Is Kirby the next great coach or is just another Saban disciple?

81usaf92

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All offseason I’ve heard how great Kirby was and how he is going to be the man to break the Saban’s streak and this that and the other from Bama and UGA fans. But I just said, “ let’s wait and see how he learns from his mistakes in the National Championship”

To say the least I think he has learned little imo. I still think he is an emotional crazy man that doesn’t understand when to be conservative or aggressive unless it’s blatantly obvious or he has far superior talent. He was just taken to class by Coach Oeaux.... Yeah Oeaux has proved to be better than what we initially thought, but good gosh a mighty did he ever have real estate in Kirby’s head this weekend. He has yet to beat a SECW opponent on the road, let alone prevent them from blowing him out.

On the positive side and to give Kirby some credit he is a hell of a recruiter, and he is better than Richt. But how much better is up for debate.

But if he is going to be the guy to finally be the guy to beat the boss I believe he has a long way to go. I think Jimbo is now the odds on favorite to be in the best position because he is very calm, and has mostly taken from multiple coaches instead of just one.

I think he is a good coach, but great and elite is a bit of a stretch at this point. I’m not convinced he is the #1 or #2 coach in the East right now. I think he is another Saban disciple and not the next GREAT SEC coach that will carry the banner of the SEC after CNS.

Thoughts
 
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CajunCrimson

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Taking a Coach Saban "Cog" - and assuming it will be a successful "wheel" has been the only strategy for many.....

No reason to think this one will work out any different.
 

crimsonaudio

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Right now he was "born on third and looks like he hit a triple", to play on ao common phrase. Time will tell if he can manage the roster and compete for titles regularly.

IOW, I'm not convinced that Richt couldn't have accomplished what Smart did last season. We'll see. Too early to tell just yet...
 

B1GTide

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Well, Kirby truly is a Saban disciple. He started with Saban as a GA and learned everything that he knows about coaching and leadership from Saban.

His GA teams have neither under nor over achieved. He inherited a very talented team and has recruited very well. I am not sure how anyone could expect more than we have seen at this point.

If I had to guess, I would say that he will win a championship at GA within the next 3-5 years. He needs to continue to upgrade his coaching staff to get there, but I think that he can and probably will.

He expects greatness from everyone around him and is a workaholic. That doesn't hurt.
 

DzynKingRTR

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Georgia fans got humbled Saturday. I work with a few, and they all said reality sunk in Saturday. They now fear this will not be their only loss this year. Kirby is a good not great coach. He may win the SEC after Saban hangs it up for good.
 

BamaMoon

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Right now he was "born on third and looks like he hit a triple", to play on ao common phrase. Time will tell if he can manage the roster and compete for titles regularly.

IOW, I'm not convinced that Richt couldn't have accomplished what Smart did last season. We'll see. Too early to tell just yet...
Anybody can play copy cat and so far that's what Kirby has done. There was a thread discussing this in the off season, but now Kirby has got to figure out how to manage his roster and build off of success and repeat it.

Honestly, that's the one thing that CNS had to do after '09 that he had never done before.

I think that's his real strength. Several can win 1 NC, but can they win 2 or more or 5 in 10 years? Only CNS knows this formula.
 

uafanataum

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All offseason I’ve heard how great Kirby was and how he is going to be the man to break the Saban’s streak and this that and the other from Bama and UGA fans. But I just said, “ let’s wait and see how he learns from his mistakes in the National Championship”

To say the least I think he has learned little imo. I still think he is an emotional crazy man that doesn’t understand when to be conservative or aggressive unless it’s blatantly obvious or he has far superior talent. He was just taken to class by Coach Oeaux.... Yeah Oeaux has proved to be better than what we initially thought, but good gosh a mighty did he ever have real estate in Kirby’s head this weekend. He has yet to beat a SECW opponent on the road, let alone prevent them from blowing him out.

On the positive side and to give Kirby some credit he is a hell of a recruiter, and he is better than Richt. But how much better is up for debate.

But if he is going to be the guy to finally be the guy to beat the boss I believe he has a long way to go. I think Jimbo is now the odds on favorite to be in the best position because he is very calm, and has mostly taken from multiple coaches instead of just one.

I think he is a good coach, but great and elite is a bit of a stretch at this point. I’m not convinced he is the #1 or #2 coach in the East right now. I think he is another Saban disciple and not the next GREAT SEC coach that will carry the banner of the SEC after CNS.

Thoughts
When asked what he learned most from Coach Saban, Jimbo did not respond defense, offensive philosophy etc. He said he learned how to get an entire team to buy in to an ideal for an entire season. I think that is the best thing his assistant coaches could take from him. Trying to mimmick his entire style of play will not help you because you have to be true to your identity. However, making 85ish young men focus on one goal from spring practice all the way until the last game of the season can help any coach regardless of if they run a spread or a pro style, a 3-4 or a 4-2-5.
 

RollTide_HTTR

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No one in college football is the next Saban. But Kirby clearly is a good coach they were the best team in the country last year until we put Tua in the game.
 

TideEngineer08

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Well it's still early yet. But I'm leaning toward "just another Saban disciple" at this point.

I was thinking over the weekend, this makes twice Kirby has been blown out. We've yet to see that happen to Coach Saban at all, even in 2007. Of course, Coach Saban had already worked his way up into the ranks of HC at a major college before he got to Alabama so he had an experience level that Smart didn't have until now. So there is still a learning curve to even get to the level Coach Saban was at when he took the Alabama job.

But I will say, that as time goes on, I'm thankful it did not work out for Kirby to take over here. There are other things beside him falling flat on his face in Auburn and LSU over the past 2 seasons. Namely, the way he's gone about recruiting against Alabama and Coach Saban, and the Maurice Smith transfer fiasco. He is not who I thought he was, is what I'm trying to say.
 

81usaf92

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Well it's still early yet. But I'm leaning toward "just another Saban disciple" at this point.

I was thinking over the weekend, this makes twice Kirby has been blown out. We've yet to see that happen to Coach Saban at all, even in 2007. Of course, Coach Saban had already worked his way up into the ranks of HC at a major college before he got to Alabama so he had an experience level that Smart didn't have until now. So there is still a learning curve to even get to the level Coach Saban was at when he took the Alabama job.

But I will say, that as time goes on, I'm thankful it did not work out for Kirby to take over here. There are other things beside him falling flat on his face in Auburn and LSU over the past 2 seasons. Namely, the way he's gone about recruiting against Alabama and Coach Saban, and the Maurice Smith transfer fiasco. He is not who I thought he was, is what I'm trying to say.
Actually he has been blown out 3 times:

2016 Ole Miss
2017 Auburn
2018 LSU
 

TUSCALOOSAHONOR

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We may being a little too harsh on the guy. This is his first head coaching job. It did take Saban a few to get in the right place and with the right process. I think he has done a great job. We'll find out nore in a couple years.
 

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