Coaching carousel 2025-26

[cdub55]

Back in the day success in recruiting at Bama centered on "who won the state" between us and au. Those days are long gone.

100%.

3 stars in Alabama more times than not don't even get offers from Alabama anymore. Saban was recruiting nationally and internationally (Australia/Canada). Deboer has took it to another level due to his relationships with the West Coast. There is concern that it could backfire as "those kids don't get it like kids from here do", but at the end of the day we are recruiting the best players in the world regardless of geographical location.

 

[uafan4life]

Go oversees and see how many LSU hats and shirts you see. Go to California and see how many you see. Go to New York...

Alabama was a national brand before Saban and will be a national brand after Saban. Taking nothing away from his accomplishments because he deserves all the credit and some but LSU has never been and never will be Alabama.

In the mid-90s, as a teenager, I happened to be passing through Frankfurt, Germany and visited a massive shopping mall there. There was one store with nothing but American sports apparel - specifically Starter jackets.

Most of the offerings were from NBA teams (the Chicago Bulls had the biggest display) but the NFL was well represented.

There were only two colleges represented in the entire store, each with a single rack offering two t-shirts, a sweatshirt, a Starter jacket, and baseball caps.

They were Notre Dame and Alabama.

Alabama has been a worldwide brand, much less a national brand, longer than most of us have been alive. Alabama has had four different head coaches win multiple National Championships. Since we won our first National Championship by winning the Rose Bowl 100 years ago, there have been two whole decades in which Alabama has failed to win a National Championship.

LSU has never even been close to Alabama's level...

 

[CrimsonNagus]

"leaving LSU was a big mistake because college football is where I love coaching at and not the NFL".

This is 100% what he meant, and I don't understand why there is suddenly confusion about it. In fact, he has been pretty clear about this over the years. He has been making similar statements about leaving for the NFL for a long time, even while still at Bama, and the thing is, he normally explains it pretty well. He never says "leaving LSU was my biggest mistake" and stops there.

I don't even think what he said on the Pat McAfee show a year ago was a slight towards Alabama. I don't understand why this has ruffled feathers.

Nick Saban admitted on Friday he “probably made a mistake” leaving the LSU Tigers for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

“It’s (LSU is) a wild place,” Saban said. “Those people celebrate life. They’re great people. They have fun, and, you know, they like to have their party time before the game, there’s no question about that. The people treated me great there, and I appreciate that.

“You know, (Miss) Terry and I loved it there. Probably made a mistake going back to pro ball from there. But only way we could go back to college was to go back to Alabama, but that’s a great rivalry. The LSU-Alabama is a great rivalry.”

Some people take issue with his "only way we could go back" part, but I think he simply meant that Alabama was the only job calling that was worth the move at that time. He wasn't going to come back for any job; it had to be something meaningful, some place substantial. It just so happened that Alabama came calling at the right place and time.

Here is another quote from back in January, while on The Pivot. A few months after the McAfee quote.

"When I left LSU, that was probably professionally the biggest mistake that I ever made," Saban said. "Not because we didn't have success in Miami, because I enjoyed coaching in Miami. But I found out in that experience that I like coaching in college better because you could develop players — personally, academically, athletically and all that — a little more than in pro ball."

"So then, I can't go back to LSU. Go to Alabama, and no disrespect to Alabama, it's not Alabama versus LSU," Saban said. "Jimmy Sexton stood on the balcony when I was getting ready to leave LSU... and he said, 'What do you want your legacy to be as a coach? Do you want to be Vince Lombardi or do you want to be Bear Bryant?' And without hesitation, I said Bear Bryant. And he said, 'What are you doing going to Miami then?'"

He found out that he is a college guy through and through. It's not LSU is better than Bama or Bama is better than LSU. Its college is better than the NFL, and he should have never left.

Folks acting like this is some huge revelation and a slight towards Bama have not been paying attention very long because he has expressed this sentiment for many years. I mean, for goodness' sake, he still has an office on campus. He is allowed to love his time at both schools, but he only has an office at one.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

HE - not me - considers leaving LSU his biggest professional mistake. I believe that mistake created a monster in him, but we can't know for sure that he wouldn't have had that run at LSU. We also can't say that another coach dropped into Alabama in 2007 would have had the same run that Saban did. Also, when Saban came to Alabama it was most certainly not a bigger name than LSU. We were a laughing stock in college football that was feasting on Bear Bryant's bones. So, that is why I say that SABAN might have a "what if" he had stayed at LSU.

It didn't happen, so who knows? Why does it matter?

What I do know: If the sun had exploded a million years ago, we wouldn't be here now.