There was talk, back in those days, about Coach Bryant "processing" the league, from a head coaches standpoint. Programs fired good coaches because they won games, but never THE Game vs THE MAN, Alabama and Bryant. Cholly Mac at LSU and Bill Battle at tennessee are sort of the gold standard here. (I have sometimes wondered how well the exceedingly young Battle would have done there if tennessee had stayed with him).
But that level of processment pales in comparison with what we are seeing now due to the Power of Saban.
Look at the grade of Head Coaches that were in the SEC when Coach arrived, and what we have now...
LSU - Miles, the all time best winning % in Lsu history - Yaw-Yaw, the all time lowest win % in ole miss history
tennessee - fulmer - then dooley, now Jones
Arkansas - Petrino, now Bieliema
South Carolina - Spurrier, now Muschamp
UGA - Richt, now Smart
Florida - Meyer, then muschamp now McElwain
ole miss - nutt, then freeze, now ?
Texas A&M - Mike Sherman - now Sumlin
Of these, only UGA folks can have any reasonable hope they have improved.
Now think of the reasonable possibility all these programs may be making a move for next year...
In no particular order
Arkansas - South Carolina, Alabama and Auburn in the next 3
LSU - fanbase alrady clamoring for Ogeron's ouster, will they find a way to conquer the absurd 12.5 million buyout, and remove The Loosiana Man?
Texas A&M - is the typical aggie October- November collapse on teh schedule? And will that doom Sumlin? Bama in this week...
Ole Miss - Is Luke exposing himself as the Oxford Ogeron? Fans already asking for change and coodinator removals
Auburn - Same script as last year. Shaky start, look great in mowing throw a row of chumps mid-season. But will a loss to UGA and Bama spell the end og ole High School? That would be 0-8 for Georgia and Bama for Malzahn. The aubs have this seemingly never-ending roller coaster ride of love-hate with Malzahn, they are now all jumping back on the bus. But if teh season plays out exactly like last year, what will happen? And I will not believe Stidham makes it through a whole year without injury, until it happens.
Tennessee - it would seem as though the end is here for Butch. BUT - they are off this week, then have South Carolina and Bama. If they get the 1 win, that leaves Kentucky, Mississippi Southern, Mizzou, LSU Vandy. ut COULD win all those - and you have another vintage Jones 9 win season.
Florida - the uneasy Mac-Gator marriage continues. Like Auburn and Tennessee, this season has a "deja vu all over again" feel to it. What happens if UF gets another 9 or 10 win season (Given LSU and FSU situations, you can make a case for Florida running the table). Would another trip to Atlanta for a beat down prompt any change? Mac's body language is intersting to me - I personally do not think he is enthralled with his situation down there, and think if he could find a reasonable landing place, maybe further out west, he would seriously think about it.
I have just listed 7 programs whose fanbases, in varying degrees, would approve a Head Coaching change.
But there is one other possibility, whose fans would not - Mississippi State.
Mullen and State's win over LSU seems fraudulent now, and they were exposed by UGA and Auburn. But out of their last 7 games, all but Alabama seem winnable. IF Mullen gets to 8 or 9 wins, does he get an offer elsewhere, perhaps even in The SEC, that he accepts?
That is 8 programs out of 14 that would not surprise me if they had a different Head Coach next year. Coach Bryant, in a way, processed The League - Coach Saban has done it to a greater extent, and with a 14 team SEC instead of 10. We may see change in roughly 50% of the league - in one year.
You can absolutely make the argument that while Coach Saban has been great for Alabama - he has in some ways been detrimental to the SEC as a whole. The wounds are real - but in some ways self-inflicted, ala LSU. Great times in Tuscaloosa :biggrin::biga2::biga2::biga2::biga2:
But that level of processment pales in comparison with what we are seeing now due to the Power of Saban.
Look at the grade of Head Coaches that were in the SEC when Coach arrived, and what we have now...
LSU - Miles, the all time best winning % in Lsu history - Yaw-Yaw, the all time lowest win % in ole miss history
tennessee - fulmer - then dooley, now Jones
Arkansas - Petrino, now Bieliema
South Carolina - Spurrier, now Muschamp
UGA - Richt, now Smart
Florida - Meyer, then muschamp now McElwain
ole miss - nutt, then freeze, now ?
Texas A&M - Mike Sherman - now Sumlin
Of these, only UGA folks can have any reasonable hope they have improved.
Now think of the reasonable possibility all these programs may be making a move for next year...
In no particular order
Arkansas - South Carolina, Alabama and Auburn in the next 3
LSU - fanbase alrady clamoring for Ogeron's ouster, will they find a way to conquer the absurd 12.5 million buyout, and remove The Loosiana Man?
Texas A&M - is the typical aggie October- November collapse on teh schedule? And will that doom Sumlin? Bama in this week...
Ole Miss - Is Luke exposing himself as the Oxford Ogeron? Fans already asking for change and coodinator removals
Auburn - Same script as last year. Shaky start, look great in mowing throw a row of chumps mid-season. But will a loss to UGA and Bama spell the end og ole High School? That would be 0-8 for Georgia and Bama for Malzahn. The aubs have this seemingly never-ending roller coaster ride of love-hate with Malzahn, they are now all jumping back on the bus. But if teh season plays out exactly like last year, what will happen? And I will not believe Stidham makes it through a whole year without injury, until it happens.
Tennessee - it would seem as though the end is here for Butch. BUT - they are off this week, then have South Carolina and Bama. If they get the 1 win, that leaves Kentucky, Mississippi Southern, Mizzou, LSU Vandy. ut COULD win all those - and you have another vintage Jones 9 win season.
Florida - the uneasy Mac-Gator marriage continues. Like Auburn and Tennessee, this season has a "deja vu all over again" feel to it. What happens if UF gets another 9 or 10 win season (Given LSU and FSU situations, you can make a case for Florida running the table). Would another trip to Atlanta for a beat down prompt any change? Mac's body language is intersting to me - I personally do not think he is enthralled with his situation down there, and think if he could find a reasonable landing place, maybe further out west, he would seriously think about it.
I have just listed 7 programs whose fanbases, in varying degrees, would approve a Head Coaching change.
But there is one other possibility, whose fans would not - Mississippi State.
Mullen and State's win over LSU seems fraudulent now, and they were exposed by UGA and Auburn. But out of their last 7 games, all but Alabama seem winnable. IF Mullen gets to 8 or 9 wins, does he get an offer elsewhere, perhaps even in The SEC, that he accepts?
That is 8 programs out of 14 that would not surprise me if they had a different Head Coach next year. Coach Bryant, in a way, processed The League - Coach Saban has done it to a greater extent, and with a 14 team SEC instead of 10. We may see change in roughly 50% of the league - in one year.
You can absolutely make the argument that while Coach Saban has been great for Alabama - he has in some ways been detrimental to the SEC as a whole. The wounds are real - but in some ways self-inflicted, ala LSU. Great times in Tuscaloosa :biggrin::biga2::biga2::biga2::biga2:
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