Saban Agrees to Stay at Alabama
Official, being reported by major news outlets.
For the record, I don't think this is good news. He is part of the whole SEC! SEC! SEC! mystique. Saban leaving would have been a step toward bringing that conference down toward the others, both in perception and reality.
Update: Kevin McGuire at NBC Sports is reporting Mack is staying, but I'm not seeing other reports of that.
Update #2: Bobby Burton of 247Sports also reporting Mack will stay on as coach.
December 14th, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^
owes Mack Brown a nice dinner
December 14th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
I don't get this obession with Saban, and only Saban, being the candidate for the Texas job. Their are plenty of candidates out there that could do a fantastic job in that spot. I'm actually surprised Art Briles doesn't get more publicity for the spot. He's turned Baylor into a contender and that is with fairly sub-standard recruits, Seastrunk transfer and RGIII being the exceptions. Four 4-stars in 2010. Only one 4-star in their 2011 class. Two in 2012. Three in 2013. No 5-stars to speak of.
Briles is 58 now, younger than Saban. He obviously has a network set up in Texas and is familiar with the area. His offense would obvious translate to the conference, as he already coaches in it. I'm on the Briles bandwagon for Texas in Mack Brown allows himself to be put to pasteur. My only minor reservation, and I understand why people would make this point, is that going with a guy that is that old, other than Saban, might be risky, as he probably won't have more than 10 good years of coaching left in him.
December 14th, 2013 at 3:47 PM ^
That's not to say a guy like Briles wouldn't be successful at Texas, but Saban is the ultimate proven commodity. You know you're good for at least a title or two during his tenure.
December 14th, 2013 at 3:58 PM ^
Pete Carroll? Tremendous success at USC and actually worked out in the NFL. Not saying he's interested, but everyone seems to have concluded that Texas can go out and get whoever they want.
December 14th, 2013 at 7:12 PM ^
December 14th, 2013 at 1:14 PM ^
Would like to be his banker.
December 14th, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^
Bizarrely I'm OK with this.
Growing up in the ESS EEE SEE part of the country and raised by a mother from Birmingham, I can confirm for you first hand just how highly regarded and respected is one Paul W. "Bear" Bryant in these parts, ESPECIALLY in Alabama.
The reputation of that conference being the historically all-conquering, all-dominating cabal of football factories that play the game of football at a higher level than anyone else is strictly revisionist history. It is for the most part a 21st Century phenomenon, much like Ohio's present run of victories in The Game. You'd occasionally have a school come out of nowhere to break onto the national scene (Georgia with Hershel Walker, Tennessee when Johnny Majors was a student there, etc)...but the constant was Alabama. Other schools had brief flirtations with greatness, but Alabama had it at the level that no program in the South (and few anywhere in the country) could imagine.
This sounds weird, but if Nick Saban threatens the number of national championships Coach Bryant won at Alabama (six, I think, but I could be wrong)...you are going to hear from a not insignificant number of 'Bama fans who will want to see Saban out of the picture before he can equal (or Heaven forbid BREAK) the Bear's record. I'm not even making this up; they revere the man's memory that much.
December 14th, 2013 at 1:27 PM ^
You're last point about a significant amount of fans wanting Saban out before he ties or breaks BB's record seems nonsensical. Why wouldn't they want another coach to revere? Saban's accomplishment's don't take away from Bryant's at all. That's like saying Lloyd's national championship took away from our reverance of Bo.
December 14th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
last point...seems nonsensical."
But it's not. I promise you, Coach Bryant casts a shadow over that state that you simply wouldn't believe.
Mind you, I'm not saying ALL 'Bama fans are like that... the majority of them want their program to dominate the game regardless of who the coach is, because as time passes less and less of them are of an age to have actually seen any of Bryant's teams play. It's the older ones who grew up with him running the program that tend to venerate him the most...and of course they're dying off as time marches on, as well.
December 14th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
That's an interesting angle.
December 14th, 2013 at 3:18 PM ^
So the lesson here that I see is this.
- If you consider your program a long-standing highly ranked upper echelon (insert upper-middle superlatives here) team then it makes damn good sense to have a junior successor to the program groomed and in place.
Imagine if you will the chaos that could have descended upon Ann Arbor if there wasn't a Mo waiting to take over for Bo. Or if there wasn't a Carr waiting to take over for Mo's untimely departure.
Oh wait...that actually happened...there was nobody around to take over for Carr...EVEN when he warned at wanting to retire earlier than actual...and look at the crater it left in the earth. We are still trying to climb out of that one.
I hope the impression is left upon Athletic Directors everywhere...elevating a groomed successor is much less painful and gives you considerably greater continuity than going on a national coaching search due to the relatively small number of coaches who are actually out there and ready to make such a move. There are sticky issues like entire staff changes, scheme changes that can cause the steady ship to take on water faster than the pumps can bail it out.
In my estimation, USC, Texas and even Bama have faced these problems in current or recent history. Michigan dodged the bullet for a long time because of the preparation that was in place (whether by skill or just dumb luck). I don't pretend to know anything of Hoke's staff other than the big 3. I believe Big Al, GMatt and Hoke aren't going anywhere else other than to retire in a gated community someday if they can achieve expectations. So I hope in addition to player development they are getting some younger coaches ready.
December 14th, 2013 at 4:44 PM ^
I couldn't get any further in your post than "Big Blue M". For some reason that made my short hairs curl up even more.
December 14th, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^
I should have said in response to Hoke the Joke. I did sound un-informed when I tried to make the point of, it really does not matter that you are recruiting 5 stars when they turn into 2 stars at Texas. I have no idea why they have lost more games than us ( not me saying this just repeating what I read) but assumed it was poor development from the coaching staff. I do know what happens when I assume I could be made into an ass. Then as a result was made out to not neccesarily to be an ass but ill informed or talking out my ass. Again it was just an off the cuff reply to Hoke the Joke I will try to be more factual in the future. I do understand people are so soft skinned these days that they would right away start thinking I was maybe insinuating that was what I think is wrong with the UM staff.... NO WAY, I have never felt that way about these coaches and have argued against that bull all year. So before I say something that is true but maybe not the case in this instance I will say so.