Matthew

December 21st, 2014 at 2:20 AM ^

I definitely dig Saban for how real he is and how compassionate and human he has shown to be. Love to meet him and get to know him.

No this is not sarcastic.

Farnn

December 21st, 2014 at 2:40 AM ^

That's basically the reason I changed my stance a few years ago on kicking players off the team for run ins with the law or the university.  If we really want to believe that schollarships for college athletes help to better them, we should want coaches to do everything in their power to get them to graduation.  Shouldn't let them straight back on the field, but better on campus and around students then living on their own and fending for themselves at the age of 19 and often from a disadvantaged background.

MeanJoe07

December 21st, 2014 at 2:40 AM ^

I'm gonna go with chicken in a few personal information on my phone is a sick day to the next generation banana bread is that the most of your life thus is a big fan and I have to stay late for a bit before you have any plans tonight if I don't think we are spending more than I don't know why but it was a situation that is designed to the wedding and then put me through the last two years of my life is the only way I think we can make a difference when I was brewing company is constantly changing my way to make sure she will go out with you and I are gonna be so anal the game at my parents are going back way I have a nice wept and the bad guy is going well so I have to be an easy any of a hypothetical because I think we can

MeanJoe07

December 21st, 2014 at 2:42 AM ^

I'm gonna get the tickets for you have to go out with the car until we get to work in Chicago is a sick day of my groomsmen and then you could cut the car until around noon and I have to stay late at night Nd and I have been in the city of a shot and I have to say it like that perhaps I think we are gonna do it to you have any questions about it but it was awesome aesthetically pleasing to be an outside motivation for a bit when you get into the lobby of my stuff to be in charge and then put me on the e

CoverZero

December 21st, 2014 at 2:50 AM ^

Damn.  Saban is a powerful speaker.  I can see how he motivates his players.  I agree with him in most cases.  The Csonte York thing though for example, he had to be let go.   The video evidence was so overwhelming that what he did was malicious and violent, unprovoked attack...which he had lied about to Coach Hoke.  In that case, he was cut and deserved to be.  Other cases are not so clear cut.  Most other cases are not captured on video either.  Cases of extreme violence towards women in particularly do no deserve another chance.

Bagheera

December 21st, 2014 at 3:10 AM ^

In other words, if you're a great player, you should absolutely get a second chance.  If you warm the bench, well, fuck you.

The fact that anyone buys this kind of crap from Saban is hilarious.

Farnn

December 21st, 2014 at 3:47 AM ^

He may be a great speaker and is twisting that logic to suit his roster needs, but the message in the video is the right one.  I'd rather have the kids on campus with a support system then out on their own facing a tough situation.

Danwillhor

December 21st, 2014 at 4:43 AM ^

but I agree 100%. If you aren't on the two deep he could give a shit less about you unless you're a very promising & young talent. Any underclassmen not digging the two deep are dead to that guy, looking for the first recruit to replace him because...didn't the older player stub his toe as a Freshman? Yup, I think so. MEDICAL'd faster than you can say "Saban is borderline evil in the literal sense".

Seth

December 21st, 2014 at 6:14 AM ^

It depends. Justice doesn't get served by any standard solution; it is fitted to the exact circumstances of the crime and the criminal. You can say mercy is the better solution right up to the point where a criminal hurts people again.

Saban's justification is self-serving. The options are not always the street or starring. The competition for players means a football player cut loose by his school for criminal activity is likely to find a second chance elsewhere.

Saban of all people shouldn't be talking about this because he recruits kids already on their second chances, and metes out justice based on how much they can help his football team to a much greater degree than your average coach. If Mark Richt said this same thing I would be all "hell yeah." With Saban, it's Capone making a general argument for clemency. The truth is if Musin Muhammed couldn't have helped his team as much as another recruit, Saban would have cut his ass.

In general I don't think that severe punishment is more effective at justice than mercy and a chance for redemption. I think the pressure to succeed in football is a strong motivation for players to be given second chances and for them to use those opportunities. Giving criminals a chance to make up the damage they caused and move on with their lives is a hugely important aspect of justice. The more that decision is about football instead of the crime or the criminal, the less it is likely to be just. And Nick Saban is the first guy in college football I would name if asked who's making those decisions mostly on the football merits.

jblaze

December 21st, 2014 at 8:07 AM ^

Are corrupt. Players need second and third chances so coaches can straighten out their lives.



Read the M player comments from the last banquet.

Rodriguesqe

December 21st, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^

The worst part of college sports is when a kid gets in trouble then fans from other schools pull out their magical spread sheets and start computing what the punishment should be. Leave it to the coaches, as how they handle it will come back to them (see: Urban Meyer).

 

bo_lives

December 21st, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^

Not that he shouldn't have been kicked off the team and punished, but after he gets out of prison what's going to happen to him I wonder? Has he been expelled? Will he ever get a degree? Obviously his girlfriend is the victim here but what about the future? I don't think it's inconceivable that if left on his own the cycle will just be perpetuated and more people will suffer in the future just so that here in the present day we can entertain the belief that justice has been served.

NOLA Wolverine

December 21st, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^

Why not shove every person convicted of a crime through Michigan then? If this is about social welfare then it's pretty hard to argue that someone's ability to run around in a circle at a high speed is grounds for getting rescued while other poor people are left to attend Rand University.