admit he was wrong.)
 
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BamaMoon

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I LOLed when I saw where this discussion has gone since yesterday.

First, I only asked if attitudes have shifted about Dabo being a good coach...not about him suceeding CNS at Bama.

Second, I'm aware there is some baggage left over from the Dubose regime of which Earle speaks of from time to time. I don't know specifics but I believe he knows some things and is concerned about it.

Third, I know CNS and Dabo's styles are drastically different, but I'm very concerned if we try to replace CNS with a CNS clone he'll flame out in a couple of years. Anytime you are replacing/following a long tenured/wildly successful person, you have to "be yourself" or you will fail.

Fourth, does anybody know how many NCs CNS had at 46, Dabo's age??? That's right, CNS didn't win his first NC until he was over 50 at LSU. So, it's almost impossible to project Dabo's worth as a replacement for CNS not knowing what he might/might not do in the next few years.

All said, I do think his career is on the right trajectory as a head coach. The big question might be, "If he breaks thru and wins a NC or gets Clemson in the 4 team playoff another time or two, would this be enough to make folks forget whatever happened when he was a young assitant at Bama?" TPTB, I assume, will be the ones to answer that if/when the time comes to consider CNS's replacement.
 

dayhiker

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I think what was troubling about it was that something very similar, involving the same rule, happened to him last year. Speaking as a lawyer, if I run across something new or unfamiliar, I beat it to death until I understand every nuance of it. Swinney didn't do that, and, therefore, thought that what happened last season had reoccurred, when it hadn't. IMO, there's no excuse for that for a coach. (And then wouldn't admit he was wrong.)
And that's what I love about CNS. He knows and understands the subtleties of the rules, which allows him to use them as a weapon.
 

crimsonaudio

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But Dabo's a great coach. I don't think anyone will deny that. Let's just see if he can sustain it.
I'm not saying he's a bad coach, but a superlative player and a team feeding from a coach's emotion can go a long way - do you really think Chizik is a great HC? He accomplished more than Dabo did with a superlative player and lots of emotion - the auburn players would have run through a brick wall for him...

People were ready to hire Sumlin to replace Saban a few years ago, but a few of us were suggesting people slow down and see what happens. Time is the judge of whether a coach is lucky, good, or great. One or two good seasons proves little.
 

mdb-tpet

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Sep 2, 2004
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and they went 9-4 with manziel in 2013
The list of coaches that looked like world beaters with hot QBs and quickly flamed out with weaker QBs is long. Now when Clemson plays well in all three phases in the game with an average QB, then I'll consider him a great coach. I think it's a fools game just to try to outscore every other team and as the old adage goes; defense wins championships.

Dabo seems to have upgraded their defense a bit, but they still allowed us to score 38 points on offense and 7 on (as well as other teams in high numbers) on offense with lots of busted coverage.
 

CrimSonami

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No. He's won COY honors and I somewhat agree. But his style of "You're the best" - "I wouldn't want anyone else" - "God is on our side" coaching style has been proven to be a flash in the pan on more than one occasion. Nothing wrong at all with coaching up your guys but there's a line. And he's crossed it continuously. Don't want him at Bama. Not even as an assistant. That's been done and it wasn't good. His practices and principles may have changed but a rough patch would prolly revert that.
 

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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As far as I can remember, Dabo has used some form of the "us against the world" mentality every year at Clemson. This year he fed the players "no one respects us" aspect of it. That's not going to work at Alabama. I question if he can use any other form of motivation since that's all he's known. If he can't, he'll have issues at another school.
 

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