East German Judge

July 23rd, 2015 at 11:54 PM ^

Once again imperialist coaches like Mack Brown and joepa over stayed their useful coaching life and rather than think about what would be good for the school, it was all about them being omnipotent and wanting to retire on their own terms.  They surely do not believe in Bo's The Team, The Team, The Team philosphy.  Just imagine if Saban had gone to Texas, as much as I hate to say it, he would have won a NC (at some point) at his 3rd school.  Charlie Strong is a good coach, but he is no Nick Saban.

Enough of the Saban love, I feel dirty and need to take a shower.

East German Judge

July 24th, 2015 at 12:12 AM ^

You are absolutely right, many times it is hard for people to know when to bid farewell,  but they need to listen to what is being said around them.  psu wanted joepa to leave many years before, but he was openly defiant because he was chasing records.  Did anyone really think in his last years he was doing any real coaching as opposed to just being there.

ijohnb

July 24th, 2015 at 1:59 PM ^

really think Paterno knew what day of the week it was the last few years he "coached."  He was closing in on wondering the streets on his way to the supermarket at 5 AM territory toward the end.  It was assisting living time as of about 2008.

Trebor

July 24th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^

FYI, I was referencing a certain recent event involving Paterno:

 

Joe Paterno, in his own words, on why he waited until the following day to call anyone after hearing what McQueary had told him about seeing Sandusky with a boy in a campus shower in 2002: "I ordinarily would have called people right away, but it was a Saturday morning and I didn't want to interfere with their weekends."

East German Judge

July 24th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^

What a fucking senile old coot.  Every joepa lover needs to read this and know this.  joepa treated this as if someone emptied the penny bowl at your local 7-11.  If the young boy who was getting sodomized in the shower was a grandson of joepa, I venture he may have just called someone sooner.

RainbowSprings

July 24th, 2015 at 4:32 AM ^

there's the current plight of Steve Spurrier. When all the buzz around the team is the coach's age, it's time to hang it up. This has got to be a major distraction for the team, and it can't help with recruiting. It's already too late for Spurrier to leave gracefully. Give it a rest, Steve, you've had a great run as a player and a coach.

Space Coyote

July 24th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^

And he isn't what he was at Florida, but he still may be the most successful South Carolina coach of all time. Better than Holtz, better than Joe Morrison. South Carolina has won 2 conference titles in their entire history, one in the "Southern Conference" in 1933, the other in the ACC in 1969.

South Carolina losing Spurrier would be a huge loss for them.

DoubleB

July 24th, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^

Despite last year's 7-6 record, USC is coming off what is easily their best 5 year stretch in history--an SEC East Championship and then three subsequent 11-2 seasons.

The last time Michigan had a stretch like that where they lost 2 games or less in 3 straight years? Schembechler 1976-78. Guess they should have let him go after the 8-4 1979 season.

Blue Ninja

July 24th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^

Nice achievement to win that much in 3 years but what have they won in that time? A division title? They still have only won 2 conference titles in their entire history. They've also done it in arguably the weakest time in the last 20 years for the teams in the SEC East. 

All that said, I'd be happy as a lark for UM to be at that point in light of the last 7 years. The most impressive part is USC has won 4 straight bowl games, 3 of those against Big Ten teams. But irregardless, they're still the 2nd best team in the state. 

KO Stradivarius

July 24th, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^

It may not be easy to tell when you have lost your mojo, but for a head coach it's easier when you have media and fans on social media talking about your age and (lack of) performance.  Like EGJ says, pay attention to what's being said, don't live in a vacuum, be approachable, remember the reasons why you got to where you are, and you will figure it out soon enough.   

Space Coyote

July 24th, 2015 at 8:43 AM ^

If these guys stepped down every time the goings got tough, they wouldn't be where they are today. All of these coaches are extremely confident. They think they can turn it around. Hell, if you won a National Title and went to another one and had one of the most successful runs in college football within the last decade, why wouldn't you think you could turn it around again?

I don't blame Mack for hanging around. It was the wrong decision, because things got bad at Texas, particularly for the talent they had; but I personally don't think you can expect someone that still wants to coach and has been extremely successful coaching fairly recently to just hang it up because he was trending downwards.

Tater

July 24th, 2015 at 2:22 AM ^

I am not going to call Saban a "great" coach yet.  He is definitely great when he has superior personnel, as he did at LSU and does at Bama.  He was mediocre in the NFL, where the personnel is more equal.  

As long as those Bama boosters keep giving out the best "golden handshakes" in the SEC, Saban will be "great" in the eyes of the media.  But he will only be "very good" in my eyes.

Tater

July 25th, 2015 at 8:24 AM ^

If you "qualify it" as in the NFL, where the salary cap makes it difficult to amass a huge personnel advantage, Saban is just another coach with a 15-17 record.  

At Alabama, he is a "great" coach because he does a great job of turning his head the other way while boosters buy him every player he wants.  

Saban was 34-24-1 at MSU to Mark Dantonio's 75-31.  He was 48-16 at LSU to Les Miles' 103-29.  Both won one National Championship at MSU.  So, basically, Mark Dantonio and Les Miles are "great" coaches, too, because they did better at MSU and LSU than Saban did.  

Nick Saban and Alabama are a marriage of the right coach, the right boosters and the right timing.  By those "qualifications," Saban is definitely "great."  But I'll bet the people who played for him in the NFL don't see it that way.

 

 

LDNfan

July 24th, 2015 at 8:06 AM ^

If Saban isn't a great coach then I'm not sure who is...

You have to keep in mind that LSU and Bama were kind of lost programs when he took over. He didn't come into Bama with a loaded roster...but NOW that he's rebuilt that program he reaps the benefits always being at or near the top with 5-star talent lining up to get in.

As for 'golden handshakes' and bagmen..if ever there was a program that doesn't need those advantages it would be one that has the run Saban has had. He may have gotten them there with bagmen and they may still be shady (it is the SEC)..but there is no getting around the fact that talent wants to play for championship and get coached up to the next level..Saban does both better than anyone in the game.

WestQuad

July 24th, 2015 at 8:09 AM ^

 Saban will go down as an all time great college coach, which makes him a great coach.  It is hard to win in the pros.  You can't control who is on your team, there are owners who want more credit than they deserve....

DoubleB

July 24th, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^

If he's not great as you say, who's better?

You know in college he recruits that superior personnel.

He gets a bad rap for his Dolphins years. The year before he got there they went 4-12. The year after he left, 1-15. He went 15-17 in his time there. History would be different had he signed Drew Brees as opposed to Duante Culpepper.

funkywolve

July 24th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^

in one of the book's on Bo (can't remember the title, I'd have to check when I get home) Bo told a story about Bear Bryant.  It was late in Bryant's coaching career and Bryant told Bo he essentially didn't have the fire in him to coach.  Bo asked him why he didn't just quit.  Bryant's response was along the lines that there were a lot of people whose jobs at Alabama were because of Bryant.  When he (Bryant) stepped down all his assistants would have to find new jobs and more then likely a new coach would replace most of, if not all of, the office personnel and a lot of the suppot staff.

Wolverine In Exile

July 24th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^

He knew the time to go, had a good succession plan in place that had qualified coaches and established a program identity / core values and never distracted from The Team. This is why I will always talk about Bo in only the most reverential terms, and most younger Michigan fans today will not understand why Bo was held this way "since he, you know, never won a national title".

steve sharik

July 24th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^

...I know I'm tempting the negbombing here, but Bo wasn't a saint when it came to "omnipotent" vs. "The Team."  If rumors are to be believed, Bo pretty much cost us Rick Pitino when we hired Amaker b/c Pitino would've commanded and received a much higher salary than Lloyd. Bo is rumored to have said, "Football is what built this thing," or something to that effect. These rumors certainly could be incorrect; maybe Bo just balked at that level of salary for being an intercollegiate coach.

Even if true, however, I don't have any less respect for Bo because of this; ego is what makes a lot of the greats, well, great. Moreover, I would be willing to bet 99% of us would be the same way if we were so revered and famous.

Maybe not to the extent of JoePa, but it's hard to say unless we walked in those shoes. By all accounts prior to his downfall, Joe Paterno was everything we claim Bo to have been. And if it can happen to a guy like that, well, let's just say it makes things a lot grey-er than we want it to be.

Megatron

July 23rd, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^

I thought he earned the right to retire whenever he wanted too he was forced out. Yeah at least Texas did get Charlie Strong who is a pretty good coach I could see him wining National Championship in the next few years.

ClassOf14

July 24th, 2015 at 12:27 AM ^

Earned the right to retire whenever he wanted? I understand he won a national championship in 2006, but just how much mediocrity do you think that should afford him? You're talking about a team that hasn't been nationally relevant since Colt McCoy left after the 2009 season.

In 2012, they went 9-4 (5-4 in conference), and lost to OU 63-21. They then followed that up in 2013 by going 8-5, and their five losses came by 19, 19, 25, 20 and 23 points. When you are no longer competitive and are being outclassed by several opponents every year, especially at a place like Texas, where you have every resource and recruiting advantage imaginable, that isn't going to cut it. Mack knew that, which is why he was scrambling to find answers and fired his DC in early 2013. Not competing for national championships in his last four seasons is one thing, but having 4-5 loss seasons in a relatively weak Big 12, and not even competing/in the discussion for conference championships is what got him fired.