Question: When CNS was hired how many NCs did you honestly believe he would win here?

10, and I'm sticking to it!

uafan4life said:

I really think anyone who was actually expecting any more than two National Championships under Saban was simply thinking wishfully.

After all, at the time we at least thought we knew that Saban was a very good coach but no one actually knew that he was a great coach; he had never stayed anywhere long enough to become great, yet. He was really just a good to very good coach who was potentially great.

In addition, coaches winning three NCs at a school was a very, very rare thing. After Bryant, you had a total of two coaches who had won three NCs and both of them had, umm, issues with one or more of them: Tom Osborne at Nebraska and Pete Carroll at USC. Expecting any coach to come into a program and win three NCs is generally an absurdity.



Had you walked into a bar full of Alabama fans in January of 2007 and told everyone that Nick Saban was going to come in and win five, four, or even just three NCs at Bama you would have been met with roaring laughter accompanied with shouts of "Roll Tide!" and sentiments such as "Wouldn't that be nice!" with no one still sober agreeing with you.

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Carrol won two. If you Could even call it two.
One he shared with LSU: 2003
And one he won that was later vacated: 2004
Only Osborne had won 3 after Bryant.

I was thinking it would be around 1 and he'd be here for around 5 years. Now, way off of course, but I didn't see him lasting this long for a variety of reasons. I also didn't expect such an immediate turnaround, that 2008 team was not loaded with talent, and they were still contenders. Winning one in 2009 was a remarkable turnaround considering 6-6 in 2006.

To give some examples, Jimbo won one in 2014, but FSU was 9-4 in 2010. Dabo won in 2016, but he was 11-2 in 2013, etc... so I never expected him to last this long or the turnaround to be that fast. Think about this, Alabama in 06 and 07 was a combined 13-12. In 08 and 09 they were 26-2 (with a national championship and two SEC West titles). That has to be one of the greatest turnarounds in college history.

Only thing I felt sure of was that he would have at least one 10 win season (all coaches since Bryant have). I figured if he could win one in Baton Rouge, then, certainly he could win at least one in Tuscaloosa. As loud as the drumbeat was that he wouldn't stay more than 3-5 years, my hope was that he would stay long enough to shut the doubters up and have us in contention for the SEC championship on a yearly basis and in the conversation for the BCS on a regular basis.

As others have stated, what actually happened has been way more than I thought possible in this current era of college football.

81usaf92 said:

I have to say that I knew we were going to win some national championships under CNS but 5 and counting is such a great suprise to me. I was predicting like 3 and him leaving.

So in 2007 how many were y’all seeing?

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My thoughts exactly. In May of 2008 I toured the Waterford Crystal Factory in Waterford, Ireland. Tour ends with a Demo/Q&A session with a Master Engraver. Told the ME he could go ahead and prepare several of those football trophies for Alabama because he would be getting orders for them soon.

Winning one natty, given the starting point, was something close to a miracle, and most folks on this board would have accepted that and praised it.

These days, we still expect one natty - every year.

I was hoping for one and now can't believe what we've all witnessed to this point. I'm so glad Coach Moore stayed down in South Florida and wouldn't take no for an answer.

1 maybe 2. I knew he'd be an elite coach but I think anybody that claims they saw this era of dominance coming is full of it.

One.

But he didn't have a history of staying put.

If you could have made me believe then that Saban would stay at Bama 10+ years, I would've said more than one. But, I don't think I would've said five with reasonable hope for more.

WMack4Bama said:

Honestly, I didn’t expect anything. I just hoped that we could be halfway respectable. As I’ve stated a million times here, my first semester at Bama was Dubose’s last season and my last semester was Shula’s last season. The only time I expected anything was freshman year but in fairness, we started the season ranked #3, so everybody else did too!

During that time, I mostly lurked on this board. And man, let me tell you, some of you guys were awful. Half of you wanted to fire Shula post haste and the other half had us winning the national title despite probation. LOL!!!

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Now Selma is going to go find all those posts. I am pretty sure there was a poster named exbama21 that made the unbelievable prediction that Alabama would play Ohio State for the title in 2006. Glad that guy is gone.

When Coach Saban was hired I was beyond happy. I thought he would win maybe 3 National Championships, and maybe be hired away from us. I had grown used to the Shula years and my confidence level was close to zero.

Now Coach Saban is the premier College Football coach, and he has made Alabama the team to beat. These days we play football with the expectation of winning.
Alabama is possibly in line to play for all the marbles again this coming year.
Sameo Sameo...

BUILD A BIGGER TROPHY CASE... HE AIN'T DONE YET.

I remember that I was on a camping trip when I heard the news, and I called my brother and spoke to him about it. I told him that I thought Saban would be very successful at Bama if he recruited in T-town like he had in Red Stick. I said I thought he could win a national title or two at Bama, but I also said that he would probably only be around for about five years or so. I felt that I was being optimistic with those picks, but I thought a guy who brought talent and discipline to Tuscaloosa would be very successful with our tradition. Winning like we have? There's no way I could have predicted that, but I hope we aren't done. For the record, we watched the Joe Kines bowl game on the way home in the RV, and that little ol' inside trap did us in. Roll Tide!

ONE MILLION Championships!!!!

The real question is how many more will he win before he retires?

NationalTitles17 said:

Mal Moore cannot be credited or thanked enough.

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I would like to thank the Miami Dolphins and their team of Dr's.
If Saban had been able to get Drew Brees, I doubt very much he would be here!
Oh, also a BIG thank You to H. Wayne Huizenga for letting Coach talk to Mal Moore,
And also letting him out of his contract, at the time he didn't have to with 3yrs. left, for 13.5 Million!

After the 7-6 first season, was convinced it would go similar to how it has. Knowing his history, then after seeing him in action, it was clear that he was a transcendent coach. I had followed him from his MSU days and watched him closely at LSU. I knew he was not the "wanderer" that some had charged and that he could be loyal if treated appropriately. He was very considerate of LSU each year when he weighed NFL offers. He really did not want to leave, but WH was an honorable and persuasive man.

As far as his coaching, to take that group of players, with essentially 3 walk-ons starting on defense and take eventual #2 UGA to OT, beat ranked Ark with McFadden and Jones, stomp ranked, East winning UT (with a great UGA and UM UF in the division), then come within a 4th and 4 stop of winning the SEC West with probably the 2nd worst talent in the division, against the NC winner LSU, was nothing short of stunning and spectacular. That LSU game was one of the greatest games Alabama has ever played, and it was against a great team playing well. Bama didn't have 3 players that could start for LSU.

Yes, they fell apart after the CMA play call at the end of the half vs MSU. But that has been characteristic of Saban Bama teams after falling out of contention for something meaningful (Utah, OU). Thankfully, in the last 10 years, they have been out of contention for the NC during the reg season only the final 3 weeks of the '10 season. Beyond amazing. It was clear he was going to do transcendent things. Thought there would be much more opposition from UF, but pegged LSU, UGA, ?UT? and AU and the roles they would play to this point.

He's not just the best overall coach, he is near the top in almost every category: program strategy, organization, program discipline (not players), attention to detail, selling the program, focus, teaching technique, season strategy, game-week coaching, game-day coaching, ability to balance adaptability and staying the course, talent evaluation, attracting talent, etc. It does not matter what the need of a college football program, he can fill it at a high level.

Some think that he could do what he has at Bama anywhere, but IMO, almost no where else could he have done it. He certainly didn't at MSU or LSU. Credit is also due the BOT, Dr. Witt, Coach Moore, boosters and the fanbase for providing the resources and environment he needed. It's the perfect environment in which CNS can thrive. He is probably the most "aware" person I've ever observed in public life.

Bama may not win another NC or could reasonably win 3 or 4 more.

I was fooled like everyone else. Thought Saban would win a couple and move on. But I remember Saban saying in his presser that day that this would be his last job. A lot of people, including me, laughed at that. Here we are in 2018 with five nattys in the last nine years and still rolling. I do think Saban came very close to taking the Texas job in 2013 though. Would love to hear some inside info on how that played out if anyone knows.

I put down one, but to be honest I really just wanted someone to come in and rebuild Bama.
What did I know? I wanted Paul Johnson for head coach.I try not to think about it anymore!

I thought it would take CNS 15 years to win 3 NC's and I thought that was going out on a limb a bit. He did a great job at LSU, but what he has accomplished at Bama has been so much more. It really has been amazing to watch.