WolverineHistorian

March 30th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^

I didn't hate Saban when he was at MSU. I was in high school then so maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. But I don't remember him giving any jackass comments ala Dantonio or nauseating green and white talk ala George Perles. The main quote I remember from him is wanting UM/MSU to become as big as Florida/FSU in football and freely admitting that Sparty wasn't keeping up their end of the deal. I also remember wanting to hate him but I couldn't. Once he got down to SEC country, his toolness started to shine and THEN I started to hate him. Beilema on the other hand, you knew he was an ass from day one. And it showed in his first season when one if his players tried to rip Steve Breaston's leg off at the big house. Beilema didn't suspend him and he shrugged his shoulders when asked about the incident at a press conference later in the week. Technically what Beilema said about the UW/MSU comparison is true. Saban never had even half the success Bielema had in Madison and MSU had plenty of Sparty NOOOOOO moments under Saban. But now that he's down in Alabama, he can not only recruit much easier, he can oversign and buy players to his heart's content. Bielema is in for a very rude awakening when they face each other.

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 55460

jmblue

March 30th, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^

What he said is technically true.  Bielema's Big Ten record is, in fact, quite a bit better than Saban's at MSU.  Of course, it's apples and oranges and relates to stuff Saban did 13-18 years ago, but it'll get the Hog fans fired up.

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102715

LB

March 30th, 2013 at 4:04 PM ^

I glanced and saw it as "Beilein compares himself..." I had one of those really confused moments in life when nothing makes sense. I was really relieved when I realized it said Bielema.

Joined: 09/26/2009

MGoPoints: 25494

UMAmaizinBlue

March 30th, 2013 at 4:14 PM ^

Bielema was fortunate to get out of Wisconsin when he did. If you think Michigan fans can have ridiculously high expectations, I heard Badger fans tell me all season that they couldn't stand Bielema and that they needed someone better. When I brought up the 3 straight Rose Bowls, they just scoffed like it didn't matter. Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

Joined: 09/23/2009

MGoPoints: 36271

Tater

March 30th, 2013 at 4:22 PM ^

Saban took a program that was a total joke and turned it into one with the potential to be scary.  Bielema was the caretaker of a program that someone else built who left just before it started going down.  

In a way, he's right.  There's definitely "no comparison."  Most people took Bielema's side when hearing rumors that he wasn't getting along with Alvarez.  I think they may have changed their minds after hearing this statement.

Joined: 08/13/2008

MGoPoints: 30584

DemetriusBrown

March 30th, 2013 at 5:03 PM ^

Him to a steaming pile of poo. Still smile remembering his first game coaching against Michigan when he called a timeout when Wiscy had no chance to win and Lloyd responded by throwing deep after the timeout.

Joined: 01/01/2013

MGoPoints: 2388

Perkis-Size Me

March 30th, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^

Bielema needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. While what he's saying is technically true, he didn't have to build up his program from the bottom of the barrel like Saban did. Bielema inherited an already stable, strong program that was built by Alvarez. Bielema isn't half the coach Saban is.

Bielema is in for a rude awakening in the SEC. I have a feeling that the likes of Saban, Miles, and Spurrier are going to give him a taste of his own medicine when they run the score up on him.

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105367

bacon1431

March 30th, 2013 at 5:16 PM ^

Big Ten was also a good conference when Saban was in East Lansing. It's been pretty terrible the past few years. And Daban took on a rebuilding project. Bret took over after the schools legend retired. Whatever though. I'm sure the rest of the SEC will show him how stupid he is

Joined: 07/26/2008

MGoPoints: 25277

LSAClassOf2000

March 30th, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^

A few of the reactions to the full article over at Hootens.com are pretty funny and not exceedingly complimentary of Bielema, to say the least, and those would be just the Razorback fans. My own favorite:

"He's going to put a new set of tires on a rusty old car and run it head-on into Nick Saban's Crimson Tide locomotive. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is going to happen when they collide."

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130561