OT: Mother of recruit is upset with Nick Saban
The Mother of Landon Collins, is upset that Nick Saban focuses on the NFL more than academics with his players.
In an interview with ESPN the Magazine, Justin explained that an in-home visit conducted by Tide head coach Nick Saban last June was something she couldn’t shake. Specifically, Justin was put off by the coach going with his “I can get your son into the NFL” pitch
Saban doesn't care about academics? In other news, snow is white, grass is green, water is blue, and I will die one day.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^
I'll send $50 to that organization.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^
January 27th, 2012 at 12:23 PM ^
When I saw Landon make his decision during the AA game and his mom got pissed, I was like what a bitch. Now, I feel like the bitch. Im glad his mom disagreed with his decision and is upset at Saban for not stressing academics. I wonder if he decommits soon.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:32 AM ^
Does anyone at Alabama really care about academics?
January 27th, 2012 at 10:34 AM ^
alabama? you mean the SEC [sans Vandy]
January 27th, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
The real question is, "does anyone at Alabama care about the 'student' part of 'student-athlete.'"
January 27th, 2012 at 10:56 AM ^
not much of a question...
January 27th, 2012 at 10:56 AM ^
not much of a question...
January 27th, 2012 at 11:01 AM ^
is a bad school. Or, at least it did not make it into the list of the 400 best universities in the world.
http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/top-400-universities-in-the-world
January 27th, 2012 at 11:12 AM ^
I believe that outside of Vandy and Florida, pretty much all of the SEC schools aren't mediocre to bad from an academics perspective.
One other thing that I found interesting from this link was that Stanford-- which according to a number of posters from the Garnett threads is an appreciably better school than Michigan-- ranks all of three spaces higher (#11 vs. #14) on this list, and only one space higher when you look at FBS schools (Cal Tech and Princeton are #12 and #13).
January 27th, 2012 at 1:05 PM ^
As much as I liked Josh Garnett and hoped he'd go blue, I think I was more depressed about the suggestions that academics was the deciding factor and suggestions that Michigan wasn't even in the same ballpark for a would-be doctor. I have only anecdotal data of the success in the medical profession of a few people who either went to Michigan as undergrands (none in pre-med; one a physics major and one with a BA and MA in a completely unrelated field before taking a couple of required courses for med school application later, in a commuter school, when the career path led to medicine). The physics major went up the hill to med school at Michigan, which got him a residency at one of the Harvard hospitals and a specialty fellowship at Duke. Both eventually became professors of medicine.
Of course, they didn't play football, so they weren't tempted to go to Stanford.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:26 AM ^
Alabama GRAD here, from the business school. It is actually fairly highly ranked nationally and 3rd in the SEC behind Vandy and UGA.
Its no Michigan, but not a bad school academically at all. Especially when you consider afordability for guys like me who graduated high school "thankyalaudi"
ON THE OTHER HAND - I had a couple classes with some of the athletes. WHAT A FREAKIN JOKE. Everything in the OP is pretty legit to say the least, and I wasn't even there in the saban era, I was there in the Shula era.
January 27th, 2012 at 6:22 PM ^
It's good to pay close attention to the methodology when viewing lists that rank colleges. The Forbes top colleges list, for example, has wildly different results than most other lists. I found their methodology to be somewhat odd. They base 17.5% of their ranking score off of students' debt. Private universities attract more students from wealthier backgrounds that tend not to need loans and such. This also benefited the cheaper colleges that have good academics to the point that they were beating out pricier colleges with slightly better academics. However, we all can agree that Alabama is a bad school, like most of the SEC schools.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^
Alabama's not a bad school? This is like saying herpes isn't the worst STD you could contract. But yeah, no totally awesome. Their Grizzly tin thumping program is very highly rated.
January 27th, 2012 at 5:16 PM ^
Hey, I've been on Alabama's campus, and the girls...they definitely care. They're all really...... smart
January 27th, 2012 at 10:37 AM ^
I'd rather lose 10 games a year, than conduct my football team the way that the SEC and Urban Meyer do.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
What is wrong with Urban Meyer, aside from high arrest rates?
January 27th, 2012 at 10:42 AM ^
Meyer has been accused of going away from academics in recruiting in the past.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:24 PM ^
accused =/= happened.
Duke lacrosse on line one for you...
January 27th, 2012 at 11:54 AM ^
You should looking into the basis of Harbaugh's comments about the education Michigan athletes receive.
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<br>Search Tip: John Hagen's Independent Studies
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January 27th, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
Yea she's pissed at Saban so she threw a fit on national T.V because she wanted her son to play for Les Miles..... Miles is every bit as bad as Saban. I think she is just trying to save face since she looked like a jack ass on TV
January 27th, 2012 at 10:41 AM ^
Miles is no where near the evil that is Nick Saban.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:47 AM ^
Miles does the same stuff as Saban just not on as grand of a scale. Michigan Alum or not dudes as much an ass as Saban. If Saban equals Satan then Miles can be the unibomber , I was gonna say hitler but he's not a michigan alum
January 27th, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
January 27th, 2012 at 11:06 AM ^
With all the negative press on Saban and how he treats recruits the last 3-4 years It's a safe bet that if you attend Alabama on an athletic scholarship you'll either A. play in the NFL B. receive a medical grey shirt or C. Manage a Mcdonalds. If you're trying to sell Alabama football of course you'll sell the NFL.
The recruit who choose Bama really get what they deserve. The red flags are there if you choose to ignore them there is nobody to blame but yourself in the end.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
"It should be noted that, of the 12 schools which make up the SEC, Alabama’s 69 percent was the fourth-highest Graduation Success Rate according to the latest NCAA findings. LSU, incidentally, was No. 2 (77%), well behind Vanderbilt (86%) and just ahead of Florida (76%) in the conference."
This is like comparing the best students at Summer School.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^
Oh good. I was looking forward to seeing which fruitful thread WolverineInABag would start today.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:49 AM ^
Not shocked at all. Some recruits love this approach and some see through it. He does what he does and gets great recruiting classes. I personally think he is an evil cyborg but then again, I don't have any chance of making it to the NFL.
I am shocked to learn water is blue though. I thought it was clear.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:51 AM ^
Every time I see a picture of it I'm pretty sure it's blue.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^
I guess my tap is having issues then. It seems to come out clear.
If you are being sarcastic, my bad.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^
It's brown from my tap but then again I live in DC
And yeah that was /s lol
January 27th, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^
Fair enough. Snarky comments retracted. I am glad my water isn't that bad in Fairfax.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:33 PM ^
Local guy
January 27th, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^
From what I read it seemed like the Mother was also pissed because she felt like Saban stereotyped them with his pitch. Basically centering it around the NFL insinuating that it's what his family needed.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:04 AM ^
I agree, and that's what some people are overlooking. Whether or not Miles is as bad as Saban, she felt disrespected w/ the approach that Saban took. The reality is that with a blue-chip recruit, at most of the big time programs, having them succeed on the field and eventually go to the NFL and become rich is what is one of the most desired outcomes. But, different coaches sell their school and their character in different ways and she was turned off by Saban. This isn't to say that she should have behaved the way she did at the announcement, however.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^
I don't understand why this always gets played out to be a big deal (Not that this is the real issue, this is the mom trying to save face, as pointed out above). The kid has a gift to play football, and Nick Saban said he can help develop that into a career better than most. Do mathletes get upset when they get academic scholarships that don't point out "you can be great at IM Sports too!"? You go to MIT or Michigan to be become great in mathematics, not junior college, and this is sold to students quite often throughout high school. You go to Nick Saban, or someone of that stature, to be great at football, not Greg Robinson. He'd have to be a terrible recruiter not to point that out.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:26 AM ^
That NFL pitch is horseshit. So few make it to that level, and become successful. The kid could rip his knee in the first non contact drills of practice and never be the same. As Saban has proven, if that happens he will ship him off the team.
He's selling an 18 year old kid a pipe dream, which is an easy sell to an 18 year old kid. The very few elite players who make it to the NFL and get that million dollar contract are so stupid with their money that they're broke before they retire. Ricky Powers' story would be a good one to read.
To each his own, but if it was my kid, I would have a huge problem with it. If you're elite, and lucky enough to stay healthy, you maybe play in the NFL for 10 years. So you're 32 years old, now what are you going to do? Maybe someone you trusted to invest your money was running a ponzi scheme, you sure as shit better have some sort of backup plan.
January 27th, 2012 at 1:24 PM ^
was your post directed at me? I was indeed a mathlete (name given to math counts competitors) that received an academic scholarship to Michigan. I was not told that I could be great at im sports but I have trumped that obstacle and become an im dodgeball champ and a four time runner up in various other sports. so he clearly can still get an education even tho Saban only sees him as an athlete
January 27th, 2012 at 1:42 PM ^
I can't tell if you're supporting the idea that this recruiting pitch isn't as evil as it's cracked up to be by playing out the analogy or if you're angry at me for not acknowledging your dodgeball skills.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:15 AM ^
Well at least she responded maturely about it on the biggest stage on the biggest day of her son's young life
January 27th, 2012 at 11:18 AM ^
Are you drinking? My drinking water is clear.
all /s aside, good post. The more pub stuff like this gets the better it is for institutions like ours which are great athletically and academically.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
"With all the negative press on Saban and how he treats recruits the last 3-4 years It's a safe bet that if you attend Alabama on an athletic scholarship you'll either A. play in the NFL B. receive a medical grey shirt or C. Manage a Mcdonalds. If you're trying to sell Alabama football of course you'll sell the NFL."
I think manage a Mcdonalds is pretty far fetched. Maybe screwing up your order at the drive thru.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:08 PM ^
You might not have to die, OP. Talk to Ray Kurzweil, he'll hook you up.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:17 PM ^
That his mom is relatively hot... fiesty makes her hotter
January 27th, 2012 at 12:39 PM ^
At least Saban is very upfront about what his focus is on, and it sure ain't life after football or any life without football!
At least he is telling the truth about what he, his staff, and his program are focused on.
January 27th, 2012 at 1:34 PM ^
probably attracts so many top level recruits. He's pitching his ability to get them ready for the NFL, and a lot of them buy into it. Of course he can back it up to some degree by showing the dozens of kids that have gone to the NFL from their school. But the fact is still that the majority of Alabama players (like everywhere else) don't make it in the NFL. So, IMO it's unethical on his part to be selling a pipe dream to many kids vs. something that is far more tangible and real - a college degree that can help them get a better job. No revelation here. Look at who we're talking about.