My sincere hope is that the rapture occurs before Saban leaves... or maybe the same day Saban retires
What will happen to Bama after Saban?
- Thread starter Trjtrjtrj
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As long as the decision is made by the right people (not the boosters), I think that Alabama will get a great coach to replace Saban when the time comes. When boosters get involve, you create a mess that no head coach wants to step into.
Agreed. We have one of the top AD's in the nation and I believe he will do a great job in handling Saban's predecessor. But TBH the first guy hired most likely stands no chance due to current expectations. I thought Perkins was a great hire after Coach Bryant but it obviously was not and we did not recover for nearly a decade until Stallings was hired.
I'm not an insider by any stretch but I'd bet the farm CNS doesn't, never has and never will tolerate meddling of ANY sort by a "Booster". If that were the case he'd be coaching the short-horns now.
Agreed, but we are talking about when he steps down.I'm not an insider by any stretch but I'd bet the farm CNS doesn't, never has and never will tolerate meddling of ANY sort by a "Booster". If that were the case he'd be coaching the short-horns now.
For that matter, I wouldn't think he would attempt to exert control over a post-Saban Alabama, either.I'm not an insider by any stretch but I'd bet the farm CNS doesn't, never has and never will tolerate meddling of ANY sort by a "Booster". If that were the case he'd be coaching the short-horns now.
Yeah, but my point is he'd send 'em packin' if he's heading up football operations and hiring his replacement.
It is fun to kill time by speculating, but none of us has a clue when the time comes. I can tell y'all that I thought CGS was a horrible hire when you consider the top name college coaches at the time he was hired in January of 1990. He had a losing record at TAMU and was fired, was a solid assistant in the NFL and had a losing record in his time as HC of the Cardinals and was fired. When he was approached by Alabama he had been offered the HC at the Naval Academy. Tell me what you see in any of this to suggest he would be a great HC and win a NC at Alabama outside the fact he was a player for CPB and an assistant at Alabama. There are no guarantees in life and finding the next perfect HC for Alabama is one of them.
Hell no.
The Alabama coaching job is much too high in pedigree to bring in anyone who needs to have some "on the job learning curve." We don't work that way. What has worked here in the past? What hasn't?
WHAT WORKS
Hiring a college coach:
1) with previous FBS college coaching experience that had SOME SUCCESS at a major program.
Bryant (only one year at Maryland though good - greatest coach in UK history, ATM history, and Alabama history)
Stallings (a tad more debatable as he only had one winning season, but he did win a Cotton Bowl back when that meant something)
Saban (turned Michigan St around, turned LSU around, turned Alabama around - and won like crazy)
2) has been somewhere long enough to demonstrate he knows how to recruit
Bryant spent eight years at Kentucky building a powerhouse
Stallings won that Cotton Bowl his THIRD year (so you can't dismiss it was "the other guys" players)
Saban was five years at Mich St and had his best year that last year, won a national title in year four at LSU, and his work here needs no defense
3) has a clean record with the NCAA
Bryant had a dark stain at ATM, although that was how it was then
Stallings was fine until Napkingate, which was here not prior to here
Saban? Mich St was put on probation early in his tenure but it wasn't his doing
4) has a thick skin
5) personal character
Look at those five main criteria (I'm sure if I actually thought about it there are others) and you will see:
Perkins was great at number two, but we had no prior record for 1 or 3, and he wasn't very good at 4
Curry was debatable number one (he did turn around Tech but they were very inconsistent), pretty good at 2 (he did recruit the seniors that won the 92 national title), and okay with number three and terrible at 4
Dubious had zero experience, was a whiner, and rumors about 3 preceded his hiring and got worse. He was decent at 2....but was that because he was so bad at 3? And no comment necessary on 5.
Franchione had been a success but scrutiny shows he was only good with people better recruiters got. He basically made his name and career off of Ladanian Tomlinson...kind of like Curley Hallman did with Brett Favre.
The "logic" behind Mike Price's hiring was that he had been able to "do more with less" and probation necessitated that. He was semi-decent at 1, 2, and 3, but the personal equation got in the way. Mike DuBose with Rose Bowl appearances.
Mike Shula had a zero for one and two and three......based on what I've heard (or what little I know) he did okay on 5 (in terms of controlling his zipper).
WHAT DOES NOT WORK
1) head coach with no prior FBS experience/success
Dubious and Shula prove this conclusively.
2) interviewing a big name who doesn't want to be interviewed but would do a great job
See Robert Cleckler Bowden, 1987 Alabama coaching search
3) Hiring a guy who looked like he succeeded in the NFL but didn't
Ray Perkins living off that one playoff season with rookie Lawrence Taylor
4) Hiring a coach who is hired for the appearance of taking academics seriously at the expense of football
Bill Curry is Exhibit A
5) Hiring a head coach with a checkered past
This is why Jackie Sherrill never had a prayer here. He was Lou Holtz without the national title, everywhere he went was a disaster with the NCAA. This disqualifies Urban Meyer and Art Briles (among others) right out of the chute. Hugh Freeze, too. (Look at Lane Kiffin's shenanigans as an OC).
So......who is out there? I'll admit I don't know much, and I'm gonna get blasted but......
POTENTIALS
Mario Cristobal - if he can continue correcting the path at Oregon long-term, a possibility, especially since he's been here and would know the expectations. However, this would have to be at least 6-7 years up the line.
Jeremy Pruitt - if he can do anything resembling a turnaround at Tennessee, his having played here would be an asset as well. But he's going to have to get them into the 9 or 10-win plus category consistently. That may be tough with Mullen looming, Smart settling in, and having to face Saban every single year.
Derek Mason - he's my age, and he's got Vandy moving along as the SEC East gets tougher; it's a tough place to recruit, but he's gone from 3-9 to 6-6 over time.
David Shaw - the problem with him - even though he's done pretty good many years post-Harbaugh - is that every single year it seems he blows games that he should win.
UNLIKELY
Matt Campbell - has it going pretty well at the moment at Iowa St; however, I think he's a possibility for the next Ohio St coach if "Not Urban" doesn't work out. If he continues his success, though, it might be worth considering.
Gary Patterson - inconsistent and too old to start here
Lane Kiffin - inconsistent plus the personal equation is nonsense we don't need
Chris Petersen - a good coach whom I'd consider, but I seriously doubt he'd consider us at all. He's been one of the few Boise St coaches to go on and have success elsewhere.
Curry leaves.
I'm sitting there smirking over us about to get Bobby Bowden, and Gene Stallings walks through the door.
I......could......not.......believe it.........
His starting 0-3 didn't make me think much better of him. The Cardinals, well, I know you don't keep up with the NFL (and I haven't kept up with it in detail for over 25 years), but that was Bill Bidwill more than anything else. Stallings took over a 5-11 team and in his third season, he had them in first place at 7-4, their first year in Phoenix. They had even beaten the eventual champion 49ers that year. In their next four games, they played three playoff teams (Philly twice and Houston) and went 0-3, lost to a 10-6 Giants team........four losses in a row.
To top it off, they lost to the Green Bay Packers in the finale, a win that cost the Pack the first overall draft choice that turned out to be Troy Aikman.
The Cards never recovered.
And Stallings's TEAMS didn't impress....his defenses did.
Paging Tide-HSV......paging Tide-HSV.....
I thought Joab was the driving force on that, but I was way young, too.
Well stated, Bill. I agree with your analysis, but the one thing that has to be very high in the selection process and needed to continue as an elite program is recruiting. Pruitt and Cristobol are both excellent recruiters. Not sure Mason, Shaw or Petersen have the recruiting tools needed in the SEC.
I feel that Pruitt will have the work ethic that Coach Saban has. I am pretty sure Cristobal does too or he wouldn't be a good recruiter.
When Nick is gone I am afraid it is over...the dynasty that is. We will see a steady decline for a couple of decades not unlike what Les oversaw at LSU to the point of where USC is now. We will suffer mediocre seasons, scandals and quite some misery as we lose to rivals we are dominating now. But we will endure and overcome endeavoring always to preserver until once again a legendary coach will come out of the woodwork to wake the sleeping giant. We have seen this movie before and it is not for the faint of heart.
I like Campbell at Iowa State, but I think some other blue blood will snag him.
I also like Shaw at Stanford, but as Selma pointed out, he tends to lose at least one game he should not. (didn't Saban have this rep?)
I need to see more from Clark. He needs to coach somewhere with a pulse.
I think Pruitt will do well, but I need to see it first.
Hell no to Dabo. I had started to come around and then this week happened and I am done again.
I would like to think the mediocre years are long behind us forever, but it is all cyclical. I highly doubt we will ever see anything resembling the Ears years, but I could see some 8, 9 or 10 win seasons. I do think Saban's successor will see early success and even win or get close to a championship.
My personal preference is to clone Saban or have a bionic Saban and we just keep on keeping on.
I also like Shaw at Stanford, but as Selma pointed out, he tends to lose at least one game he should not. (didn't Saban have this rep?)
I need to see more from Clark. He needs to coach somewhere with a pulse.
I think Pruitt will do well, but I need to see it first.
Hell no to Dabo. I had started to come around and then this week happened and I am done again.
I would like to think the mediocre years are long behind us forever, but it is all cyclical. I highly doubt we will ever see anything resembling the Ears years, but I could see some 8, 9 or 10 win seasons. I do think Saban's successor will see early success and even win or get close to a championship.
My personal preference is to clone Saban or have a bionic Saban and we just keep on keeping on.
What makes it really hard to seriously consider is that SO much can change in just a year or less. A coach can go from hot to not and vice versa in less than a season, for reasons on the field or off the field.
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