Logan88

December 21st, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^

Why is this in the diary section? Seems fine for MGoBoard, not diary.

Personally, this is the biggest reason I am pulling for Bama to win the MNC this season. Should Bama win, I think Saban will feel as though he has accomplished all he can at the CFB level and try to give the NFL another go to get the bad taste of failure that he experienced at that level out of his mouth before he retires.

ijohnb

December 21st, 2012 at 5:43 PM ^

Nfl is a different game. Is more like a hockey coach going to coach baseball. I doubt very much that Saban will ever coach again in the nfl, not because he is not a good enough coach, but because he is a college football coach, not an nfl coach. Just like chip Kelly will learn the hard way, just because u r good at one has nothing to do w the other.

In reply to by ijohnb

Cromulent

December 22nd, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^

After watching Russell Wilson run the zone read against Buffalo more then he did his entire season at Wisky I'm not so sure anymore. Kelly might well pull it off.

mGrowOld

December 21st, 2012 at 12:20 PM ^

I live in northern Ohio

I love football

I go to lots and lots of Cleveland Browns games

The Browns suck

Pat Shurmer sucks

Therefore.....

I really, really really hope this is true!

WolvinLA2

December 21st, 2012 at 1:27 PM ^

I don't think so.  What is sleazy in college isn't sleazy in the NFL.  The reason Saban is sleazy is because he runs a college program like a business, but that's what the NFL is.  They aren't young, they aren't students, and they make a ton of money.  You aren't making empty promises to kids' parents, and you can cut whoever you want when they aren't good. 

I don't like Saban as a person, but I would have no problem cheering for him as my NFL team's coach.

Tater

December 21st, 2012 at 1:40 PM ^

I would like to add that within ten years, Saban won't seem nearly as "sleazy" to many as he does now.  He might even be seen as "ahead of his time."  In the NCAA, programs and coaches are rewarded for cheating, denial, and covering their tracks.  Bama, Ohio State, and USC have figured this out.  

That's why I want to see players allowed to take money from any booster who wants to pay them: players can take advantage of their market value, while teams like Michigan can compete on a level playing field with the cheaters.  Everybody would win here.

vablue

December 21st, 2012 at 2:34 PM ^

I think this drastically overstates things. I would say it is by far a minority of scholarship athletes that are not prepared academically. Most of the football and basketball players at schools not in the SEC do just fine when they move on to their professional lives.

SalvatoreQuattro

December 21st, 2012 at 3:25 PM ^

There literally are millions of college graduates who are working at jobs that pay in the $30-50,000 range. Now factor in the fact that all but a tiny sliver of college graduates make what a minimum NFL player makes($500,000) and I fail to see the validity of your point.

 

Education is a mixed bag. Yes, in certain fields(business, medicine, engineering) a person can make well over six figures. But for the vast majority of fields one isn't going to make anywhere near that.

 

I suppose you can say that education's real value is in how it frees the mind by removing  the manacles of ignorance.  But one can, if so blessed with the wealth brought by a professional football contract, educate themselves through taking courses on specific subjects they wish to learn as well as interaction with peoples across the globe on travel made possible by the aforementioned wealth.

To put it simply, give me the cash. That cash gives me the opportunity to buy myself an education that only the brightiest and wealthiest among us can afford.

aiglick

December 21st, 2012 at 3:42 PM ^

Coursera.com

This won't allow a person to say they have a degree but it would probably be pretty impressive to interviewers that an applicant spent his/her time to do online courses that are taught at world class institutions like our very own U of M.

I agree that a traditional 4-year degree is increasingly becoming cost ineffective (though try getting a decent job without one) but there are other options online out there for people.

SalvatoreQuattro

December 21st, 2012 at 3:57 PM ^

tiered based upon what kind of job you are looking for. If you want to be a nurse, a community college suffices. If you want to be a doctor, go to UM. If you want to be lawyer, go to UM. If you want to be a paralegal or computer technician, you can go anywhere.

 

Universities are becoming so expensive that we will see the rise of trade schools and apprenticeships for those who are unable to pay for school out-of-pocket or those unwilling to go into significant debt for an education that guarantees nothing.

xxxxNateDaGreat

December 22nd, 2012 at 1:14 PM ^

I'm not too fond of that idea. Saban flamed out because he is a dictator and also kind of a dick. The authoritarian schtick works in college because you can always threaten to kick a diva off the team. I would love to see Saban try doing that with a guy who makes 4-5 times his paycheck and can afford to sit out for a season for standing up to him. Would you want to pay a premium salary to a guy who sprinted out the NFL once already after his team got sick of his attitude and quit on him? I wouldn't.

Dude Lebowski

December 21st, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^

He knows it's just a matter of time before the NCAA catches up with him and the shenanigans gong on in the ESS EEE SEE.  Plus it will be enjoyable to hear Paul Finebaum and the redneck nation whine and pout about his departure.

Pulled P

December 21st, 2012 at 1:09 PM ^

As a used-to-be diehard Miami Dolphins fan, I had a chance to follow him as the coach of my favorite team for two plus seasons. Here are the reasons:

  1. First of all, it was very, very tough to pry him from LSU. It was almost like he didn't really want to go pro but his ego telling him that he had to prove he could win there forced him to. The Phins at that time was a marquee coaching destination. They still had a good defense(Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas) and the number two pick in the draft coming up. 
  2. He will never enjoy the power he wields at the college level. He berates his assistants. He scares college players to death, but pro players, especially when things aren't going well, tend to push back to those tactics. Even the players that liked him just tolerated his attitude. A Dolphins employee dared to say 'Good morning' in the hallway to him and his special teams coach warned that employee to never do that again or he/she'll get fired. He bullied media, which he still does, but towards the end of his second year the Miami media really had an axe to grind, and that all came out when he left.
  3. He can't out-recruit every team like he does in college. He didn't draft well at all, and mind you he inherited plenty of draft picks. Word was he just couldn't make his mind on who to pick, making every draft choice an agonizing selection. He made one mistake choosing Culpepper over Brees, and that basically wrote his story at Miami.
  4. One of the strongest reasons he quit was his wife. She liked being a college HC's wife where she is the queen of that little kingdom. She didn't have as much influence in Miami's diverse culture and where she was just about middle in the pecking order, the owner(and his wife) being higher-ups.
  5. He never struck me as a genius coach. Sure, he's friends with Bellichick, but being a close friend of a genius does not equal you being a genius. He can coach defense, especially DBs as long as they don't revolt. But it's not at BB's level.

I know, too many words but simply put, he's not going pro because he can't bully everybody the way he does in college.

stephenrjking

December 21st, 2012 at 2:28 PM ^

I'm not sure I buy your reason #2. Saban may be gruff to outsiders, but my impression is that his players love him. Perhaps he's a strong personality, but if he were pulling the kind of garbage that, say, Mike Leach apparently tries, we would hear about it. And he would have trouble recruiting.

"But wait," you say, "He recruits well because Alabama pays its players under the table." This is quite possibly, even probably, true; but then, so do a lot of his competitors. If he were a less pleasant guy to play for than Les Miles or Dan Mullen or the coach du jour at Auburn, the players would go there. 

And he seems to know how to coach; Alabama didn't take four years of buying the best players to get good--they were national title contenders within two years. Saban's coaching is a large part of why they are so good. It sure helps to have a lot of talent, as they do now, but Lloyd Carr and Mack Brown can tell you that being loaded with talent alone doesn't win national championships.

 

Pulled P

December 21st, 2012 at 3:33 PM ^

Perhaps one of the all-time best. Not denying that. And even more the reason why I think he'll stay. The way I understand it, strong personalities work better in college than they do in the NFL. Unless your name is Parcells, massaging egos is a critical part of the pro game. But in college, you can woo HS players and parents under the name of 'strong leadership'.

I didn't think I was 'bagging' Saban, but I guess I was in the sense I don't worship him the way a lot of others do. Coaching ability-wise I said he's a good coach but not at the level of Bill Belichick. BB's genius is his flexibility, whereas the impression I get from Saban is he's pretty  rigid. And you don't hear BB making his staff absolutely miserable the way Saban did(or does, I don't know what the story is at Bama).

I think his real strength is the ability to have total control over all aspects of the program. That's recruiting, information control, details, everything. But it's impossible maintain the same level of control at the NFL.

Pulled P

December 21st, 2012 at 3:31 PM ^

As a former Phins fan, I'm familiar with that episode. Wright was what, a fifth round supplemental draft player? That kid wasn't an established pro like Zach Thomas was. He was a rookie, and not even a first rounder with some leverage. That episode further shows how Saban tries to intimidate players.

Mgo-Vegas

December 21st, 2012 at 12:56 PM ^

Take it with a grain of salt as it was in an interview with his wife Terry and not from Nick himself, but a couple of weeks ago Terry expressed that football at Alabama was no longer as fun for Nick as it was while building the program.  She said victories now only bring a feeling of relief instead of a joy as 'Bama is now always supposed to win. She also said that they had no plans on leaving Alabama, so take it as you will.  However, it is an interesting point that she made.

WolverineHistorian

December 21st, 2012 at 1:02 PM ^

I'd love to see the reaction in Tide nation if that were to happen.  And I'd also like it if Bama went back to being the joke they were when they hired him, after beating Notre Dame of course.

True Blue Grit

December 21st, 2012 at 1:09 PM ^

Personality-wise, he fits in much better in the NFL.  College coaches really need to have pleasant personalities to be able to schmooze parents, alumni, the media, donors, etc.  Pro coaches, for the most part, don't have to deal with any of that.  Dicks just don't last that long as major college coaches today even if they win consistenly.  Sooner or later, they just can't stand having to act like decent human beings all the time.  

Pulled P

December 21st, 2012 at 1:13 PM ^

I agree 100% on his personality. Disagree 100% that pro coaches don't have to deal with any of that. You can't scare pro players the way Saban scares his college players. And you absolutely have to kiss behinds of, the owner to start with, and depending on the structure of the team perhaps the GM. 

In college you are king as long as you recruit well and win games. We saw that movie at Penn State.

Perkis-Size Me

December 21st, 2012 at 1:56 PM ^

do you think alabama students and alums give a crap that he has a less than stellar personality? do you think boosters care? no. they care that he wins. as long as he wins, he can act however he wants. there's a reason he's considered one of, if not the most powerful man in college sports. saban's players may or may not care, but as long as they're winning under him, i'm sure they'll find a way to tolerate him and embrace his system. its not like he's on the cusp of winning his 3rd national title in 4 years.